Bragi the God of Poetry and Song
Bragi is said to be the greatest of skalds (Grímnismál 66).
In Skáldskaparmál, he and Ægir sit at a feast together, and he begins to explain poetry to Ægir, which creates the framing device for the work. Gylfaginning 26 says of Bragi:
Hann er ágætr at speki ok mest at málsnild ok orðfimi. Hann kann mest af skáldskap, ok af honum er bragr kalladr skáldskapr, ok af hans nafni er sá kallaðr bragr karla eða kvenna er orðsnild hefir framar en aðrir, kona eða karlmaðr.
He is excellent in wisdom and the greatest at eloquence and wordskill. He knows the most of poetic skill, and poetic skill is called bragr after him, and from his name, the one who has word-skill above others, men or women, is called the bragr of men or women.
His name means “best” or “foremost.” Sigrdrífumál 16-18 lists Bragi’s tongue as one of a number of things on which runes are carved, along with Sleipnir’s teeth, a wolf ’s claws, an eagle’s beak, Gungnir’s point, Grani’s breast (Sigurd’s horse), and many other things. This probably means that his spoken verses bear the might of the runes to the minds of those who hear his poetry. In Skáldskaparmál 10, his kennings include Iðunnar verr “Idunna’s husband”; frumsmið bragar “first maker of poetry”; and hinn síðskeggr Áss “the long-bearded god.”
Music, Poetry and Nobility
Snorri also mentions that anyone with a long beard may be called skeggbragi, “beard-Bragi” or “beard-chieftain.” Since Odin is frequently referred to as the god who speaks in poetry and gives poetic skill to his favored ones, it might seem odd to have a separate “god of poetry.” However, if we assume that the Norse pantheon as Snorri describes it reflects noble households of the Viking era, it is not surprising. Poetry was a royal achievement, and many kings were skilled poets. For example, King Haraldr harðráði speaks a verse in Morkinskinna listing his accomplishments, including the lines
Yggs fetk líð at smíða. . . . hvártveggja kannk hyggja, harpslótt ok bragþóttu,
“I can craft Yggr’s drink [poetry]. . . . I can comprehend both harp-playing and poetry” (ed. Andersson and Gade, p. 149).
In Beowulf, Hrothgar himself can play the harp and tell tales (2105-2114). And yet both these and many other kings are said to have poets at their courts. Bragi may fill a similar role as Odin’s court skald, even though Odin is the master poet himself.
Was Bragi an example of Euhemerism in Norse Mythology?
Bragi is often suspected to have been a human: the early ninth-century Bragi Boddason inn gamli (the Old), the first known poet to compose in the difficult dróttkvæt or “court meter” form. He was also said to be the first skald to serve a royal patron, and his earthly role may have been transferred to Valhall (Ross, “Poet into Myth,” pp. 37-41). In the poems Hákonarmál and Eiríksmál, which are set in Valhall, Bragi is named alongside Sigurd and Sinfjotli (who are definitely humans) and Hermod (who may well be a human; see below). In Hákonarmál, Bragi renders a formal greeting to Hákon; in Eiríksmál, Sigmund and Sinfjotli offer the same greeting to Eirik. This may imply that Bragi, too, is a deified human.
Great humans could be taken into the ranks of the deities: on one of his missionary journeys to Sweden, Ansgar heard that the Heathen gods had appeared to someone in a dream and said that if the Swedes wanted more gods, they would take the recently deceased King Eric into their company, rather than accept the foreign god. In fact, the Swedes had begun to make offerings to Eric (Rimbert, Vita sancti Ansgari XXVI, transl. Robinson, Anskar, pp. 89-90).
This may explain why Bragi has a long beard, why he is called “Bragi the Old,” and why he is married to Idunna: a mortal accepted among the deities might need the apples of youth more than the gods and goddesses who have always been divine.
In the skaldic poem Eiríksmál, Bragi compares the noise of Eirik Bloodaxe and his men entering Valhall with the sound of Balder returning. (Odin replies Heimsku mæla skalat inn horski Bragi, “the wise Bragi must not speak foolishness.”) When Odin praises Eirik because “he has reddened his blade in many lands,” Bragi asks why Odin did not grant Eirik victory, if he was bravest. Óðinn replies with the famous words,
Því at óvíst es at vita, nær ulfr inn hǫsvi soekir á sjǫt goða,
“Because it is uncertain when the hoary wolf might attack the gods’ estates,”
reminding him, and us, of why he needs the best warriors in his hall (ed. Fulk, “Anonymous, Eiríksmál,” pp. 1003-1013).
Bragi in the Lokasenna
Bragi also has some dialogue in Lokasenna. Loki greets all the deities with what was probably a ritual formula:
Heilir æsir heilar ásynjor
ok ǫll ginnheilog goð!
“Hail the Æsir, hail the Ásynjur,
and all power-holy gods!”
But Loki then adds a sneer: “Except for one Ás who sits within, Bragi, on the benches.” Trying to keep the peace, Bragi offers his sword, horse, and armring to Loki, but Loki will have none of his peacemaking; he retorts that Bragi is so afraid of battle that he has neither horses nor rings to give.
Clearly stung, Bragi replies that he would have Loki’s head if they were outside; Idunna tries to calm her husband, but Loki keeps poking the sore spot by alleging that Idunna had “laid her shining arms over” her brother’s killer. Whether Bragi is the slayer of this unknown brother (which would seem to contradict Loki’s claim that Bragi is timid), or whether Loki is referring to something completely different, we do not know.
The Bragafull
The bragarfull or bragafull is the cup or horn of drink over which oaths were sworn at solemn feasts (Helgakviða Hjǫrvarðssonar, prose between verses 31 and 32; Ynglinga saga 36). The word means “the best cup,” but the form bragafull could be read as either “chieftain’s cup” or “Bragi’s cup.” This is probably a false etymology, but Heathens may nonetheless find it a fitting name, since feasts were and are a time for poems to be spoken and songs to be sung.
Bragi is not documented directly in English lore, but the cognate Old English word brego means “leader,” and some modern Heathens in the Anglo-Saxon tradition call upon him by this name.