Step 8 of 12 · Appetite, Ale and Measure
Gunnlod and the Mead of Song
Why this step
The poem tells the winning of the mead differently. In stanzas 104 to 106 the speaker says Gunnlod gave him a draught of the glorious mead on a golden throne, that he worked his will in a wily disguise, and that he paid her back poorly for her true and troubled heart. The card speaks of patience and careful negotiation; the poem admits to a disguise and a debt. The Mead of Song, he says, is now among men.
The text, stanzas 104–106
104.
'Twas Gunnlod who gave me on a golden throne
a draught of the glorious mead,
but with poor reward did I pay her back
for her true and troubled heart.
105.
In a wily disguise I worked my will;
little is lacking to the wise,
for the Soul-stirrer now, sweet Mead of Song,
is brought to men's earthly abode.
106.
I misdoubt me if ever again I had come
from the realms of the Jötun race,
had I not served me of Gunnlod, sweet woman,
her whom I held in mine arms.
- Olive Bray (editor and translator), The Elder or Poetic Edda, Commonly Known as Sæmund’s Edda, part I: The Mythological Poems (opens in a new tab) (1908), stanzas 104–106 (Bray’s numbering) Rights: Public domain. Published in 1908, so in the public domain in the United States. Text as edited online by D. L. Ashliman, Folklore and Mythology Electronic Texts, University of Pittsburgh.
From the Lorebook
Gunnlod gives the speaker a draught of the mead, and he admits he repaid her poorly. He says he could not have come back without her, and that the Mead of Song is now among men.