78 odrerir
the Moon. This story is referred to in the poem
Voluspa and told by Sturluson in Gylfaginning. Odin’ s Names Odin had more than 150 names and attributes. Here are just a few of them:
Alfodr— All-Father, Father of the Gods Baleyg— Flaming-Eyed Bileyg— Shifty-Eyed Fjolnir— Wide in Wisdom Grimnir— Hooded One Valfodr— Father of the Slain Ygg— Awful
Odrerir( OÐrÆrir; Odrorir; Othrorir)
Either the kettle or vat in which the mead of poetry was made or the name given to the mead itself.
In the oldest source, the poem Havamal, which is part of the Poetic Edda, Odrerir is initially the name of the mead of poetry, the great drink that gives to the drinker the art of being able to create poetry. Later in the poem, Odrerir is a vessel from which a god or person drinks this precious beverage.
Snorri Sturluson, in Skaldsaparmal, explicitly says that Odrerir is the name of the kettle in which the dwarfs let flow the blood of Kvasir( 1), a wise man and poet who was made from the spit of the gods, and from whose blood the dwarfs brew the mead of poetry. Two vessels, large vats or barrels named Bodn and Son by Sturluson, contained this magical mead.
Sturluson quotes several kennings, or poetic metaphors, that mention Odrerir, but it is unclear if they refer to the drink or the kettle.( See also“ The Mead of Poetry” under Odin.)
Olvaldi Jotun father of storm giants Thjazzi, Idi, and Gang. Olvaldi left such a large amount of gold to his sons that no scales could weigh it, so the sons measured it out in giant mouthfuls after their father’ s death.
See also“ Skade and Njord,” under Skade.
Otr( OÐr) Son of Hreidmar( a dwarf) and brother of Regin and fafnir. Otr was a shape-shifter and usually took the form of an otter. He was killed by the trickster god, Loki. Hreidmar demanded as ransom enough gold to cover the dead otter’ s pelt and to fill its insides.
This myth is told by Snorri Sturluson in the
Prose Edda and is mentioned in the Poetic Edda and the late 13th-century Volsunga Saga.
In the Reginsmal, part of the Poetic Edda, the story of Otr also forms a preface to the Sigurd legends, in which Hreidmar is murdered by his sons Regin and Fafnir. Fafnir then steals the dwarf’ s treasure for himself and turns himself into a frightful dragon, the better to guard it. In the end, the hero Sigurd slays the dragon.
Otr’ s Ransom Something of a magician, Otr often took the form of an otter. One day Odin, his brother Hoenir, and his blood brother Loki were walking by a stream in Midgard. They saw an otter. Loki threw a stone at it and killed it. Then he picked up the otter and flung it over his shoulder.
The three came to the prosperous farmhouse of Hreidmar and asked for shelter for the night. At first Hreidmar was welcoming enough, but when he saw the otter, he shouted in rage and grief, for the dead creature was his son.
Hreidmar summoned his other two sons, Regin and Fafnir. Then, with his magic spells, he disarmed the gods and bound them. Now the gods recognized Hreidmar as the master magician of the trolls and dwarfs. He was very powerful indeed.
Odin told Hreidmar that he and his companions would pay whatever ransom he asked, for they had slain his son— but unknowingly, thinking that the creature was a real otter.
Calmed by Odin’ s fairness, Hreidmar and his sons demanded that the otter’ s skin should be stuffed with gold inside and the outside covered with gold until not a whisker could be seen.
Odin and Hoenir agreed among themselves that, sly and cunning as he was, Loki would be the best one to find enough gold for the awesome task, for the otter skin was growing bigger by the minute.
Freed of his bonds, Loki went straight to the place where he had killed the otter and stared down into the water. Soon he saw what he was looking for, an enormous pike guarding the entrance to an underwater cave that gleamed with gold. The pike was the dwarf Andvari, keeper of the fabled treasure.
Quickly Loki raced to the island of Hlesey, where Ran, the ogress of the oceans, lived with her husband, Aegir, god of the sea. Loki borrowed from her the cruel net with which she dragged drowning sailors to her underwater realm. With the net, Loki had no difficulty scooping up the pike. He landed it on the bank, where it lay gasping and gradually changed into the ungainly shape of the dwarf.
To save his life, Andvari gave up his entire hoard of gold but for a single ring, Andvaranaut. This he