Part 4

We have seen (Nos. 72, 73) that the mead which was brewed from the three subterranean liquids destroys the effects of death and gives new vitality to the departed, and that the same liquid is absorbed by the roots of the world-tree, and in its trunk is distilled into that sap which gives the tree eternal life. From the stem the mead rises into the foliage of the crown, whose leaves nourish the fair giver of "the sparkling drink," in Grímnismál symbolised as Heidrun, from the streams of whose teats the mead-horns in Asgard are filled for the einherjes. The morning dew which falls from Yggdrasil down into the dales of the lower world contains the same elements. From the bridle of Hrimfaxi and from the horses of the valkyries some of the same dew also falls in the valleys of Midgard (see No. 74). The flowers receive it in their chalices, where the bees extract it, and thus is produced the earthly honey which man uses, and from which he brews his mead (cp. Gylfaginning 16). Thus the latter too contains some of the strength of Mimir's and Urd's fountains (veigar - see Nos. 72, 73), and thus it happens that it is able to stimulate the mind and inspire poetry and song - nay, used with prudence, it may suggest excellent expedients in important emergencies (cp. Tacitus, Germania).

Thus the world-tree is among the Teutons, as it is among their kinsmen the Iranians (see below), a mead-tree. And so it was called by the latter, possibly also by the former. The name mjötviður, with which the world-tree is mentioned in Völuspá 2 and whose origin and meaning have been so much discussed, is from a mythological standpoint satisfactorily explained if we assume that an older word, mjöðviður, the mead-tree, passed into the word similar in sound, mjötviður, the tree of fate (from mjöt, measure; cp. mjötuður in the sense of fate, the power which gives measure, and the Anglo-Saxon metod, Old Saxon metod, the giver of measure, fate, providence).

The sap of the world-tree and the veigar of the horn of the lower world are not, however, precisely the same mead as the pure and undefiled liquid from Mimir's fountain, that which Odin in his youth, through self-sacrifice, was permitted to taste, nor is it precisely the same as that concerning the possession of which the powers of mythology long contended, before it finally, through Odin's adventures at Suttung's, came to Asgard. The episodes of this conflict concerning the mead will be given as my investigation progresses, so far as they can be discovered. Here we must first examine what the heathen records have preserved in regard to the closing episode in which the conflict was ended in favour of Asgard. What the Younger Edda (Bragaræður) tells about it I must for the present leave entirely unnoticed, lest the investigation should go astray and become entirely abortive.

The chief sources are the Hávamál strophes 104-110, and strophes 13 and 14. Subordinate sources are Grímnismál 50 and Ynglingatal 2 (Ynglingasaga 12). To this must be added half a strophe by Eyvind Skaldaspillir (Skáldskaparmál 9).

The statements of the chief source have, strange to say, been almost wholly unobserved, while the mythologists have confined their attention to the later presentation in Bragaræðuur, which cannot be reconciled with the earlier accounts, and which from a mythological standpoint is worse than worthless. In 1877 justice was for the first time done to Hávamál in the excellent analysis of the strophes in question made by Prof. M. B. Richerts, in his "Attempts at explaining the obscure passages not hitherto understood in the poetic Edda".

From Hávamál alone we get directly or indirectly the following: The giant Suttung, also called Fjalar, has acquired possession of the precious mead for which Odin longs. The Asa-father resolves to capture it by cunning.

There is a feast at Fjalar's. Guests belonging to the clan of rimthurses are gathered in his halls (Hávamál 110). Besides these we must imagine that Suttung-Fjalar's own nearest kith and kin are present. The mythology speaks of a separate clan entirely distinct from the rimthurses, known as Suttungs synir (Alvíssmál, Skírnismál; see No. 78), whose chief must be Suttung-Fjalar, as his very name indicates. The Suttung kin and the rimthurses are accordingly gathered at the banquet on the day in question.

An honoured guest is expected, and a golden high-seat prepared for him awaits his arrival. From the continuation of the story we learn that the expected guest is the wooer or betrothed of Suttung-Fjalar's daughter, Gunnlod. On that night the wedding of the giant's daughter is to be celebrated.

