Bragi and The Role of the Skald in Norse Lore and Life

By Susan C. Eaves
Bragi is listed in the Gylfaginning (The Fooling of Gylfi) as one of the twelve Aesir, the
primary gods of Norse religion, but he is one that we know little about. He is frequently called
the god of poetry, but Odin is also said to be the god of poetry, so this does not tell us much
about his unique nature. In spite of them both being called poets, they have very different roles
among the gods: Odin is the Alfather, the ruler of the gods, a god associated with magic, mystery
and death, while Bragi barely appears in the myths and when he does he is trying to keep frith in
the hall of Aegir, welcoming heroes to Valhall, telling stories and explaining the skaldic art. To
better understand Bragis purpose among the gods, we will explore all the references to him from
the Eddas and the historical role of skalds. From these references we can begin to piece together
some of his nature.
The References
The Gylfaginnig says that he is Idunns husband and that he is renowned for his
wisdom, then adds that he is mostly known for his eloquence and his way with words. He is
also said to be the most knowledgeable about poetry. Lastly, Gylfaginning says from his
name comes the usage whereby a person, more skilled with words than others, is called bragr or
the foremost of men or women. (Sturluson, The Prose Edda 36) Turville-Petre tells us that
bragr may mean chief or best. (Turville-Petre 185) Whether this has any relation to Bragi is
uncertain, though we might use this to deduce that Bragi may be a chieftain. Unfortunately there
is not much we can learn from that since many of the gods are seen as chieftains or lords of some
sort.
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In Skaldskaparmal (Language of Poetry), Bragi is portrayed as a storyteller and as an

instructor of the skaldic arts. He is called the long-bearded As and is again called Idunns
husband. He is also said to be Odins son and the first maker of poetry. (Sturluson, The Prose
Edda 110)
A somewhat more difficult reference is in the Sigrdrifumal, (The Lay of Sigrdrifa), where
Bragis tongue is listed among things that the runes are carved on, along with Sleipnirs teeth, the
beak of the owl and the nail of the Norn, along with many other items. (Larrington, The Poetic
Edda, 169)
Lastly, in the Lokasenna, (Lokis Quarrel), Bragi is the first to address Loki when he
enters Aegirs hall intent on causing trouble. We will explore this more fully later. Also during
the Lokasenna, Loki says that Idunn has embraced her brothers slayer. Unfortunately the story
behind that reference has been lost and we have no way of knowing whether he is talking about
Bragi or some lost lover of Idunns.
These are all the references to Bragi in the Eddas. However, there are a few other pieces
of information that may further help us to understand the nature of Bragi.
The first person that the skaldic art is attributed to is Bragi Boddason the Old. According
to Turville-Petre, this Bragi was born around 830-40 and was probably from southern Norway.
(Turville-Petre 185) Bragis only surviving poem is the Lay of Ragnar, where Bragi described
myths from pictures that he has seen painted on Ragnars shield. These myths include Gefjon
ploughing Zealand and Thor fishing for the Midgard serpent. (Turville-Petre 15) Jacob Grimm
tells us of a tribe of people called the Bragningar that are descended from Bragi Boddason.

