The Poetic Edda on Suttung

The > Volume I > Introductory Note

• attestation: The stanza describes travel or movement involving Suttung.

  "104. I found the old giant, | now back have I fared, Small gain from silence I got; Full many a word, | my will to get, I spoke in Suttung's hall."

• attestation: The stanza references rulership or authority involving Suttung.

  "34. "Give heed, frost-rulers, | hear it, giants, Sons of Suttung, And gods, ye too, How I forbid | and how I ban The meeting of men with the maid, (The joy of men with the maid.)"

• relationship: The stanza references a son of Suttung.

  "34. "'Ale' among men, | 'Beer' the gods among, In the world of the Wanes 'The Foaming'; 'Bright Draught' with giants, | 'Mead' with dwellers in hell, 'The Feast-Draught' with Suttung's sons."

Thor spake:"

The > Volume I > Notes

• attestation: The giant Suttung possessed the magic mead; Odin changed into a snake, bored through a mountain, seduced Gunnloth, drank all the mead, and flew away as an eagle

  "The giant Suttung ("the old giant") possessed the magic mead, a draught of which conferred the gift of poetry. Othin, desiring to obtain it, changed himself into a snake, bored his way through a mountain into Suttung's home, made love to the giant's daughter, Gunnloth, and by her connivance drank up all the mead. Then he flew away in the form of an eagle, leaving Gunnloth to her fate."

• attestation: Suttung was the possessor of the mead of poetry

  "Concerning Suttung as the possessor of the mead of poetry, cf. Hovamol, 104"