A view from the top

While reading The Children of Odin today I noticed a parallel between the Prometheus myth and a Norse myth centered on the acquisition of “magic mead’. In this story the god Odin pretends to be a simple wanderer in order to find out where the giants have hidden away a draught that gives wisdom to all who drink it. There is clear mentioning that Odin is not merely acquiring this magical brew for himself but for all of humankind.

Interestingly enough the mead is actually brewed from the blood of a human poet named Kvasir. That seems to imply that this man reached a state of knowing that was greater than the gods and coveted by all. Kvasir was murdered by dwarves who then distilled his blood with honey to preserve and partake in his wisdom through drink. The dwarves grow brazen with their new found wisdom and begin murdering dimwitted giants. The giant Suttung catches on to the dwarves actions and brings them out to a low rock as the tide is rising. In order to be free of their doom the dwarves promise the mead to the giant. Suttung takes this wondrous brew and hides it deep in a cavern and sets his daughter there to protect it.

Odin, in the guise of Vegtam the wanderer, does some investigating and finds where the mead is being stored. Odin then goes to work in the fields of a giant under the stipulation that he will be paid whatever he desires at the end of a season’s work. When collection time comes, Vegtam demands the magic mead. The giant cannot grant Odin the mead as he knows no way into the cave system where it is hidden. Odin takes the giant to the mountain side and instructs him to drill a hole through the wall. The giant sets to work though he begins to grow suspicious of the old wanderer’s knowledge. When the hole is complete Odin tricks the giant into looking away as he turns into a snake and slithers through the hole much to the giant’s chagrin. Odin then rescues Suttung’s daughter from her fate as guardian and secures the magic mead for humankind.

We do not see much of the after affects of the mead’s release to humankind in this myth but there are some other interesting parallels. Firstly, there is a distinct divide between the powers in each myth. For Prometheus the divide is between the remaining titans, humans and the gods. In the Norse tale we see a similar divide between the gods, men and the giants. None of the positions are clearly good or evil as Prometheus is eventually forgiven by Zeus, and Odin saves Suttung’s daughter from her fate.

Secondly, the object of the myth is to give a hard earned gift to humanity. The gift is a symbol of awakening to a new consciousness whether it be the fire or the mead. According to Edinger in Ego and Archetype, this is a symbol for our rise to consciousness as a people, and as children. As a people we have evolved into human consciousness, we no longer share all of our mental faculties with the animal world. As children we must manifest from the unconscious world to become conscious and responsible figures within the world.

Another point demonstrated in these myths is the fall from grace. In the Prometheus myth we are told that Pandora’s box is opened and all the world’s ills issue forth from it. We do not see a clear affect after the mead has been given to men, but we are told that the dwarves who first discover the mead commit all sorts of terrible deeds once they have drunk it.

The last thing I shall mention for now is that in both cases, the hero of the tale is not a human, but a creator of humans. The hero’s act as stewards to humanity, encouraging us to greater states of awakened consciousness.