(Grimm 235) From this Turville-Petre conjectures that perhaps Bragi Boddason may have been
raised to a god after he died and that his Bragningar are similar to Freyrs Ynglingar.
In the Eiriksmal Bragi is seen talking to Odin in Valhalla and in Hakonarmal, Bragi is
seen welcoming King Hakon to Valhalla. It is not clear whether this is Bragi the god or Bragi
the mortal and may further suggest that he is a deified mortal. More on topic, however, Bragis
role as greeter to Valhalla shows Bragi in his role of frithweaver in Valhalla.
This is what we know of Bragi. From these references, he seems to have many roles:
leader, husband, bard, frithweaver and possibly chieftain or elder. But we still do not have a
clear image of who he is, and the distinction between him and Odin is still fuzzy. At this point
we could almost believe that he is an aspect of Odin due to his name meaning chieftain and his
connection to poetry. We need to explore Bragi further to get a clearer picture of him. To do
this we will delving into these references.
The Nature of Bragi
The first references considered are Bragi being called long-bearded and Bragis marriage
to Idunna. It is often assumed that Bragis long beard equates to him being old, which may
indicate that he is an elder of sorts. Looking at this in combination with Bragis marriage to
Idunn makes this pairing seem odd. Idunn is seen as very young, mostly due to her connection
with her life-giving apples which keep the gods young, as is told in Gylfaginning and again in
Skaldskaparmal. But this is not a marriage like Njord and Skadhi where neither is seen as
happy. The few mentions we have of them mention nothing of discontent with each other, and in
the Lokasenna Idunn seems very understanding of her husbands nature (more on that below).
Other marriages between gods show similarities both Thor and Sif have connections to crops,
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both Odin and Frigg both have connections to nobility, so there is likely a similar connection
between Bragi and Idunn. To find this connection, we look at the relationship between song and
life.
Song and poetry celebrate life. They are used in every culture for celebrations and
expressions of joy and they immortalize events in peoples lives. Songs are sung and stories told
to celebrate every phase of life. Songs and stories are also used to immortalize people and
events. In this light, it makes good sense that a goddess of life would find a kindred spirit in a
mate that has a passion for song and word.
The reference to runes on Bragis tongue may be the most difficult to interpret. In Our
Troth, Kveldulf Gundarsson says that Bragi having runes on his tongue is probably not a literal
reference, but that items that are full of might are said to have the power of the runes flowing
through them. (Gundarsson 298) The runes on Bragis tongue are likely a reference to the power
of a bard and of a leader, as one who can speak eloquently carries a lot of power. In the lore we
see eloquent speakers aiding in making treaties, resolving conflicts and gaining wealth and
power. When Helgi, king of Halogaland, wanted to woo Thora, daughter of Gusi, the prince of
the Finns and Biarmians, he sent Hother to speak for him. After Gusi had rejected other
emissaries of Helgis, Hother delivered a most persuasive piece of oratory on Helgis behalf
and swayed Gusi and Thora to accept Helgis proposal. Saxo Grammaticus said that Hother
unstopped Gusis ears and by the well-turned fluent mellifluousness of his eloquence made him
listen to his petition, and in doing this, Hother gained some powerful allies. (Grammaticus, 71)
DAulaires theorizes that perhaps Bragis mother is Gunnlod and that he was conceived
between her and Odin when Odin laid with her for three nights in order to get the mead of

poetry. (DAulliere 66) While this does not add much to our knowledge of Bragis nature, it
does reinforce Bragis nature as a god of poetry and gives us a bit more on the distinction
between Odin and Bragi. We might say that Odin obtains the poetry and shares it with others,
while Bragi is born of the poetry.
This is elaborated on by a poem the warrior-poet Egil Skalla-Grimsson composed shortly
after his son, Gunnar dies, where he says:
The gods prize is beyond my grasp, tough to drag out from my minds haunts.
Since heavy sobbing is the cause how hard to pour forth from the minds root
the prize that Friggs progeny found, borne of the old from the world of giants,
unflawed which Bragi inspired with life on the craft of the watcher dwarf.
The first reference to the gods prize is a reference to poetry, as is the prize born from the
world of the giants. The mead of poetry was made originally by the dwarfs, but then stolen by a
giant named Suttung, Gunnlods father. Odin tricked Gunnlod into giving him a sip, then took it
all in with one gulp, brought it back to the gods and spat it out for them. Friggs progeny is
likely referring to the gods in general, but since it is Odin who found the mead it is his prize as
much as hers. So Egil calls poetry the gods prize and the prize that Friggs progeny found,
then goes on to call poetry that which Bragi inspired with life. So it seems that Egil considers
poetry something that Odin won but that Bragi inspired with life. (Egils Saga 152)
Bragis part in the Lokasenna is worth some close attention. When the gods have a feast
at Aegirs hall and do not invite Loki, Loki arrives uninvited, insults Aegirs servant and then
barges into the feast demanding a seat. Bragi is the first to engage Loki when he arrives at the
feast, saying:
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A seat and a place the Aesir will never assign

