The Maiden With The Mead

Students of the Poetic Edda have long ignored a seemingly unassuming, yet most important mythical character: Namely the mead-offering Maiden that appears at the heart of many a myth and heroic legend. This study shows how the Maiden with the Mead appears at the climax of a ritual structure within the myths - a structure that clearly is based on Pagan initiation rituals.

The Maiden is the aim of the initiation and its consecration. Her mead is the mead that transfers knowledge, wisdom and in...