Louis Huard - Giant Suttung and the Dwarfs

In Norse mythology, Suttungr ( ;

Old Norse Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and their overseas settlemen ...

: ) was a ''

jötunn A (also jotun; in the normalised scholarly spelling of Old Norse, ; ; plural / ) or, in Old English, (plural ) is a type of supernatural being in Germanic mythology. In Norse mythology, they are often contrasted with gods ( Æsir and Vani ...

'' and the son of Gilling.

Mythology

Suttungr searched for his parents and threatened the dwarven brothers

Fjalar and Galar In Nordic mythology, Fjalar ( non, Fjalarr ) and his brother Galar ( non, Galarr ), were wicked dwarfs who killed Kvasir and turned his blood into the mead of poetry, which inspired poets. They appear in ''Skáldskaparmál''. Myth Fjalar and ...

who had killed them, tying them and some other dwarves who killed Gilling to a rock that would be submerged by the rising tide. The dwarves begged for Suttungr to spare their life and offered him the magical

mead of poetry In Norse mythology, the Poetic Mead or Mead of Poetry, also known as Mead of Suttungr, is a mythical beverage that whoever "drinks becomes a skald or scholar" able to recite any information and solve any question. This myth was reported by Snorri ...

. Suttungr took it and hid it in the center of the mountain

Hnitbjorg In Norse mythology, Hnitbjörg is the mountain abode of the giant Suttungr, where he placed the mead of poetry for safekeeping under the guardianship of his daughter Gunnlodr. Odin, with the help of Suttungr's brother Baugi, drilled a hole into th ...

, with his daughter Gunnlöð standing guard, whom he turned into a

witch Witchcraft traditionally means the use of magic or supernatural powers to harm others. A practitioner is a witch. In medieval and early modern Europe, where the term originated, accused witches were usually women who were believed to have us ...

in order to guard it. Odin eventually decided to obtain the mead. He worked for Baugi, Suttungr's brother, a

farmer A farmer is a person engaged in agriculture, raising living organisms for food or raw materials. The term usually applies to people who do some combination of raising field crops, orchards, vineyards, poultry, or other livestock. A farmer m ...

, for an entire summer, then asked for a small sip of the mead, which Suttungr refused. Baugi drilled into the mountain and Odin changed into a snake and slithered inside. Inside, Gunnlöð was on guard but he persuaded her to give him three sips in exchange for three nights of sex. Odin proceeded to drink all the mead in the three containers, changed into an eagle and escaped. Suttungr chased him in the shape of an eagle, but Odin was able to escape him and returned to Asgard.Suttung
Gunnlöð later bore Odin a son,

Bragi Bragi (; Old Norse: ) is the skaldic god of poetry in Norse mythology. Etymology The theonym Bragi probably stems from the masculine noun ''bragr'', which can be translated in Old Norse as 'poetry' (cf. Icelandic ''bragur'' 'poem, melody, wise ...

Notes

{{Norse mythology Jötnar