Gunnlöð guarded the Mead of Poetry deep inside Hnitbjörg on her father Suttungr's orders, until Odin seduced her over three nights and she allowed him to drain all three vessels.
Suttungr hid the Mead of Poetry inside the mountain Hnitbjörg after seizing it from the dwarves Fjalar and Galar as compensation for his father Gillingr's murder.
The dwarves Fjalar and Galar slew Kvasir, the wisest of beings, and brewed the Mead of Poetry from his blood mixed with honey in the kettles Són and Boðn and the vat Óðrørir.
Odin delivered the Mead of Poetry to the Æsir in Asgard, regurgitating it into vats while fleeing Suttungr. The mead became the divine source of poetic inspiration for gods and men.
Baugi bored through the mountain Hnitbjörg with the auger Rati at the urging of Odin, disguised as Bölverkr, who had worked a summer in Baugi's fields to earn this one favor — a way to reach the Mead of Poetry hidden inside.
Kvasir, the wisest being ever created, was slain by the dwarves Fjalar and Galar, who brewed the Mead of Poetry from his blood — so that all who drink it speak in verse or wisdom.
When Odin fled Hnitbjörg in eagle form, a portion of the Mead of Poetry spilled from his beak and fell to Midgard — the poetaster's share, granting mortals only a feeble echo of true poetic inspiration.
Odin stole the Mead of Poetry from Hnitbjörg by seducing Gunnlöð over three nights, draining all three vessels in as many draughts, and escaping to Asgard in eagle form with Suttungr in furious pursuit.
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