Step 8 of 8 · Sacrifice and What It Buys
Nine songs and the Mead
Why this step
The trail ends with what the poem says came after. In stanzas 139 and 140 the speaker learns nine mighty songs, drinks a measure of the Mead and then bears fruit, thrives and grows in wisdom: word follows word and deed follows deed. The entry reads it as a picture of how learning grows, one thing leading to the next.
The text, stanzas 139–140
139.
Nine mighty songs I learned from the great
son of Bale-thorn, Bestla's sire;
I drank a measure of the wondrous Mead,
with the Soulstirrer's drops I was showered.
140.
Ere long I bare fruit, and throve full well,
I grew and waxed in wisdom;
word following word, I found me words,
deed following deed, I wrought deeds.
- 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 139–140 (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
The speaker says he learned nine mighty songs, drank a measure of the Mead and then bore fruit, grew in wisdom and found words for words and deeds for deeds.