you at the feast.
Though other gods attempt to engage Loki in his verbal banter, Bragi speaks first, simply
telling Loki to leave. When Loki does not leave, Bragi says
A horse and a sword Ill give you from my possessions,
and Bragi will compensate you with a ring,
so you dont repay the Aesir with hatred;
dont make the gods exasperated with you!
Rather than directly engaging in verbal sparring with Loki, something we can imagine Bragi
would excel at, Bragi instead attempts to get Loki to leave by first telling him he is not welcome
and then by offering him some of his own possessions to try to convince him to leave. In the
ways of the Norse, this would set up a gifting (ghosti) relationship between Loki and Bragi
where the two would be bonded to each other through mutual gifts. It is a dramatic gesture that
Bragi does here solely in an attempt to try to keep frith within the hall. He knows that Lokis
presence has already broken frith and that his continued presence will not be good for the honor
of the gods. As the story progresses, Loki attempts to break down the reputation of each of the
gods by throwing insults at them. A skald builds up community by telling about the great deeds
those within the community has done. Insults do the opposite they break down the community
by hurting the honor of those within. By attempting to stop Loki from doing this and by not
insulting Loki himself, Bragi is attempting to maintain the frith within the community of the
gods.
When Loki continues trying to provoke Bragi, Bragi then responds,

I know if I were outside, just as now I am inside

Aegirs hall,
your head Id be holding in my hand;
Id reward your lies with that.
At this point, Bragi gets angry and frustrated but still will not fight Loki within a frithhall. Loki
notes this and calls it cowardice. Next, as is the pattern in the Lokasenna, Idunn attempts to
defend her husband. In her case, she refuses to speak directly to Loki and just attempts to calm
Bragi, who she says is hot with beer. (Larrington, The Poetic Edda, 87)
This interchange shows Bragi to be the god who speaks first in the face of a break of
frith. He attempts to calm it by trying to get Loki to leave. Even when he gets angry he refuses
to fight within the frith-hall and his wife, knowing his nature, attempts to calm him to keep him
from doing something rash.
As stated above, there is much speculation that Bragi was once Bragi Boddason the Old
and was deified after death. It is also possible that Bragi Boddason was named after Bragi the
Aesir or took his name from the god later in life. Though we may not be able to determine for
certain the nature of the relationship between Bragi Boddason and Bragi the Aesir, it is clear that
there is one. Putting this together with the Bragi who explains the skaldic art to Aegir in the
Skaldskarpamal, we can be certain that Bragi specializes in skaldic poetry. There are a number
of differences between Eddic poetry and skaldic poetry, but the difference we are chiefly
concerned with is that Eddic poetry is primarily about myths and heroes, while skaldic poetry is
primarily concerned with contemporary history. (Turville-Petre 14) This is important in noting
that in the Skaldskarpamal Bragi was more concerned with current events than historical
retellings. As one of the gods, his current events would involve what now may be called
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mythology, but he was primarily focused on telling stories about his contemporaries the Gods
of the Norse.
Bragis role in the Lokasenna may not seem to fit his nature at first. Bragi is said to be
very eloquent and well-spoken, and he clearly feels it is within his place to speak for the gods.
So why isnt he more aggressive in addressing Loki? Odin does not have similar reservations in
engaging Loki. And there is still some vagueness between the distinction between Bragi and
Odin. I believe that a much more complete understanding of Bragis nature can be found by
exploring the role of the skald in Norse society.
The Role of the Skald
The skald in Norse society was much more than a mere entertainer. Poetry stirs not only
our hearts but our memories as well, and skalds preserved stories that are important to a society.
While most of the stories of the Norse gods were written down centuries after the Norse
converted to Christianity, we can find a few poems that seem to have been written by Heathens.
One of the poems where we see a Heathen telling stories of the gods is Thjodolfs Haustlong,
where Thjodolf of Hvin, a contemporary of Harald Finehari, told the story of the theft of Idunn
and gave us the oldest reference to Loki. (Turville-Petre 127) In telling stories of the gods,
skalds were filling the role of educators, as poetry and song can give people easier ways to
remember things, and sometimes are hard to forget. Everyone has learned songs from their
childhood that will be stuck in their heads forever.
Skalds also preserved stories of the gods through the use of kennings, or poetic
paraphrasing. The kennings the skalds used are more than ordinary paraphrasing, they are
especially deep paraphrasing, often assuming a lot of knowledge of other stories and myths not
8

