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Hovamol

140. None made me happy  with loaf or horn, And there below I looked;I took up the runes,  shrieking I took them, And forthwith back I fell.
141.[1] Nine mighty songs  I got from the son Of Bolthorn, Bestla's father;And a drink I got  of the goodly mead Poured out from Othrörir.
142. Then began I to thrive,  and wisdom to get, I grew and well I was;Each word led me on  to another word, Each deed to another deed.
143.[2] Runes shalt thou find,  and fateful signs, That the king of singers colored, And the mighty gods have made;
  1. ↑ This stanza, interrupting as it does the account of Othin's winning the runes, appears to be an interpolation. The meaning of the stanza is most obscure. Bolthorn was Othin's grandfather, and Bestla his mother. We do not know the name of the uncle here mentioned, but it has been suggested that this son of Bolthorn was Mimir (cf. Voluspo, 27 and note, and 47 and note). In any case, the nine magic songs which he learned from his uncle seem to have enabled him to win the magic mead (cf. stanzas 104-110). Concerning Othrörnir, here used as the name of the vessel containing the mead, cf. stanza 107 and note.
  2. ↑ This and the following stanza belong together, and in many editions appear as a single stanza. They presumably come from some lost poem on the authorship of the runes. Lines 2 and 3 follow line 4 in the manuscript; the transposition was suggested by Bugge. The king of singers: Othin. The magic signs (runes) were commonly carved in wood, then colored red.

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