ABOUT THE KVASIR SYMBOL DATABASE

Joseph S. Hopkins for Mimisbrunnr.info, March 2020

Whether ancient or new, each symbol has a history. Inspired by discussions with writers, tattoo artists, and scholars in ancient Germanic studies, Mimisbrunnr.info’s Kvasir Symbol Database (KSD) provides overviews of symbols from the ancient Germanic record.

The KSD features original art from Rim Bitik, often drawing from discussion contained within the entries her work illustrates. Criteria for database inclusion is open-ended and the project has no firm completion date. For any questions or comments regarding the KSD, please contact Mimisbrunnr.info here.

Below readers will find discussion about reliable tertiary sources to use alongside the KSD, as well as discussion about Kvasir, after which the project is named.

HANDBOOKS FOR USE ALONGSIDE THE KSD

Please note: The present section recommends handbooks, tertiary sources, for uses alongside the Kvasir Symbol Database. For general recommendations on the topic of ancient Germanic myth, see Mimisbrunnr.info Guide: Getting Started with Germanic Mythology.

The KSD’s aims to build upon extant tertiary sources in the field of ancient Germanic sources by highlighting topics under-represented or absent in these resources. The KSD is grounded in approaches from folklore studies and historical linguistics (philology), and where possible also emphasizes topics from biology, particularly ecology.

Mimisbrunnr.info recommends the following quality tertiary sources to be used alongside the Kvasir Symbol Database:

• Lindow, John. 2001. Norse Mythology: A Guide to Gods, Heroes, Rituals, and Beliefs. Oxford University Press.

• Orchard, Any. 1999. Dictionary of Norse Myth and Legend. 2nd edition. Cassell.

• Simek, Rudolf. 2007 [1984]. Dictionary of Northern Mythology. D. S. Brewer.

In addition to these ancient Germanic myth-focused handbooks, Mimisbrunnr.info recommends the following handbooks:

• Lindahl, Carl; McNamara, John; & Lindow, John. Editors. Medieval Folklore: A Guide to the Myths, Legends, Tales, Beliefs, and Customs. Oxford University Press.

• Mallory, J. P. & Adams, Douglas Q. 1997. Encyclopedia of Indo-European Culture. Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers.

Each of these handbooks have their strengths, weaknesses, and blind spots. Finally, English Wikipedia generally contains reliable and, in some cases, far more expansive entries, than the above tertiary sources.

FERMENTATION, WISDOM, & REBIRTH: Kvasir

The Kvasir Symbol Database derives its name in part from Kvasir, an entity from what we today call Norse myth. Kvasir’s life may be summarized as follows: A group of warring gods come together to form a truce, during which they ritually spit into a vat. From the saliva of the new united gods emerges a new being—a man named Kvasir.

Kvasir leaves the vat to wander the landscape, sharing his knowledge with those who will listen. Yet one day two dwarfs murder Kvasir, and mix his blood with honey. They poured this mixture into three containers, and anyone who drank from this mixture would become a poet or a scholar—the blood and honey had become the Mead of Poetry. The dwarfs themselves are murdered soon thereafter, but the Mead of Poetry goes on to become a much sought-after item by both gods and other beings alike in the Norse myth corpus, and seems to result in the spread of poetry among humankind.

This narrative occurs in section 58a of Skáldskaparmál, a section of the Prose Edda, compiled in the 13th century, and scholars have long noted that this collection of motifs appears to be quite ancient, with notable parallels in India of Soma, similarly described as both a substance and a personified entity.

Also notable is the name Kvasir itself. Philologists have long discussed the implications of this name and related it forms such as Norwegian kvase and Russian kvas, referring to fermented beverages. The production of such fermented beverages by communities chewing berries and spitting into a vat is, as scholar Rudolf Simek puts it, “an exact correspondence to the creation of Kvasir in Germanic myth” (on Soma, vat-spitting, and the preceding quote, see discussion in Simek 2007 [1984]: 184-185). Notable also is the structure of Kvasir’s life, and the role fermentation plays in it: Kvasir begins life through the very magical (but quite real) biological process of fermentation, only to die and be reborn via the fermentation of liquid once again—this time with the added component of honey, yielding the supernatural Mead of Poetry. Artist Rim Bitik’s depictions of Kvasir for the Kvasir Symbol Database embrace both the Old Norse narrative, as well as its philological reception.

Readers familiar with English folklore tradition may note strong parallels with the entity John Barleycorn. Like Kvasir, Barleycorn is a personification of a fermented beverage—alcohol—and similarly meets a violent death only to be reborn as a fluid.

REFERENCE

• Simek, Rudolf. 2007 [1984]. Dictionary of Northern Mythology. D. S. Brewer.