In Norse mythology, Kvasir (Old Norse: [ˈkwɑsez̠]) was a being born of the saliva of the Æsir and the Vanir, two groups of gods, when they performed the ancient peace ritual of spitting into a common vessel. He is not a major deity, however he is an important figure in the lore, in relation to Óðin and skaldic tradition. The Æsir-Vanir War had ended with a truce. In the tale of the Mead of Poetry, whose storyline picks up where that of the Aesir-Vanir War leaves off, the deities sealed their peace treaty by coming together to produce an alcoholic drink by an ancient, communal method: everyone in the group chewed berries and spat out the resulting mush into a single vat. This liquid was then fermented. In this particular instance, the fermented liquid became the god Kvasir, whose name is surely related to Norwegian kvase and Russian kvas, both of which mean “fermented berry juice.” He was a poet and the wisest of all men. Kvasir traveled far and wide, teaching and spreading knowledge, never failing to give the right answer to a question.. This continued until the dwarfs Fjalar (“Deceiver”) and Galar (“Screamer), who were weary of academics and learning, killed Kvasir and drained him of his blood into three containers, one of which was called Odhrǫrir, the magic caldron. When mixed with honey by the giant Suttung, his blood formed Óðrerir (the Mead of Poetry), a mead which imbued the drinker with skaldship and wisdom, and the spread of which eventually resulted in the introduction of poetry to mankind. The story of Kvasir’s murder is told in the Braga Raedur (“Conversations of Bragi”), one of the Eddas. The spread of the mead eventually resulted in the introduction of poetry to mankind. When asked by the Gods what had happened to Kvasir, the dwarves told them that Kvasir had suffocated from an excess of wisdom. The murderous dwarfs were eventually forced to trade Óðrerir to the jötunn Suttung, after viciously killing his parents. Realizing the amazing prize he had won, Suttung hid the mead of poetry deep within a mountain, over which his daughter, Gunnlöd kept watch.
Suttung however, bragged and boasted that he had hoarded a treasure beyond measure, and such words came fast enough to the ears of Óðin. Donning the form of a farmer, Óðin set out for Jotunheim, offering his servitude to Suttung’s brother, Buagi.
After a long year of labouring in the fields, the disguised god asked Baugi for a drink of the sacred mead in payment for his work. The hapless giant drilled a small hole through the side of his brother’s mountain where the mead of poetry was hid. Óðin immediately changed himself into a serpent and slithered through the hole, and on the other side, within a cavern deep inside the mountain, he met a giantess.
Suttung’s lonely daughter, Gunnlöd immediately fell in love with Óðin, and he persuaded her to let him take three sips from Óðrerir over their three days and nights together. After three “sips” however, Óðin managed to drink all of the mead. He transformed once more, into the form of an eagle, and returned to Ásgard.
According to folklore, the colour of the mead of poetry was a rich, dark crimson. After Óðin drained the mead, the containers were cast out onto the earth, splashing the dregs upon the ground. Beets were said to have gotten their colour from these drops.
Kvasir is attested in the Prose Edda and Heimskringla, and in the poetry of skalds. The story of the Mead of Poetry comes from the medieval Icelandic historian Snorri Sturluson, whose works can’t necessarily be taken at face value. However, we have good reasons for accepting this story as authentic, at least in its general outline. In Old Norse poetry, “Kvasir’s blood” (Kvasis dreyra) was an established kenning for poetry. There’s also a mythological narrative from India that closely resembles Snorri’s account of the Mead of Poetry. Both stories probably grew out of a common, and much older, Indo-European myth. However, in an excellent example of why it’s a bad idea to accept Snorri uncritically, Snorri contradicts this story in his description of the Aesir-Vanir War itself. There, he claims that Kvasir was a Vanir god who went to live with the Aesir when the two tribes exchanged hostages long before the peace treaty was established. Of course, if Kvasir was only created after the war had ended, it would have been impossible for him to have been alive during the war. Since Snorri’s account of the Mead of Poetry is corroborated by outside evidence and his account of the Aesir-Vanir war is not, the most reasonable interpretation is that his account of the Aesir-Vanir War is wrong, at least on this point.
According to the Prose Edda, Kvasir was instrumental in the capture and binding of Loki, and an euhemerized account of the god appears in Heimskringla, where he is attested as the wisest among the Vanir. Scholars have also connected Kvasir to methods of beverage production and peacemaking practices among ancient peoples.