Odin arrives, but in disguise. He is received as the guest of honour, and is conducted to the golden high-seat. It follows of necessity that the guise assumed by Odin, when he descends to the mortal foes of the gods and of himself, is that of the expected lover. Who the latter was Hávamál does not state, unless strophe 110:5, like so many other passages, is purposely ambiguous and contains his name, a question which I shall consider later.

After the adventure has ended happily, Odin looks back with pleasure upon the success with which he assumed the guise of the stranger and played his part (str. 107). Vel keypts litar hefi eg vel notið: "From the well changed exterior I reaped great advantage". In regard to the mythological meaning of litur, see No. 95. The expression keyptur litur, which literally means "purchased appearance," may seem strange, but kaupa means not only to "buy," but also to "change," "exchange"; kaupa klæðum við einn means "to change clothes with some one". Of a queen who exchanged her son with a slave woman, it is said that she keypti um sonu við ambátt. But the cause of Odin's joy is not that he successfully carried out a cunning trick, but that he in this way accomplished a deed of inestimable value for Asgard and for man (str. 107:4-6), and he is sorry that poor Gunnlod's trust in him was betrayed (str. 105). This is a characterisation of Odin's personality.

Nor does Hávamál tell us what hinders the real lover from putting in his appearance and thwarting Odin's plan, while the latter is acting his part; but of this we learn something from another source, which we shall consider below.

The adventure undertaken by Odin is extremely dangerous, and he ran the risk of losing his head (str. 106:6). For this reason he has, before entering Suttung-Fjalar's halls, secured an egress, through which he must be able to fly, and, if possible, with the skaldic mead as his booty. There is no admittance for everybody to the rocky abode where the mead-treasure so much desired by all powers is kept. The dwelling is, as Eyvind tells us, situated in an abyss, and the door is, as another record tells us, watched. But Odin has let Rati bore ("gnaw") a tunnel through the mountain large enough to give him room to retire secretly (str. 106). In regard to Rati, see No. 82.

When the pretended lover has seated himself in the golden high-seat, a conversation begins around the banquet table. It is necessary for Odin to guard well his words, for he represents another person, well known there, and if he is not cautious he may be discovered. It is also necessary to be eloquent and winning, so that he may charm Gunnlod and secure her devotion, for without her knowledge he cannot gain his end, that of carrying away the supply of inspiration-mead kept at Suttung's. Odin also boasts (str. 103, 104) that on this occasion he proved himself minnugr and málugur and margfróður and eloquent for the realisation of his plan.

During the progress of the feast the guest had his glass filled to his honour with the precious mead he desired to obtain. "Gunnlod gave me on the golden seat the drink of the precious mead" (str. 105).

Then the marriage ceremony was performed, and on the holy ring Gunnlod took to Odin the oath of faithfulness (str. 110).

It would have been best for the Asa-father if the banquet had ended here, and the bridegroom and the bride had been permitted to betake themselves to the bridal chamber. But the jolly feast is continued and the horns are frequently filled and emptied. Hávamál does not state that the part played by Odin required him to be continually drinking; but we shall show that Gunnlod's wooer was the champion drinker of all mythology, and in the sagas he has many epithets referring to this quality. Odin became on his own confession "drunk, very drunk, at Fjalar's". "The hern of forgetfulness which steals one's wit and understanding hovers over his drink" (str. 13, 15).

In this condition he let drop words which were not those of caution-words which sowed the seed of suspicion in the minds of some of his hearers who were less drunk. He dropped words which were not spelt with letters of intelligence and good sense - words which did not suit the part he was playing.

At last the banquet comes to an end, and the bridegroom is permitted to be alone with the bride in that rocky ball which is their bed-chamber. There is no doubt that Odin won Gunnlod's heart, "the heart of that good woman whom I took in my embrace" (str. 108). With her help he sees his purpose attained and the mead in his possession. But the suspicions which his reckless words had sown bear fruit in the night, and things happen which Hávamál does not give a full account of, but of a kind which would have prevented Odin from getting out of the giant-gard, had he not had Gunnlod's assistance (str. 108). Odin was obliged to fight and rob Gunnlod of a kinsman (str. 110 - hann lét grætta Gunnlöðu; see Rich., p. 17). Taking the supply of mead with him, he takes flight by the way Rati had opened for him - a dangerous way, for "above and below me were the paths of the giants" (str. 106).

