Odin Spirit: No Risk, No Return
In Viking belief, Odin was the chief god of Valhalla the kingdom of Aesir gods - major god tribe in Norse mythology. Odin was the god of sky, wisdom, war, and death. Odin had many qualities that the Vikings worshipped and wanted to have in their life. This blog post is all about Odin's ambition to gain what he wanted.
The story took us back to the time when Kvasir was killed by the two dwarf brothers. Long story short, Kvasir was a figure born as a peace seal for gods' war. He took up the life of a traveler. One day he came at the door of dwarves' house. The dwarves knew that the power of his blood. The blood of Kvasir then was brewed into the Mead of Poetry. Somehow, the Mead fell into the hands of a giant named Suttungr who later brought to mead into his house, storing it under the mountain and allowing only his daughter to see the mead.
Kvasir took up the life of wanderer traveling all around the world
The daughter was named Gunnlod who was in charge of guarding the Mead.
Odin learned of all the secrets. He set out to retrieve what belonged to the gods. He embarked on a journey to Jotunheim.
He approached Baugi's house - brother of Suttungr. Odin offered to sharpen to scythes of the slaves in the Baugi's house. The whetstone he used was so sharp that Odin finally cut off the throats of all the slaves.
Somehow he befriended Baugi and offered to do the work of the slaves since the slaves had killed each other. Odin called himself Bolverk proposed he would do the work but of course, it wasn't free. He wanted the Mead in exchange. Baugi did hesitate for a second because he knew how much Suttungr protected the Mead.
Then Bolverk (Odin in disguise) proposed to use a trick in which Baugi would give Odin a drill to make a hole into the mountain. Then a hole was finally made, Odin shapeshifted into a snake sneaking into the mountain with ease. Baugi realized that he was tricked by a mysterious man, and he attempted to hit the snake without hope.
Odin sneaked into the mountain where he finally met Gunnlod. There, Odin entertained Gunlodd for three nights in exchange for a try of the Mead. After three nights, Gunnlod allowed Odin to try the Mead with a horn. With three draughts of mead, he emptied all vessels of the Mead.
Gunnlod offered Odin with the Mead of Poetry
Odin then turned into an eagle flying up to Valhalla. Suttungr did try to catch Odin but he failed. Then the Mead finally belonged to Aesir gods - back to where it should have been.
From the story, we can see how much Odin had invested to get what he wanted in life. He wanted to have more knowledge and the power of the Mead, then he tried his best to achieve it at any cost.