Attestations
In the Prose Edda, Kvasir appears in the books Gylfaginning and Skáldskaparmál. Kvasir is mentioned a single time in Gylfaginning; in chapter 50, where the enthroned figure of High tells Gangleri (Gylfi in disguise) of how Loki was caught by the gods after being responsible for the murder of the god Baldr. In the chapter, High says that while Loki was hiding from the gods, he often took the form of a salmon during the day and swam in the waterfall Franangrsfors. Loki considered what sort of device that the gods might craft to catch him there, and so, sitting in his four-door mountain lookout house, knotted together linen thread in “which ever since the net has been”. THis design was given to Loki by the giantess Ran (wife of Ægir) known as the goddess of the deeps. Loki noticed that the gods were not far away from him, and that Odin had spotted him from Hliðskjálf. Loki sat before a fire, and when he noticed the gods were coming near him, he threw the net into the fire and jumped up and slipped into the river. The gods reached Loki’s house, and the first to enter was Kvasir, who High describes as “the wisest of all”. Kvasir saw the shape of the net in the ash of the fire, and so realized its purpose; to catch fish. And so Kvasir told the gods about it. The gods used the shape found in the ash as their model, and with it fished Loki from the river to make him their prisoner, later binding him in torment until the coming of Ragnarök.
In Skáldskaparmál, Kvasir is mentioned several times. In chapter 57 of the book, Ægir asks the skaldic god Bragi where the craft of poetry originated. Bragi says that the Æsir once wrangled with the Vanir (see Æsir–Vanir War) but eventually came together to make peace. The two groups decided to form a truce by way of both sides spitting into a vat. After they left, the gods kept the vat as a symbol of their truce, “and decided not to let it be wasted and out of it made a man”. The man was named Kvasir, and he was extremely wise; he knew the answer to any question posed to him. Kvasir traveled far and wide throughout the world teaching mankind and spreading his vast knowledge. In time, two dwarfs, Fjalar and Galar, invited Kvasir to their home for a private talk. Upon Kvasir’s arrival, the two dwarfs killed him, and drained his blood into three objects. Two of the objects were vats, called Són and Boðn, and the third was a pot called Óðrerir. Fjalar and Galar mixed the blood with honey and made mead of it. Whoever drank of it would become a poet or scholar (Kvasir’s blood had become the Mead of Poetry). The two dwarfs explained to the Æsir that Kvasir had died from “suffocating in his own intelligence”, as there were none among them who were so well educated as to be able to pose him questions. Bragi then tells how the Mead of Poetry, by way of the god Odin, ultimately came into the hands of mankind.
In chapter 2 Skáldskaparmál, poetic ways of referring to poetry are provided, including “Kvasir’s blood”. In reference, part of Vellekla by the 10th century Icelandic skald Einarr skálaglamm is provided, where the term “Kvasir’s blood” for ‘poetry’ is used. Further, in chapter 3, a prose narrative mentions that the Kvasir’s blood was made into the Mead of Poetry.
Kvasir is mentioned in an euhemerized account of the origin of the gods in chapter 4 of Ynglinga saga, contained within Heimskringla. The chapter narrative explains that Odin waged war on the Vanir, yet the Vanir could not be defeated, and so the two decided to exchange hostages in a peace agreement. Kvasir, here a member of the Vanir and described as the “cleverest among them”, is included among the hostages.
Name
The etymology of the name is uncertain. The root kvas- in Kvas-ir likely stems from the Proto-Germanic base *kvass-, meaning “to squeeze, squash, crush, bruise”. Regarding this etymology, linguist Albert Morey Sturtevant comments that “fluids may result from the crushing or pressing of an object (cf. Dan. kvase ‘to crush something in order to squeeze out the juice’). Hence we are justified in assuming the stem syllable in kvas-ir has reference to the fluid (saliva) out of which he was created and that the name Kvas-ir denotes the person who possesses the characteristic qualities inherent in this fluid, viz., poetic inspiration and wisdom.”
The same root kvas- may also be related to kvass, a fermented drink of the Slavic peoples. The common Slavic word stems from Proto-Slavic *kvasъ (“leaven”, “fermented drink”) and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European base kwat. This etymological connection, as considered by some scholars (Alexander Afanasyev, Richard Heinzel, Jooseppi Julius Mikkola, Georges Dumézil, et al.), is motivated by the consideration of kvasir as a personification of fermented beverages.
