Kvasir: Suffocation in Intelligence

I was reading about the Vanic God Kvasir, whose blood created the Mead of Poetry, and came across something that struck me. In the Skaldskarparmal, the story goes that Kvasir, the wisest of the Vanir, was invited to the home of the dwarfs Fjalar and Galar, supposedly for a private interview. When Kvasir arrived the two dwarfs killed him and placed his blood in three containers, two cauldrons and a kettle. This blood was eventually mixed with honey to create the Mead of Poetry, or Poetic Inspiration, which Odin eventually acquired.

Now there is a general agreement by scholars that this story, and the creation of Kvasir from the spittle of both the Aesir and Vanir, is a metaphor for ancient practices of brewing as well as peacemaking practices involving the sharing of mead or beer. I think that is probably likely myself, but I was also struck by a particular bit of information in the story itself, and that is what I want to discuss here.

The Wikipedia article on Kvasir states that when the Aesir come to question the dwarfs about the death of Kvasir, the two dwarves claim Kvasir died by way of "(suffocat)ion in intelligence." The dwarves say this is because there was none among them that were "so well educated as to be able to pose him questions." The full article can be viewed

at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kvasir

As a poet, the phrase "suffocation in intelligence" made me stop and think about the possible implications of Kvasir's supposed form of execution. What can this phrase reveal to us about the process of inspiration?

On a most literal level of understanding, the phrase struck me as a kenning for what we modern humans term "writer's block." Any author can easily see the parallel between writer's block and the feeling of suffocation, and utter lack of anything which seems to draw out the feeling of inspiration from which the act of creation naturally springs forth. It is literally the death of the ability to create, a bleak landscape where the colors are dulled and the mental powers become static.

But I still felt there was more to the phrase than a simple literal understanding. I felt that there was something to be learned by examining the context of the events which occurred and how they were described. The dwarfs claim that it is the lack of intelligence which suffocates Kvasir, because no other has the wisdom or education to pose questions.

In my understanding, this means that often times the creative spark is provoked by those around us, in conversation with intelligent life. In my mind, this not only includes interaction with other human beings, but with the spirit of intelligence itself, in many forms, be they mundane or spiritual ones, humans, gods, wights, nature itself. So I see this as an implication that to be truly inspired, the poet must become open to intercourse of all kinds, to be involved with the world around them, to truly experience the world itself.

Also the fact that Kvasir was so widely educated that none could possibly pose questions to him, can also be seen as a cautionary note. Could this be an indication that an over abundance of education, such as an obsession with the "rules" of form and function in poetry, can result in the suffocation of the creative spark, which becomes trapped within the rules of convention? Perhaps this phrase also gives us a bit of warning to find a balance between traditional education and creative experience?

Finally, what can we learn from the chronology of events which led to the creation of inspiration itself ? Kvasir is wise, and well learned, but this leads to him becoming unable to be provoked. It is not until after he is suffocated in intelligence that he "dies", and the mead of true inspiration can be created as a result. Does this indicate that a period of uninspiration itself is a normal and necessary part of the process of inspiration?

The way I see it is that education cannot be utilized until it is tested in our lives and experience. Education in itself will not result in inspiration, or creation. The "suffocation in intelligence" is the period when we struggle to unite education and convention with the world of our experience. Often times this results in a period of morose conflict between what we are taught is good and bad, and the reality of living in a largely amoral realm of existence.

Before we can find true inspiration, we must find a way to unite education and emotional experience in a meaningful way. We must find that in the world and in our minds and in our hearts which touches us on a deeper level, in our very blood itself. In my mind, this is the moment when inspiration is conceived.