presented in that particular poem. For instance, in Egils Saga, Egil calls men Odins forest of
oaks because Odin created mankind from trees, and he calls Aegir, the sea god, the brewer of
waves because Aegir is shown to be a brewer in the Eddas. (Egils Saga 116 & 153) In using
these kennings the skalds were not merely educating people on the stories of the gods, they were
keeping those stories in peoples minds by making people think about the allusions with which
they are painting their poems.
As was mentioned before, skalds are primarily concerned with contemporary history.
Turville-Petre explains the specialties of the skalds by saying that they praise a chieftain for his
valor and generosity, either during his lifetime or in a memorial lay written after his death. They
commemorate a battle between the princes of Scandinavia or the British Isles, or even a scrap
between farmers. (Turville-Petre 14) Here skalds filled the role of historians.
Among the skalds that wrote about battles and feats of strength, there are a number of
skalds who were also warriors. These poets did not just stand by and note events, they took part
in the events as well. They were known for their feats, but even more so because they recorded
their feats and the feats of others as they happened. The poetry ascribed to these warrior-poets is
a subset of the aforementioned poems remembering history and deeds. Possibly the most famous
warrior-poet is Egil Skala-Grimmsson. This may be because his saga is so colorful, but it is also
because he may be the greatest master of the skaldic verse. Egils poem honoring the deeds of
King Eirik is remarkable, not least because it was said to have been written as a trade for his own
life. The story says that Egil and King Eirik feuded most of Egils life. But when Egil found
himself in Eiriks hands, he traded a poem for his safe release. His praise is lavish, as is
represented by stanza 17:

By the fistful he gives

The fire of the arm
Never sparing rings lives
He gives riches no rest
Hands gold out like sand
From the hawks coast
Fleets take cheer
From the grindings of the dwarfs
(Egils Saga 117)
Through their stories and song, skalds remembered the deeds of the people. In reciting
these deeds they built up the community, gave people pride in their tribe and their leaders and
reminded people why they liked being part of their community. Skalds could remind neighbors
of good times to help put them in the mindset to work towards resolutions. In this area skalds
served as frithweavers for the community.
Skalds not only kept alive the deeds of gods, heroes and even community members, they
were the keepers of genealogies which granted rights to titles and properties and they
remembered the location and nature of boundary markers of village fields. This knowledge
allowed them to help resolve disputes and help with distributing inheritances. We see an
example of this in the Hundluliod (Song of Hyndla) where Freya takes Ottar to the giantess
Hyndla and asks her to recite Ottars ancestry in order to help Ottar claim his inheritance.
(Larrington, The Poetic Edda, 253-263) In this role, skalds served as record-keepers for their
communities.

