Chapters 44-95 - Germanic Mythology

Ölvaldi, Ölmóður, and Sumbli finnakonungr, Sumblus phinnorum rex 22 in Saxo. Sumbl,
as a common noun, means ale, feast. In the Finn-king Sumbli these ideas are personified,
just as the soma-drink in the Vedic songs is personified in King Soma. In my treatise on
the Ivaldi race, I shall revert to the person who had these epithets, in order to make his
mythological position clear. Here I shall simply point out the following: Hávamál 110
makes one of the frost-giants, Suttung's guests, say:
Baugeið Óðinn
hygg eg að unnið hafi;
hvað skal hans tryggðum trúa?
Suttung svikinn
hann lét sumbli frá
og grætta Gunnlöðu.
111. A ring-oath Odin,
gave I believe..
Who shall trust his good faith?
Suttung swindled,
of Sumbl bereft,
and Gunnlöd made to cry!
The strophe makes the one who says this blame Odin for breaking the oath he
took on the ring, and thus showing himself unworthy of being trusted in the promises and
oaths he might give in the future, whereupon it is stated that he left Suttung deceitfully
robbed of sumbl (Sumbli), and Gunnlod in tears over a lost kinsman.
The expression that Suttung was deceitfully robbed of sumbl, to be intelligible,
requires no other interpretation than the one which lies near at hand, that Suttung was
treacherously deprived of the mead. But as the skald might have designated the drink
Suttung lost in a more definite manner than with the word sumbl, and as he still chose this
word, which to his hearers, familiar with the mythology, must have called to mind the
personal Sumbli (Ölvaldi-Sveigðir), it is not only possible, but, as it seems to me, even
probable, that he purposely chose an ambiguous word, and wanted thereby to refer at the
same time to the deceitfully captured mead, and to the intended son-in-law deceitfully
lost; and this seems to me to be corroborated by the juxtaposition of Suttung's and
Gunnlod's loss. The common noun sumbl's double meaning as mead and "drink-feast" has
also led M. B. Richert (page 14 in his treatise mentioned above) to assume that "the
expression was purposely chosen in such a manner that the meaning should not be
entirely limited and definite," and he adds: "A similar indefiniteness of statement, which
may give rise to ambiguity and play of words, is frequently found in the old songs."
Meanwhile, I do not include this probability in my evidence, and do not present it as the
basis of any conclusions.
The name Suttung shows in its very form that it is a patronymic, and although we
can furnish no linguistic evidence that the original form was Surtungr and characterized
its possessor as son of Surt, still there are other facts which prove that such was actually
the case. The very circumstance that the skaldic drink which came into Suttung's
possession is paraphrased with the expression sylgur Surts ættar, "the drink of Surt's
race" (Fornmanna Sögur, III. 3), 23 points that way, and the question is settled completely
by the half-strophe quoted in the Prose Edda (Skáldskaparmál 9), and composed by
Eyvind Skáldaspillir, where the skaldic potion is called:
22 Sumbli finnakonungr, Sumblus phinnorum rex; Sumbl, King of the Finns.
23 This kenning, meaning "drink of the race of Surt"simply means "drink of giants" and is a normal kenning
for poetry.