Óðrerir

Poetic Edda

Óðrerir is mentioned in two ambiguous passages of the Hávamál. In a first stanza (107), it is sometimes assumed that Óðrerir is synonymous with mead of poetry, but both interpretations are possible.

Of a well-assumed formI made good use:few things fail the wise;for Odhræriris now come upto men’s earthly dwellings

In another stanza (140), the meaning of Óðrerir depends on the translation.

In most translations, Óðrerir seems to refer to a vessel, but other interpretations of ausinn Óðreri are possible, which can lead to understand Óðrerir to be the mead itself.

Prose Edda

For Snorri Sturluson, Óðrerir is the name of the kettle in which Kvasir's blood was mixed with honey to create the mead:

[Kvasir] went up and down the earth to give instruction to men; and when he came upon invitation to the abode of certain dwarves, Fjalar and Galarr, they called him into privy converse with them, and killed him, letting his blood run into two vats and a kettle. The kettle is named Ódrerir, and the vats Són and Bodn; they blended honey with the blood, and the outcome was that mead by the virtue of which he who drinks becomes a skald or scholar.

Similarly, Snorri considers that "liquid of Óðrerir and Boðn and Són" (lögr Óðreris ok Boðnar ok Sónar) is a kenning for the mead of poetry (Skáldskaparmál, 3).

But in skaldic poetry, Óðrerir is a synonym of mead of poetry and it is therefore assumed that Óðrerir as a vessel is Snorri's invention. Moreover, the etymology of the name – which can be rendered into "stirrer of inspiration" or "stirrer of fury" – suggests that it rather refers to the mead. Boðn probably means "vessel" and Són signifies either "reconciliation" or "blood".