Gunnlöð

According to Skáldskaparmál, one of the three vessels that contained the mead of poetry, which Fjalarr and Galarr made from the blood Kvasir after they had killed him. The dwarfs gave the mead to Suttungr as compensation for the murder of his parents. Suttungr concealed the mead inside the room called Hnitbjörg and set his daughter Gunnlöð to guard over it. Odin sneaked his way into the chamber and lay with Gunnlöð for three nights, and then she gave him leave to drink three drafts of the mead. In the first draft Odin drank every drop out of Óðrerir; and in the second, he emptied Boðn; and in the third, Són; and then he had all the mead.

In skaldic poetry, Óðrerir is a synonym for the mead of poetry. In Hávamál 108, Óðrerir seems to refer to the magic mead itself, whereas in stanza 142 it is the name of the vessel containing it.

References

Sources

  • Hávamál, 108, 142.
  • Skáldskaparmál, 1, 3.