The mead of poetry

THE MEAD OF POETRY

Some people, especially those of us who are fond of mead and its legends, have heard of the "mead of poetry", but what is its history?

Here another Nordic symbol of great fame comes into play: the horned triskel.

Let's go a little deeper...

The story goes that the triskel is formed by the three horns that Odin used to drink the magical mead of poetry.

And now you're wondering, where do these three horns come from?

Let's unravel the mystery.

THE THREE MEAD HORNS

As with everything that surrounds the Nordic peoples known as the Vikings, there are several theories about the three mead horns, but the most popular is that of the brothers Fjalar and Galar.

Both were known as the "dwarfs Fjalar and Glar", and it is said that moved by not good intentions, they dragged Kvasir (*) to his cave and killed him.

(*) Kvasir was a mythological god created from the saliva of all gods.

Kvasir was considered the wisest of the Vanir, but even so he was deceived by the dwarves and later killed.

Legend has it that the brothers Fjalar and Galar poured the blood of Kvasir mixed with honey into three horns called Odroerir, Boðn and Són.

After preserving this mixture, this fermented, and from it was born the magical mead, or mead of poetry, since drinking it inspired poets, who even became wise.

How Odin was made with the mead of poetry.

To get the mead of poetry it is said that Odin was in the company of Gunnlod, the daughter of the giant Suttung, whom his father ordered to keep the mead safely.

However, Odin persuaded her to let him drink three sips of mead, although each sip ended with a whole horn.

THE FLIGHT OF ODIN

Having achieved his purpose, Odin, converted into an eagle, escaped to Asgard.

His goal was to bring mead to his people and share it with the chosen ones.

They say that a few drops of mead escaped and fell when Odin tried to keep it in containers, which reached the human world.

These legends and stories take us deeper into the world of mead and invite us to learn more about the Vikings and their mythology.

We like to know this type of stories, because -even in their unreality- they revive pieces of the history of civilizations that preceded us.

Narratives of this kind help us to establish some kind of link between the earthly and the divine, and in part identify us as imperfect beings.

Today we can taste mead on our own Viking horns and share the juice with our friends and family. It is exciting to know that in our hands we have a juice that has inspired the invention of all kinds of myths and legends.

If you had not been convinced until now, I'm sure that from now on you will see mead with different eyes.

You want to try our mead? Visit our store and place your order. It will get you home quickly and comfortably.

And who knows, the same thing you dream about Odin drinking next to you.

Happy day and skål!