Mead of poetry

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The Horn containing the legendary Mead of Poetry.

In Norse mythology, the mead of poetry was a magic potion capable of giving the power of skaldship to any who drank it, as well as being the very first mead. In reality, the "Mead" referred to a serum developed by the Isu Capitoline Triad as an alternate potential solution to circumvent the Great Catastrophe. It was designed to serve as a catalyst which, when combined with advanced machinery like Yggdrasil, would enable the Isu to upload their essence into a human bloodline, so they could be incarnated as humans millennia in the future.

Mythology

Following the Æsir–Vanir War, the Æsir and Vanir cemented their truce by collectively spitting into a pot and creating the being Kvasir, who wandered Midgard dispensing knowledge to humanity and was renowned for being able to answer any question. While walking about one day, he met the dwarves Fjalar and Galar, who sought to steal his knowledge. The dwarves killed and bled him dry before mixing his blood with honey to create the "mead of poetry".

Some time later, after the pair had allegedly murdered Gillingr and his wife, their son Suttungr set out to avenge them, but the dwarves bargained the mead of poetry in exchange for their lives. Seeing the drink's value, Suttungr hid it inside the mountain Hnitbjorg in Jötunheimr to be guarded by himself and his daughter, Gunlǫðr. Odin would eventually steal the mead from the vault and meet Gunlǫðr, though accounts differed as to how the encounter played out after that.

History

The mead's real history was similar to the mythological version of the tale, although certain details differed. The serum was developed by Hyrrokin before Suttungr and Gunlǫðr seized and locked it away, deemed this method of surviving the solar flare too unethical, since it would pollute the human genome. However, Hyrrokin wished to use the mead to save her husband Aita, who had been left catatonic after testing a failed previous experiment, and so she devised a plan to secretly steal it.

Following Odin's capture by Angrboða and Loki, Hyrrokin saved him and informed him of the mead's location, enabling him to steal it. Odin then brought the serum to Mímisbrunnr, which was meant to receive the mead and synthesize it. After Odin sacrificed his left eye in payment in order to use it as a catalyst, the mead was synthesized, and Odin and Hyrrokin took a sample each.

Hyrrokin later further modified the technology, using it to create "Sages" of Aita, humans continually born with her late husband's memories. However, when Suttungr and Gunlǫðr learned of her role in facilitating Odin's theft, they stripped her of her title "Mother of Wisdom" for her treachery, before Suttungr sent his assassin Malvigr to hunt down Fjalar and Galar, believing them to be connected.. Meanwhile, Odin and eight select Æsir successfully used the mead and the supercomputer Yggdrasil on the day of the Great Catastrophe to upload their essence into a human bloodline. This ensured that they would eventually incarnate as humans, though because the serum sample was in its raw form, this would only occur once.

Appearances

• Assassin's Creed: Valhalla (first appearance)
  • Dawn of Ragnarök (indirect mention only)
  • The Forgotten Saga
• Discovery Tour: Viking Age (mentioned only)
• Echoes of History (mentioned only)