Rati- Norse ArtifactArtifact
Description
The auger that bored through the mountain Hnitbjörg, carving a serpent-width passage for Odin to slither through in snake form and steal the Mead of Poetry from Suttungr's hidden chambers.
Mythology & Lore
Boring Through Hnitbjörg
Suttungr had hidden the Mead of Poetry deep inside the mountain Hnitbjörg, and he refused Odin, disguised as Bölverkr, even a single drink. Odin had worked an entire summer for Baugi, Suttungr's brother, to earn that one sip, and Baugi had agreed to the bargain. When Suttungr turned them away, Odin produced an auger and told Baugi to drill.
Baugi bored into the rock face and announced the hole was through. Odin blew into it. The stone chips flew back at him. Baugi had stopped short, hoping to strand Odin at the mountain's surface. Odin told him to bore again. This time when he blew, the chips flew inward, and the passage was complete.
Odin shifted into a serpent and threaded himself through the narrow borehole. Baugi stabbed after him with the auger but missed. On the other side of the mountain, Odin found Gunnlöð guarding the mead. He spent three nights with her and drank all three vessels dry.
In Hávamál, Odin recalls the moment himself: "Rati's mouth I caused to make room." The auger warranted naming in his own account of the theft, set alongside the nights with Gunnlöð and the eagle-flight home.