Britannica
Sources used in this answer
How did Odin obtain the mead of poetry in Norse mythology?
Created from Britannica articles
using AI.
AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
Germanic religion and mythology
Battle scenes and ships depicted on a memorial stone from Gotland, Sweden, late 8th century. In the third panel from the top, a warrior is being hanged in a tree as a sacrifice to Odin, whose cult is represented by an eagle and a twisted knot.
In Norse mythology, the mead of poetry was created from the blood of Kvasir, a being of immense wisdom born from the saliva of the Aesir and Vanir gods. After two dwarfs murdered Kvasir, they mixed his blood with honey to brew the sacred mead, which granted poetic inspiration and wisdom to those who consumed it.12
The mead eventually came into the possession of a giant. Odin, the god of inspired mental activity, stole the beverage from the giant’s stronghold. To escape, he transformed into an eagle and carried the mead in his crop, later regurgitating it upon reaching the dwelling of the gods. Because of this myth, early skalds often referred to poetry as "Odin’s theft" or "Kvasir’s blood".23