Bragi
A.K.A.
His name means Poetry, Chieftan
Kennings:
Husband of Idunn, First Maker of Poetry, and the Long-bearded God (after his name, a man who has a great beard is called Beard-Bragi) and Son of Odin.
The Prose Edda, Skáldskaparmál
, XVII. Bragakenningar
http://www.cybersamurai.net/Mythology/nordic_gods/LegendsSagas/Edda/ProseEdda/SkaldskaparmalXI-XX.htm#skald17
Norse God of Poetry and Eloquence
Parents: (Odin and Frigga?)
Spouse: Idunna, Goddess of the Spring and Eternal Youth
He has a very long beard
His tongue is carved with runes
His cup, the Bragarfull "Promise Cup" is an oathcup on which folk swear to do something worthy of being remembered in verse.
Associations:
Rune:
"One is called Bragi: he is renowned for wisdom, and most of all for fluency of speech and skill with words. He knows most of skaldship, and after him skaldship is called bragr (""poetry""), and from his name that one is called bragr-man or -woman, who possesses eloquence surpassing others, of women or of men. His wife is Idunn:
The Prose Edda, Gylfaginning, XXVI. Frá Braga ok Iðunni
http://www.cybersamurai.net/Mythology/nordic_gods/LegendsSagas/Edda/ProseEdda/GylfaginningXXI-XXX.htm#gylf26
A passage in the Poetic Edda poem Sigrdrífumál describes runes being graven on the sun, on the ear of one of the sun-horses and on the hoofs of the other, on Sleipnir's teeth, on bear's paw, on eagle's beak, on wolf's claw, and on several other things including on Bragi's tongue. Then the runes are shaved off and the shavings are mixed with mead and sent abroad so that Æsir have some, Elves have some, Vanir have some, and Men have some, these being beech runes and birth runes, ale runes, and magic runes. The meaning of this is obscure
Source: Bragi Wikipedia
The Poetic Edda, Sigrdrifumál, Verse 16
http://www.cybersamurai.net/Mythology/nordic_gods/LegendsSagas/Edda/PoeticEdda/LaysoftheHeroes/Sigrdrifumol.htm
In Bragi the Northmen honoured the originator of their Skaldic poetry, the god of eloquence and wise utterances. At guilds and at grave-feasts the Bragi-Bragi-cup was drunk; and at the funeral of kinds or jarls the heir was not permitted to take his father’s seat till the "Bragarful" was brought in, when, rising to receive it, he drank the contents of the cup, and was led to the high seat of honour. At guild feasts the Bragi-cup was signed with Thor’s mallet, and was drunk after the company had drained Odin’s cup for victory, and Niord’s and Frey’s cup for a bountiful year.
The peculiarity of Bragi’s cup was that, on drinking it, a vow-held to be inviolable - was made to perform some deed worthy of a skald’s song.
Source: http://www.1902encyclopedia.com/A/AES/aesir.html
References:
The Prose Edda
By Snorri Sturluson
Translated by Arthur Gilchrist Brodeur
http://www.cybersamurai.net/Mythology/nordic_gods/LegendsSagas/Edda/ProseEdda/ContentsEnglish.htm#skaldse
Bragi Wikipedia
http://www.teenwitch.com/divine/norse/bragi.html
Notes from me: This last passage brings up a very interesting thought, that I want to pursue once I get the basics down. And that is "What is a god?" From both the pagan perspective in general and the Norse specifically. Sometimes It is hard to throw the "Semetic concept, of "God" having always been and always will be god from how we observe things. That the originator of the Skaldic form of poetry would be considered a "God" by those that followed him might seem an artificial contruction to those of us who have been raised with that idea, I think that it is interesting to note that the Norse could see someone who had done a remarkable thing, such as originating poetry, or being exceptionally skilled at war, or at making things grow, etc. as having stepped into Godhood, or Perhaps a Perhaps as that Godhood becoming Manifest on Earth as a way of sharing what they know.
Mind you this is just the seed of a thought and It will take some time to understand the world view of the Norse, and some reflection on my own world view, before I can pursue this farther.
......more to come
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