It seems to have been the custom that the wedding guests on the morning of the next day went to the door of the bridal-chamber to hear how the newly-married man was getting on in his new capacity of husband. According to Hávamál, Suttung's guests, the rimthurses, observe this custom; but the events of the night change their inquiries into the question whether Odin had succeeded in escaping to the gods or had been slain by Suttung (str. 109, 110).

Thus far Hávamál. We must now examine Grímnismál 50 and Ynglingatal 2, whose connection with the myth concerning Odin's exploit in the home of Suttung-Fjalar has not hitherto been noticed.

Odin says in Grímnismál:

Sviður og Sviðrir
er eg hét að Sökkmímis,
og duldag þann inn aldna jötun,
þá er eg Miðvitnis vark
ins mæra burar
orðinn einbani.

"Sviður and Sviðrir I was called at Sokkmimir's, and I presented myself to the ancient giant, at the time when I alone became the slayer of Midvitnir's famous son."

Ynglingatal (15) reads:

En dagskjarr
Durnis niðja
salvörðuður
Svegði vélti,
þá er í stein
inn stórgeði
Dulsa konur
eft dvergi hljóp
og salur bjartur
þeirra Sökkmímis
jötunbyggður
við jöfri gein.

"The day-shy hall-guard of Durnir's descendants deceived Svegðir when he, the dauntless son of Dulsi, ran after the dwarf into the rock, and when the shining giant-inhabited hall of Sökkmímir's kinsmen yawned against the chief." (In regard to Dulsi, see No. 83.)

What attracts attention in a comparison of these two strophes is that the epithet Sökkmímir is common to both of them, while this name does not occur elsewhere in the whole Old Norse literature.

In both the strophes Sökkmímir is a giant. Grímnismál calls him inn aldna jötun, "the ancient giant," with which we may compare Odin's words in Hávamál 104: inn aldna jötun eg sótta, "the ancient giant I sought," when he visited that giant-chief, to whose clan Suttung-Fjalar, the possessor of the skald-mead, belonged.

In both the strophes the giant Sökkmímir is the lord and chief of those giants to whom, according to Grímnismál, Odin comes, and outside of whose hall-door, according to Ynglingatal, a certain Svegðir is deceived by the ward of the hall. This position of Sökkmímir in relation to his surroundings already appears, so far as Grímnismál is concerned, from the expression að Sökkmímis, which means not only "with Sokkmimir," but also "at Sokkmimir's," that is to say, with that group of kinsmen and in that abode where Sokkmimir is chief and ruler. It is with this giant-chief, and in his rocky hall, that Miðvitnir and his son sojourns when Odin visits him, presents himself to him, and by the name Sviður (Sviðrir) acts the part of another person, and in this connection causes Midvitnir's death. The same quality of Sokkmimir as clan-chief and lord appears in the Ynglingatal strophe, in the form that the hall, outside of whose door Svegdir was deceived, is þeirra Sökkmímis, that is to say, is the abode of Sokkmimir's kinsmen and household, "is their giant-home". Thus all the giants who dwell there take their clan-name from Sokkmimir.

The appellation Sökkmímir is manifestly not a name in the strictest sense, but one of the epithets by which this ancient giant-chief could be recognised in connection with mythological circumstances. We shall point out these mythological circumstances further on.

The Ynglingatal strophe gives us, in fact, another epithet for the same mythic person. What the latter half of the strophe calls the hall of Sokkmimir's kinsmen and household, the former half of the same strophe calls the hall of Durnir's descendants. Thus Sokkmimir and Durnir are the same person.

