Seiðr Loom

Æsir

Bragi

The god of poetry and eloquence, husband of Iðunn. In Snorri's Skáldskaparmál he is the storyteller who explains the art of poetry to the sea-giant Ægir.

Bragi and Iðunn by Frølich
Bragi and Iðunn by Frølich, Lorenz Frølich (1895). Wikimedia Commons, public domain.

Bragi is the god of poetry. Snorri says he is "renowned for wisdom, and most of all for fluency of speech and skill with words. He knows most of skaldship, and after him skaldship is called bragr" Gylfaginning 26. His wife is Iðunn Gylfaginning 26, and the kennings call him "Husband of Idunn, First Maker of Poetry, and the Long-bearded God ... and Son of Odin" Skáldskaparmál 10. In Odin's list of the best of all things he is "Bragi of skalds" Grímnismál 44.

Bragi the storyteller

Bragi's biggest role is as a narrator. Snorri's Skáldskaparmál opens with the sea-giant Ægir at a feast of the gods, seated next to Bragi, who tells him the stories behind the poets' language Skáldskaparmál 1. It is Bragi who tells of Þjazi and Iðunn, and of how the mead of poetry was made from the blood of Kvasir and won by Odin Skáldskaparmál 1. In a poem by the skald Eyvindr (Hákonarmál), quoted by Snorri, Odin sends "Hermódr and Bragi" to greet a dead king arriving in Valhalla Skáldskaparmál 2.

Bragi in Lokasenna

In Lokasenna Bragi is the first to face Loki and refuses him a seat Lokasenna 8. When Loki greets every god but him, Bragi offers a horse, a sword and a ring to keep the peace Lokasenna 12. Loki calls him the least brave of the gods, "shyest ... of the shot", and an "adorner of benches", bold only in his seat Lokasenna 13 Lokasenna 15. Iðunn calms her husband, who is "hot with beer" Lokasenna 18.

God or poet?

Snorri also quotes verses by a human poet called Bragi, "the ancient skald" Gylfaginning 1 or "Bragi the Old" Skáldskaparmál 41, usually identified as Bragi Boddason, a Norwegian poet of the 9th century and the earliest skald whose work survives. Some scholars think the god is this poet, remembered and raised to the gods after his death; others think a god of poetry existed first and the poet's name merely matched it. The Eddas do not connect the two.

In the sources

Quoted from the hosted translations; each line is checked against the text when the site is built. Select a reference to read it in context.

he is renowned for wisdom, and most of all for fluency of speech and skill with words. He knows most of skaldship, and after him skaldship is called bragr
Gylfaginning 26 Snorri's description of the god of poetry.
Bilrost of bridges, Bragi of skalds
Grímnismál 44 In Odin's list of the best of things, Bragi is the best poet.
Of the gods and elves here together met Least brave in battle art thou, (And shyest thou art of the shot.)
Lokasenna 13 Loki's charge of cowardice against Bragi.
On the paws of the bear, and on Bragi's tongue
Sigrdrífumál 16 Runes are carved on Bragi's tongue, among other places of power.
Hermódr and Bragi, Spake Hropta-Týr. Go ye to greet the Prince
Skáldskaparmál 2 In a poem by the skald Eyvindr (Hákonarmál), Odin sends Bragi to welcome a dead king to Valhalla.

Where the sources disagree or fall silent

  • Whether the god Bragi is the 9th-century Norwegian poet Bragi Boddason (Bragi the Old), whose verses Snorri quotes, raised to divine rank after his death. Some scholars think so; others think the god is older.

Myths with Bragi

Loki's flyting at Ægir's feast Thrown out of the sea-giant Ægir's feast for killing a servant, Loki walks back in and insults every god and goddess in turn, until Thor comes home and threatens him with the hammer. The mead of poetry From the spittle of the gods' peace comes Kvasir, wisest of beings; from his blood two dwarfs brew a mead that makes poets. It passes to the giant Suttungr, and Odin wins it by labour, seduction and theft, flying home as an eagle. The theft of Iðunn and her apples Caught by a giant in eagle's shape, Loki buys his freedom by luring Iðunn and her apples out of Asgard. The gods grow old, and Loki must steal her back as a falcon, with Þjazi beating after him.

Related

Iðunn The goddess who keeps the apples that keep the gods young. When the giant Þjazi carried her off, the gods began to age, and Loki had to steal her back. Odin Óðinn Chief of the Æsir: a one-eyed god of wisdom, poetry, magic, war and the dead, who gave an eye and hanged himself on a tree for knowledge, and who dies at Ragnarök. Ægir The sea in person and the gods' brewer: his hall is where they feast, his wife is Rán and his nine daughters are the waves. Snorri also makes him the listener to whom Bragi tells the myths in Skáldskaparmál. The mead of poetry skáldskapar mjaðar The mead brewed from the blood of the wise Kvasir: whoever drinks it becomes a poet or a scholar. Odin steals it from the giant Suttungr and gives it to the gods and to poets. Loki The giant-born trickster counted among the Æsir: father of Fenrir, the Midgard Serpent and Hel, contriver of Baldr's death, bound until Ragnarök. Kennings kenningar The compressed poetic riddles of skaldic verse, such as 'Ymir's skull' for the sky or 'Kvasir's blood' for poetry, which only make sense if you know the myths; Snorri wrote Skáldskaparmál to explain them. Valhalla Valhöll Odin's vast hall of the battle-dead, roofed with shields and raftered with spears, where the einherjar feast and fight each day until they march out to meet the wolf at Ragnarök.