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The Icelandic Family sagas contain skaldic poems scattered throughout the sagas.
Though most of these sagas seem primarily concerned with entertainment, some do have an
aspect of attempting to preserve history and even keep records of genealogy and land ownership.
In the late eleventh century, a priest named Ari Thorgilsson was the first to write history
in any Scandinavian language when he wrote Islendingabok. This was a summary of Icelands
history from settlement to his own time. He also probably wrote Landnamabok, the Book of
Settlements. This is a detailed history of Iceland, covering districts and families. (TurvillePetre 17)
Another work which may be attributed to Ari Thorgilsson is a summary of the life of the
chieftain Snorri Godi, which was drawn on for a number of later sagas. While Ari was not a
contemporary of Snorris, his birth was only 35 years after Snorris death so one can assume that
either other skalds told him of Snorris life or that he was writing from tales his elders told him.
Either way, in doing this, Ari Thorgilsson served the purpose of remembering and preserving his
almost-contemporary ancestors.
Some of the other sagas, though not written during Heathen times, referenced summary
histories that were written earlier. The Eyrbyggja Saga drew heavily from older histories as well
as from skaldic poems and local traditions. Though it is not necessarily a historical record, it
does paint a decent picture of life and religion during Heathen times. (Turville-Petre 19)
Starkather, one of the warrior-poets, seemed to fill a similar place in his society. In a
couple sources, Starkather lists 160 champions who fought in the battle of Bravallir, during
which Harald Wartooth was killed while at other times he composes poems of battles in which
he fought. By recording the names of all the heroes in the battle, Starkather was fulfilling the
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Skaldic role of contemporary historian and record-keeper. (Turville-Petre 29; Grammaticus 238240)
Skalds also used this same skill at building up the community to stir the pride and
confidence in those about to enter battle. By recalling the deeds of the warriors through story
and song, skalds could build pride within the troops for their people and build confidence in their
leaders.
Both Snorri Sturlusons Heimskringla and Saxo Grammaticus History of the Danes,
mention the Bjarkamal (Old Lay of Bjarki) which tells of the final battle of Hrolf Kraki when the
castle was apparently set on fire by its own defenders. In Saint Olafs Saga, Olaf called his own
skald, Thormod, on the morning of his final battle in order to awaken his troops before heading
to battle by reciting this poem. (Grammaticus 54-63; Snorri, Heimskringla, 499) In this we see
two examples of the role skalds held in recording stories of battles. Thormod recalled a poem
told of a former battle. Meanwhile, his own purpose there was not just to speak eloquently for
Olaf, but also to record this battle so that Olafs greatest feats and/or his last days can be
remembered. There are even stories of skalds being protected by a circle of shields (a shieldcastle) to ensure that they could have a good view of the battle and that they could live to
compose poetry about it. (Sturluson, Heimskringla 496)
Skalds helped define the values of a community. The Havamal (the Sayings of the High
One) attempts to do this, though it appears to be more the work of a traveler than a land-owner or
farmer. As such it does not discuss many values for a stationary community and is somewhat
cynical, but it does attempt to give advice on how to function well within the community.
(Poetic Edda, 14-38) Other sagas, such as Njals Saga define values of the community through

12

story-telling rather than through advice. Njal was held up as a model citizen someone who was
true to his friends, who knew the laws and who always knew the right thing to do, even if people
did not always listen to him.
Skalds could also use their art to stir the emotions of the community, sometimes to boost
up the community as I mentioned above, or sometimes to stir the community to action. Poetry of
this type either reflected public outrage over an issue of the day or was the poets attempt to
sway people towards the poets own outrage. This is done today with television and movies, but
even in modern times it can be difficult to tell whether the media is reflecting the sentiments of
the people, or whether it is trying to convince people of the sentiments of the creator. In this
skalds went beyond commentators on events and used their skills to play active roles in
influencing current events.
An example of this in the lore is the poet Einar Skalaglamm, who was Hakon the Greats
favorite poet. Before Hakon came to power, the sons of Eirik Bloodaxe seized the kingdom of
Norway with Harald Greycloak. They were Christians and they brought their Christianity to
Norway. Einar Skalaglamm said that they broke down temples and stopped sacrifices. Through
his poems, he claimed that the result was that crops failed and that the weather went awry.
Another poet of the time, Eyvind the Plagiarist, said that while the sons of Eirik were in Norway,
snow fell at Midsummer, and farmers had to keep their stock under cover like the Lapps.
However, when Hakon, a good Heathen man, came into power, Einar Skalaglamm wrote that
prosperity returned. (Turville-Petre 16) Whether or not there were problems with the crops in
all of Norway while the sons of Eirik were in power, Einar Skalaglamm and Eyvind the Plagarist
made certain to present it that way in order to sway people against the sons of Eirik and towards
Hakon the Great.
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Another example of Skalds attempting to sway public opinion came when the Christian
Missionary Thangbrand came to Iceland in the late tenth century. A number of poets responded
by writing poetry against Thangbrand, deriding and slandering him. Many placed Thor in a
position of rivalry against Thangbrand and his Christians. Some of these poets were killed by
the Christians due to the threat they posed. Possibly the most notable of these poets was
Steinnun, a female poet who presented Thor as a champion of Heathenry. When Thangbrands
ship wrecked, Steinnunn wrote a poem in which she said that Thor had wrecked the priests ship.
Thorr altered the course of Thangbrands
long horse of Thvinill, he tossed and [ship]
bashed the plank of the prow and smashed it all down on the solid ground; the ski
of the ground of Atall [ship]
wont later be buoyant on the sea
Since the baleful gale caused by him
splintered it all into kindling. The killer of ogresses kin [Thorr]
pulverized fully the mew-perch [mew-perch bison=ship]
bison of the bells guardian [bells guardian=priest
(the gods chased the steed of the strand);
Christ cared not for sea-shingle [sea-shingle stepper=ship]
stepper when cargo-boat crumbled;
I think that God hardly guarded
the reindeer of Gylfi at all. [ship]
(Larrington, The Poetic Edda, 237)