Durnir, on the other hand, is a variation of Durinn (cp. the parallel variations Dvalnir and Dvalinn). Of Durinn we already know (see No. 53) that he is one of the ancient beings of mythology who in time's morning, together with Modsognir-Mimir and in accordance with the resolve of the high-holy powers, created clans of artists. One of the artists created by Durin, and whose father he in this sense became, is, according to Völuspá 11, Mjöðvitnir. Rask and Egilsson have for philological reasons assumed that Miðvitnir and Mjöðvitnir are variations of the same name, and designate the same person (mjöður, in the dative miði). It here appears that the facts confirm this assumption. Durinn and Mjöðvitnir in Völuspá correspond to Durnir and Miðvitnir in the strophes concerning Sökkmímir.

Mjöðvitnir means the mead-wolf, he who captured the mead celebrated in mythology. As Odin, having assumed the name of another, visits the abode of the descendants of Durnir-Sokkmimir, he accordingly visits that rocky home, where that giant dwells who has secured and possesses the mead desired by Odin.

Ynglingatal reports, as we have seen, that a certain Svegðir was deceived, when he was outside of the door of the hall of the kinsmen of Durnir-Sokkmimir. He who deceived him was the doorkeeper of the hall. The door appeared to be already open, and the "giant-inhabited" hall "yawned" festively illuminated (bjartur) toward Svegdir. If we may believe Ynglingatal's commentary on the strophe, the hall-ward had called to him and said that Odin was inside. The strophe represents Svegdir as running after the hall-ward, that is to say, toward the door in the rock, eager to get in. What afterwards happened Ynglingatal does not state; but that Svegdir did not gain the point he desired, but fell into some snare laid by the doorkeeper, follows from the expression that he was deceived by him, and that this caused his death follows from the fact that the purpose of the strophe is to tell how his life ended. Ynglingasaga says that he got into the rock, but never out of it. The rest that this saga has to say of Svegdir - that he was on a journey to the old Asgard in "Tyrkland," to find "Odin the old," Gylfaginning's King Priam - has nothing to do with the mythology and with Ynglingatal, but is of course important in regard to the Euhemeristic hypothesis in regard to the descent of the Asas from Tyrkland (Troy), on which the author of Ynglingatal, like that of Gylfaginning, bases his work.

The variations Svegðir, Svigðir, and Sveigðir are used interchangeably in regard to the same person (cp. Ynglingasaga 1, 2; Hversu Noregr byggðist 4; Fornm., 1. 29; and Egilsson, 796, 801). Svigðir seems to be the oldest of these forms. The words means the great drinker (Egilsson, 801). Svigðir was one of the most popular heroes of mythology (see the treatise on the "Ivaldi race"), and was already in heathen times regarded as a race-hero of the Swedes. In Ynglingatal 1 Svithiod is called geiri Svigðis, "Svigdir's domain". At the same time, Svegðir is an epithet of Odin. But it should be borne in mind that several of the names by which Odin is designated belong to him only in a secondary and transferred sense, and he has assumed them on occasions when he did not want to be recognised, and wanted to represent some one else (cp. Grímnismál 49) whose name he then assumed.

When Odin visits the abode of Durinn-Sokkmimir, where the precious mead is preserved, he calls himself, according to Grímnismál, Sviðurr, Sviðrir. Now it is the case with this name as with Svigðir, that it was connected with Svithiod. Skáldskaparmál 81 says that Svíþjóð var kallað af nafni Sviðurs, "Svithiod was named after the name of Svidur".

Hence (1) the name Sviðurr, like Svegðir-Svigðir, belongs to Odin, but only in a secondary sense, as one assumed or borrowed from another person; (2) Sviðurr, like Svegðir-Svigðir, was originally a mythic person, whom tradition connected as a race hero with Svithiod.

From all this it appears that the names, facts, and the chain of events connect partly the strophes of Grímnismál and Ynglingatal with each other, and partly both of these with Hávamál's account of Odin's adventure to secure the mead, and this connection furnishes indubitable evidence that they concern the same episode in the mythological epic.

In the mythic fragments handed down to our time are found other epithets, which, like Svigðir, refer to some mythical person who played the part of a champion drinker, and was connected with the myth concerning mead and brewing. These epithets are Ölvaldi, Ölmóður, and Sumbli finnakonungr, Sumblus phinnorum rex in Saxo. Sumbl, as a common noun, means ale, feast. In the "Finn-king" Sumbli these ideas are personified, just as the soma-drink in the Veda songs is personified in King Soma. In my treatise on the Ivaldi race, I shall revert to the person who had these epithets, in order to make his mythological position clear. Here I shall simply point out the following: Hávamál 110 makes one of the rimthurses, Suttung's guests, say:

Baugeið Óðinn
hygg eg að unnið hafi;
hvað skal hans tryggðum trúa?
Suttung svikinn
hann lét sumbli frá
og grætta Gunnlöðu.