Interpretations
Rudolf Simek comments that kvasir likely originally referred to juice squeezed from berries and then fermented. In some ancient cultures, berries were communally chewed before being spat into a container, which exactly parallels Kvasir’s mythical creation.
Simek says that Snorri’s description is further proven faithful by way of the (above-mentioned) 10th-century skaldic kenning “Kvasir’s blood” (Old Norse Kvasis dreya). He also points out strong parallels exist between the Old Norse tale of the theft of the Mead of Poetry by Odin (in the form of an eagle) and the Sanskrit tale of the theft of Soma (beverage of the gods) by the god Indra (or an eagle), and that these parallels point to a common Proto-Indo-European basis.
Further, the mixing of spit in a vat between the two groups of gods points to an ancient basis for the myth: The customs of mixing spittle and the group drinking of intoxicating beverage are well rooted in traditional peacemaking and group binding customs among various ancient peoples.
There’s no evidence that there was ever a cult of Kvasir. He seems to have been solely a literary figure who epitomized the qualities of the Mead of Poetry. Since the Mead of Poetry became the exclusive property of Odin shortly after its production, it should come as no surprise that the defining characteristics of Kvasir’s personality are all attributes that are more commonly and more powerfully associated with Odin himself. Kvasir is a “dead god” of creative inspiration, poetry and diplomacy. He is not an independent being, so much as belonging to Óðin, as the All-Father’s muse. Having been absorbed by Óðin, the All Father is looked to by most modern North pagans as the god of poetry.
More of an Alfar, Kvasir is among the exalted dead, and his ancestral memory is sometimes invoked in North pagan ceremony. Spiritual work with him is likely to involve Óðin. Kvasir perhaps can be thought of as a different, distinct side of Óðin, like Frigga and her handmaids. Skaldic tradition holds that skalds began poetry sessions by referencing how the All-Father initiated them by giving them a sip of Óðrerir to drink. There’s no evidence that there was a cult dedicated specifically to Kvasir, but consumption of an alcoholic beverage in which he symbolically resided may indeed have been a part of skaldic initiations. As the god of ritual drink-sharing, Kvasir is sometimes called upon to help with sumbel or ritual toasting. He can be thought of the sacred present during a sumbel or blót, and called upon to help them go well.
Poetry and metaphor are the language of the divine, capable of describing the immortal and incomprehensible in human language. It is the medium through which the spiritual teachings of the North were passed on. Óðrerir means “Stirrer of Inspiration” or “Wod-stirrer.” Wod is the spark of passion or creative drive within you, which manifests whenever you feel the urge to jump in and give yourself whole-heartedly to an activity. It shows up both in artistic inspiration, berserker frenzy, and sexual passion.
The ritual imbibing of psychotropic substances (in which the spirit of a god dwells) can be found in traditions around the world. In Christianity, the Communion wine comes to mind. In some historical Hindu practices, a sacred drink is consumed in ritual called Soma. Soma is also the name of a deity who was transmuted into the liquid, which was safeguarded by the god Indra, who stole Soma similar to the way to Óðin stole Óðrerir: by taking the form of an eagle.
As the god-turned-substance who brings both wisdom and madness, and whom was struck down by primordial entities (dwarfs/titans), Kvasir has archetypal connections with Dionysus of Greece. As Christianity, Hinduism, and Hellenism share a common Indo-European cultural-religious seed, we can assume this is the same deity expressing himself through these differing cultural lenses.
Modern scholars have noted a connection between Kvasir and the Holy Grail of Celtic legend. This was a filled chalice which could restore wisdom to a land which had fallen into chaos. The Grail is depicted as having a consciousness of its own, speaking to the knights of the round table in dreams, and calling them to it. Skalds had the power, through their songs, praises or roasts, to make, restore, maintain or tear down the reputation of rulers. Just so, the Grail had the power to return to Arthur the power to rule. Folklorists have noticed similarities between Kvasir and the English figure, John Barleycorn, a divine being whom is ritually consumed by his worshipers.
Suggested Signs and Symbols
Mead, and other festive alcoholic drinks. Toasts, saliva, “spitting on it” truces, poems, skalds and bards. Beetroot, ritual drinking horns, cups and chalices.
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