Bragi

God of Poetry

Bragi is the Aesir god of poetry, described by Snorri Sturluson as famed above all for his wisdom, eloquence, and skill with words. In the Prose Edda, the very word for poetry in the skaldic tradition, bragr, is explained as deriving from his name, and a gifted poet is said to receive "Bragi's gift."

The Storyteller of Skaldskaparmal

In the Skaldskaparmal ("The Language of Poetry") section of the Prose Edda, it is Bragi who sits at a feast hosted by the sea-giant Aegir and answers his questions about the origins of poetic diction, recounting several of the mythic tales — including the abduction of Idun, his own wife, by the giant Thjazi — that make up much of that section's narrative material.

Mocked in Lokasenna

In the Eddic poem Lokasenna, Bragi is present at Aegir's feast when Loki arrives and begins insulting each god in turn. Loki taunts Bragi as a coward who dares not fight, provoking Bragi to threaten him before Idun intervenes to calm her husband and prevent violence inside the hall.

A Possible Historical Root

Some scholars have noted a resemblance between the god Bragi and Bragi Boddason, a 9th-century Norwegian skald whose surviving verse is among the oldest attributed skaldic poetry known. Whether the god Bragi represents a deified memory of this historical poet, an independent mythological figure later associated with him, or simply a shared name is debated and not settled by the surviving sources.