The strophe makes the one who says this blame Odin for breaking the oath he took on the ring, and thus showing himself unworthy of being trusted in the promises and oaths he might give in the future, whereupon it is stated that he left Suttung deceitfully robbed of sumbl (Sumbli), and Gunnlod in tears over a lost kinsman.

The expression that Suttung was deceitfully robbed of sumbl, to be intelligible, requires no other interpretation than the one which lies near at hand, that Suttung was treacherously deprived of the mead. But as the skald might have designated the drink lost by Suttung in a more definite manner than with the word sumbl, and as he still chose this word, which to his hearers, familiar with the mythology, must have called to mind the personal Sumbli (Ölvaldi-Svigðir), it is not only possible, but, as it seems to me, even probable, that he purposely chose an ambiguous word, and wanted thereby to refer at the same time to the deceitfully captured mead, and to the intended son-in-law deceitfully lost; and this seems to me to be corroborated by the juxtaposition of Suttung's and Gunnlod's loss. The common noun sumbl's double meaning as mead and "drink-feast" has also led M. B. Richert (page 14 in his treatise mentioned above) to assume that "the expression was purposely chosen in such a manner that the meaning should not be entirely limited and definite," and he adds: "A similar indefiniteness of statement, which may give rise to ambiguity and play of words, is frequently found in the old songs". Meanwhile, I do not include this probability in my evidence, and do not present it as the basis of any conclusions.

The name Suttung shows in its very form that it is a patronymic, and although we can furnish no linguistic evidence that the original form was Surtungr and characterised its possessor as son of Surtur, still there are other facts which prove that such was actually the case. The very circumstance that the skaldic drink which came into Suttung's possession is paraphrased with the expression sylgur Surts ættar, "the drink of Surt's race" (Fornmanna, iii. 3), points that way, and the question is settled completely by the half-strophe quoted in the Younger Edda (Skáldskaparmál 9), and composed by Eyvind Skaldaspillir, where the skaldic potion is called -

hinn er Surts
úr sökkdölum
farmögnuður
fljúgandi bar. ("the drink, which Odin flying bore from Surt's deep dales").

When Odin had come safely out of Fjalar-Suttung's deep rocky halls, and, on eagle-pinions, was flying with the precious mead to Asgard, it was accordingly that deep, in which Surtur dwells, which he left below him, and the giant race who had been drinking the mead before that time, while it was still in Suttung's possession, was Surt's race. From this it follows that "the ancient giant," whom Odin visited for the purpose of robbing his circle of kinsmen of the skaldic mead, is none other than that being so well known in the mythology, Surtur, and that Surtur is identical with Durinn (Durnir), and Sökkmímir.

This also explains the epithet Sökkmímir, "the Mimir of the deep". Sökk- in Sökk-Mímir refers to Sökk- in Sökkdalir, Surt's domain, and that Surt could be associated with Mimir is, from the standpoint of Old Norse poetics, perfectly justifiable from the fact that he appears in time's morning as a co-worker with Mimir, and operating with him as one of the forces of creation in the service of the oldest high-holy powers (see No. 53). Consequently Mimir and Sokkmimir (Surtur-Durinn) created the clans of artists.

Surtr, Durinn, Durnir, Sökkmímir, are, therefore, synonyms, and designate the same person. He has a son who is designated by the synonyms Suttungur, Fjalar, Mjöðvitnir (Miðvitnir). Suttung has a son slain by Odin, when the latter robs him of the mead of inspiration, and a daughter, Gunnlod. The giant maid, deceived and deplored by Odin, is consequently the daughter of Surt's son.