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Conclusion
The primary role of the skald was to stir peoples memories and to bring community
together. They preserved traditions by remembering and reminding people of cultural stories and
they helped to give people a sense of belonging in a community, even when they were separated
for a time by land or weather.
Skalds also helped to remember ancestors. Heathen tradition is built on the belief that
ancestors live through our remembering of their deeds. Stories and songs of the ancestors helped
to keep those ancestors alive.
Skalds also helped to define and remind people of commonly held beliefs. Through song
and story-telling, skalds reminded people of the stories from myths and of deeds of those in the
community. Skalds used stories to pass on morals, values and beliefs, to teach lessons and help
show how to apply our virtues. Story can show new ways to understand oneself and to define
beliefs, can point out hidden messages from peoples lives, and can allow for visual and mental
explorations of self in a way that is separate from reality. (MacDonald 102-103)
Skalds also served to bring communities together. They aided in giving listeners a sense
of belonging and in creating bonds. They helped people feel good about their community. A
good story teller can bond a group together and listening becomes a shared experience.
(MacDonald 102)
Skalds served as frithweavers. The skald could help mediate or calm tempers through the
use of lore as allegory or by reminding people of shared experiences or by creating a shared
experience. Sharing feelings in responding to a story helps people find commonality. Bridges
can be built with storytelling that invites listeners and tellers to unite. A skald could also bring a
15

community together by telling individuals stories. It is hard to hate someone whose story you
know.
Skalds stirred the pride in people who are going into battles and told of great deeds
during battles. This can be reconciled with their roles of frithweaver by recalling that frith was
always an internal community thing. No one really cared about frith with people who were seen
as outsider of the community.
As the skald of the gods, Bragi has a responsibility to boost up the community. He
cannot break it down by speaking badly of anyone within the community of the gods as that
would undermine his role. He has a greater responsibility than some of the others to keep frith
within a frithhall. Because of this, Bragi would be uncomfortable verbally sparring with Loki
within a frithhall, regardless of his skills with words.
Bragis primary function as the skald of the gods is to build up the community by telling
stories of the deeds of those within the community (i.e. the gods). He is a frithweaver who wants
to stir pride within the community and to help resolve disputes by reminding each party of the
good within the other. He welcomes men to Valhall as a frithweaver, making sure that they feel
welcome and important.
The main difference between Odin and Bragi is that Odin uses poetry to educate and to
lead, while Bragi uses his role to give inspiration, to remember the deeds of the folk and to be a
frithweaver, building up community rather than breaking it down.

16

Works Cited
Egils Saga. Saga of the Icelanders. Trans. Bernard Scudder. Ed. Ornolfur Thorsson. New
York: Penguin 1997.
Gramaticus, Saxo. History of the Danes: Books I-IX. Ed. And Trans. Hilda Ellis Davidson.
Cambridge: D.S. Brewer, 1980.
Grimm, Jacob. Teutonic Mythology. Trans. James Steven Stallybrass, New York: Dover, 1966.
Gundarsson, Kveldulf Hagan. Our Troth. South Carolina: BookSurge, LLC, 2006.
Larrington, Carolyne. Women and Writing in Early and Medieval Europe. New York:
Routledge, 1995.
MacDonald, Margaret Read. The Story-Tellers Start-up Book. Atlanta: August House, 1993.
Njals Saga. Trans. Sir George Webbe Dasent. New York: Dover, 2005.
Sturluson, Snorri. The Prose Edda. Trans. Jesse L. Byock. London: Penguin, 2005.
Turville-Petre, E.O.G. Myth and Religion of the North. Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 1974.
The Poetic Edda, Trans. Carolyne Larrington. New York: Oxford University Press, 1996.
DAulaire, Ingri and Eogar Parin. DAulaires Book of Norse Myths. New York: The New York
Review of Books, 1995.
Sturluson, Snorri. Heimskringla.

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