Light is thus shed on the myth concerning the giant who reappears in Ragnarok, and there wields the sword which fells Frey and hurls the flames which consume the world. It is found to be connected with the myth concerning the oldest events of mythology. In time's morning we find the fire-being Surt - the representative of subterranean fire - as a creative force by the side of Mimir, who is a friend of the gods, and whose kinsman he must be as a descendant of Ymir. Both work together in peace for similar purposes and under the direction of the gods (Völuspá 9, 10). But then something occurs which interrupts the amicable relations. Mimir and Surt no longer work together. The fountain of creative force, the mead of wisdom and inspiration, is in the exclusive possession of Mimir, and he and Urd are together the ruling powers in the lower world. The fire-giant, the primeval artist, is then with his race relegated to the "deep dales," situated to the southward (Völuspá 52), difficult of access, and dangerous for the gods to visit, and presumably conceived as located deeper down than the lower world governed by Mimir and Urd. That he tried to get possession of a part of "Óðrærir" follows from the position he afterwards occupies in the myth concerning the mead. When daylight again falls on him from the mythic fragments extant, his son has captured and is in possession of a supply of mead, which must originally have come from Mimir's fountain, and been chiefly composed of its liquid, for it is skaldic mead, it too, and can also be designated as Óðrærir (Hávamál 107), while the son is called "the mead-wolf," the one who has robbed and conceals the precious drink. Odin captures his mead by cunning, the grandson of the fire-giant is slain, the devoted love of the son's daughter is betrayed, and the husband selected for her is deceived and removed. All this, though done for purposes to benefit gods and men, demands and receives in the mythology its terrible retribution. It is a trait peculiar to the whole Teutonic mythology that evil deeds, with a good purpose, even when the object is attained, produce evil results, which develop and finally smother the fruits of the good purpose. Thus Surt has a reason for appearing in Ragnarok as the annihilator of the world of the Asas, when the latter is to make room for a realm of justice. The flames of revenge are hurled upon creation.

I have already above (No. 87) had occasion to speak of the choicest sword of mythology, the one which Volund smithied and Mimir captured, and which was fetched from the lower world by a hero whose name Saxo Latinised into Hotherus. In my treatise on "the Ivaldi race" it shall be demonstrated who this Hotherus was in mythology, and that the sword was delivered by him to Frey. Lokasenna (42; cp. Gylfaginning 37), informs us that the lovesick Frey gave the sword to the giant Gymir for his bride. After coming into the hands of the giants it is preserved and watched over until Ragnarok by Eggþér (an epithet meaning sword-watcher), who in the Ironwood is the shepherd of the monster herd of Loki's progeny, which in the last days shall harry the world and fight in Ragnarok (Völuspá 40-42). When Ragnarok is at hand a giant comes to this sword-watcher in the guise of the red cock, the symbol of the destructive fire. This giant is Fjalar (Völuspá 42), and that the purpose of his visit is to secure the sword follows from the fact that the best sword of mythology is shortly afterwards in the hands of his father Surt (Völuspá 52) when the latter comes from the south with his band (the sons of Suttung, not of Muspell) to take part in the last conflict and destroy with fire that part of the world that can be destroyed. Frey is slain by the sword which was once his own.

In this manner the myth about the mead and that about the Volund sword are knit together.

Thor, too, ventured to visit Fjalar's abode. In regard to this visit we have a few words in strophe 26 of Hárbarðsljóð. Hárbarður accuses Thor, no doubt unjustly, of having exhibited fear. Of this matter we have no reliable details in the records from heathendom, but a comparison of the above strophe of Hárbarðsljóð with Gylfaginning shows that the account compiled in Gylfaginning from various mythic fragments concerning Thor's journey to Utgarda-Loki and his adventures there contains reminiscences of what the original myths have had to say about his experiences on his expedition to Fjalar's. The fire-giant natures of Surt and of his son Fjalar gleam forth in the narrative: the ruler of Utgard can produce earthquakes, and Logi (the flame) is his servant. It is also doubtlessly correct, from a mythical standpoint, that he is represented as exceedingly skilful in "deluding," in giving things the appearance of something else than they really are (see No. 39). When Odin assumed the guise of Fjalar's son-in-law, he defeated Surt's race with their own weapons.

Eyvind Skaldaspillir states, as we have seen, that Surt's abode is in dales down in the deep. From an expression in Ynglingasaga's strophe we must draw the conclusion that its author, in harmony herewith, conceived the abyss where Surt's race dwelt as regions to which the light of day never comes. Sokkmimir's doorkeeper, one of whose tasks it was to take notice of the wayfarers who approached, is a day-shy dwarf (dagskjarr salvörðuður; in regard to dwarfs that shun the light of day, see Alvíssmál). Darkness therefore broods over this region, but in the abode of the fire-giant it is light (the hall is bjartur).

I now return to the episodes in the mead-myth under discussion to recapitulate in brief the proofs and results. If we for a moment should assume that the main source, namely, the Hávamál strophes, together with Eyvind's half strophe, were lost, and that the only remaining evidences were Grímnismál 50 and Ynglingatal 2, together with the prose text in Ynglingasaga, then an analysis of these would lead to the following result:

(1) Grímnismál 50 and Ynglingatal 2 should be compared with each other. The reasons for assuming them to be intrinsically connected are the following:

(a) Both contain the epithet Sökkmímir, which occurs nowhere else.

(b) Both describe a primeval giant, who is designated by this epithet as chief and lord of a giant race gathered around him.

(c) Both refer the events described to the same locality: the one tells what occurred in the halls of Sökkmímir; the other narrates an episode which occurred outside of the door of Sökkmimir's giant abode.

(d) The one shows that Sökkmímir is identical with Durnir (Durinn); the other mentions Miðvitnir as one of Sökkmímir's subjects. Miðvitnir (Mjöðvitnir), according to Völuspá, was created by Durinn.

(e) Both describe events occurring while Odin is inside at Sökkmímir's.

(f) The one mentions Sviðurr, the other Svegðir. Mythologically, the two names refer to each other.

(2) To the giant group which Odin visits in the abode of Sökkmímir belongs the giant who captured the famous mead which Odin is anxious to secure. This appears from the epithet which the author of the Grímnismál strophe chose in order to designate him in such a manner that he could be recognised, namely, Miðvitnir, "the mead-wolf," an epithet which explains why the mead-thirsty Odin made his journey to this race hostile to the gods.

(3) That Odin did not venture, or did not think it desirable in connection with the purpose of his visit, to appear in his own name and in a guise easily recognised, is evident from the fact that he "disguised" himself, "acted the hypocrite" (dulda), in the presence of the giant, and appeared as another mythic person, Sviðurr.

This mythic person has been handed down in the traditions as the one who gave the name to Svithiod, and as a race-hero of the Swedes. Svíþjóð var kallað af nafni Sviðurs.

(4) While Odin, in the guise of this race-hero, plays his part in the mountain in the abode of Sökkmímir, a person arrives at the entrance of the halls of this giant. This person, Svegðir (Svigðir), is in the sagas called the race-hero of the Swedes, and after him they have called Svithiod geiri Svigðis. Odin, who acted Sviðurr's part, has also been called Svigðir, Svegðir.

Svigðir is an epithet, and means "the champion drinker" (Anglo-Saxon swig: to drink deep draughts). "The champion drinker" is accordingly on his way to the "Mead-wolf," while Odin is in his abode. All goes to show that the event belongs to the domain of the mead-myth.

Accordingly, the situation is this: A pretended race-hero and namer of Svithiod is in the abode of Sokkmimir, while a person who, from a mythological standpoint, is the real race-hero and namer of Svithiod is on his way to Sokkmimir's abode and about to enter. The myth could not have conceived the matter in this way, unless the pretended race-hero was believed to act the part of the real one. The arrival of the real one makes Odin's position, which was already full of peril, still more dangerous, and threatens him with discovery and its consequences.

(5) If Odin appeared in the part of a "champion drinker," he was compelled to drink much in Sokkmimir's halls in order to maintain his part, and this, too, must have added to the danger of his position.

(6) Still the prudent Asa-father seems to have observed some degree of caution, in order that his plans might not be frustrated by the real Svigðir. That which happens gives the strongest support to this supposition, which in itself is very probable. Sokkmimir's doorkeeper keeps watch in the darkness outside. When he discovers the approach of Svigðir, he goes to meet him and informs him that Odin is inside. Consequently the doorkeeper knows that Sviðurr is Odin, who is unknown to all those within excepting to Odin himself. This and what follows seems to show positively that the wise Odin and the cunning dwarf act upon a settled plan. It may be delusion or reality, but Svigðir sees the mountain door open to the illuminated giant-hall, and the information that Odin is within (the dwarf may or may not have added that Odin pretends to be Svigðir) causes him, the "proud one," "of noble race," the kinsman of Dulsi (epithet of Mundilfori, see No. 83), to rush with all his might after the dwarf against the real or apparent door, and the result is that the dwarf succeeded in "deceiving" him (he vélti Svigdir), so that he never more was seen.

This is what we learn from the strophes in Grímnismál and Ynglingatal, with the prose text of the latter. If we now compare this with what Hávamál and Eyvind relate, we get the following parallels:

To this is finally to be added that Eyvind's statement, that the event occurred in Surt's Sökkdalir, helps to throw light on Surt's epithet Sökkmimir, and particularly that Ynglingatal's account of the arrival and fate of the real Svegdir fills a gap in Hávamál's narrative, and shows how Odin, appearing in the guise of another person who was expected, could do so without fear of being surprised by the latter.

NOTE. - The account in the Younger Edda about Odin's visit to Suttung seems to be based on some satire produced long after the introduction of Christianity. With a free use of the confused mythic traditions then extant, and without paying any heed to Hávamál's statement, this satire was produced to show in a semi-allegorical way how good and bad poetry originated. The author of this satire either did not know or did not care about the fact that Hávamál identifies Suttung and Fjalar. To him they are different persons, of whom the one receives the skaldic mead as a ransom from the other. While in Hávamál the rimthurses give Odin the name Bölverkur, "the evil-doer," and this very properly from their standpoint, the Younger Edda makes Odin give himself this name when he is to appear incognito, though such a name was not calculated to inspire confidence. While in Hávamál Odin, in the guise of another, enters Suttung's halls, is conducted to a golden high-seat, and takes a lively part in the banquet and in the conversation, the Younger Edda makes him steal into the mountain through a small gimlet-hole and get down into Gunnlod's chamber in this manner, where he remains the whole time without seeing anyone else of the people living there, and where, with Gunnlod's consent, he empties to the bottom the giant's three mead-vessels, Óðrærir, Boðn, and Són. These three names belong, as we have seen, in the real mythology to the three subterranean fountains which nourish the roots of the world-tree. Hávamál contents itself with using a poetic-rhetorical phrase and calling the skaldic mead, captured by Odin, Óðrærir, "the giver of inspiration," "the inspiring nectar". The author of the satire avails himself of this reason for using the names of the two other fountains Boðn and Són, and for applying them to two other "vessels and kettles" in which Suttung is said to have kept the mead. That he called one of the vessels a kettle is explained by the fact that the third lower world fountain is Hvergelmir, "the roaring kettle". In order that Odin and Gunnlod may be able to discuss and resolve in perfect secrecy in regard to the mead, Odin must come secretly down into the mountain, hence the satire makes him use the bored hole to get in. From the whole description in Hávamál, it appears, on the contrary, that Odin entered the giant's hall in the usual manner through the door, while he avails himself of the tunnel made by Rati to get out. Hávamál first states that Odin seeks the giant, and then tells how he enters into conversation and develops his eloquence in Suttung's halls, and how, while he sits in the golden high-seat (probably opposite the host, as Richter has assumed), Gunnlod hands him the precious mead. Then is mentioned for the first time the way made for him by Rati, and this on the one hand in connection with the "evil compensation" Gunnlod received from him, she the loving and devoted woman whom he had embraced, and on the other hand in connection with the fact that his flight from the mountain was successful, so that he could take the mead with him though his life was in danger, and there were giants' ways both above and below that secret path by which he escaped. That Odin took the oath of faithfulness on the holy ring, that there was a regular wedding feast with the questions on the next morning in regard to the well-being of the newly-married couple - all this the satire does not mention, nor does its premises permit it to do so.