Eitr: The “McGuffin” of the Norse Mythos

I welcome you all to another adaptation of my Quora answers. I would’ve fully changed it to match Medium’s format, but the question asked is important for the context. Here’s the question:

How was it possible for the Eitr to be both poisonous and life-giving? Did it gain its life-giving properties from being tempered by the primordial fire/heat of Muspelheim?

While I happen to not be a biologist the assumption that anything poisonous cannot be life-giving is a rather poxy postulation. I’ll touch on that too in a while but first etymology needs to be addressed. Alongside the actual mentions in the texts, for some context. The Prose or Poetic Edda doesn’t touch much on it, however, we have some important mentions in some parts. One of the best examples is as follows:

Ór Élivágum stukku eitrdropar,

svá óx, unz varð jötunn;

þar eru órar ættir komnar allar saman;

því er þat æ allt til atalt.

Down from Elivagar did venom drop,

And waxed till a giant it was;

And thence arose our giants’ race,

And thus so fierce are we found.

Source: Gylfaginning, the Prose Edda

Elivagar is a good starting point. Often translated as “Ice Waves” these are rivers that existed in Ginnungagap prior to the formation of everything else. You may find them being mentioned as a collection of some rivers, each of their names mostly being consistent amongst most sources with only a few being added or subtracted. However, that is not our discussion for today. We need to move past it to the word.

The Old Norse eitr means poison or venom — specifically snake venom. It has its own roots in the Proto-Germanic *aitrą* meaning poison or pus. Likewise, the final origin can be traced to h₂eyd-ro-m and from there to h₂eyd- a Proto-Indo-European word meaning tumor, swelling, to swell, or abscess. It has its own cognates within the Ancient Greek οἶδος or oîdos {tumor or swelling} and οἰδῐ́- or oidí-* which means swollen. Another cognate is the Old Church Slavonic ꙗдра {jadra} i.e. bosom, bowels, and embrace.

Following the roots of other descendants, we get the Proto-West Germanic *ait(t)r or poison, boil, and sore. As well as the Old English ātor {poison & venom} and the Old High German eitar {pus & poison}. If you know your words this is where we get the English adder and atter {arachaic term for poison and venom}. Narrowing down all possibilities and summarizing other cognates and descendants, we can roughly pin all of it down as poison, venom, pus, boil, swelling, and the sort.

The streams called Ice-waves, those which were so long come from the fountain-heads that the yeasty venom upon them had hardened like the slag that runs out of the fire,-these then became ice; and when the ice halted and ceased to run, then it froze over above. But the drizzling rain that rose from the venom congealed to rime, and the rime increased, frost over frost, each over the other, even into Ginnungagap, the Yawning Void.

Source: Gylfaginning

Venom is arguably the most accurate term we can go for, given that eitr is also mentioned as the venom dripping from Jormungandr’s mouth. And a small amount of venom or poison if you may can have its medicinal use. As seen in the below-given research:

• *Medicinal Use of Snake Venom*
• *Snake Venom and Drugs*
• *The Medicinal Potential of Venom*
• *Poison as Medicine*
• *Poison as a Beneficial Substance*
• *Poison in Traditional Chinese Medicine*
• *Poison in Chinese Alchemy*
• *Viking and Herbs*
• *Viking and Agriculture*

The last two hints at the Nordic people cultivating poisonous plants themselves, while the others point out how poison can be used as a cure. Whether the Norse knew of such a thing is not what I’m here to discuss and neither am I qualified to answer that question. Rather we can work with something else, the juxtaposition of poison and life-giving. Now, *Wikipedia *does in fact state that it was imbued with vivifying attributes, however, it fails to provide a proper source for the assumption. As such what is given without evidence can be ignored without evidence — all for the sake of simplicity.

There’s something I did come across on Reddit though. They attributed it to Carl Jung and gave a link to supplement their answer. Unfortunately, the link’s collapsed and doesn’t work anymore. Nonetheless, here it is for you lot:

Dragon is personification of Sulphur and is by far the male element. Since the dragon is said to impregnate himself by swallowing his tail, then the tail is the male organ and the mouth is the female organ. The dragon consumes its entire body into his head; thus, partaking in his most dangerous and evil nature turning it into the inner fire of Mercury. This evil dragon nature which sulphur shares is frequently called the “dragon’s head” (caput dragonis), which is a “most pernicious poison,” a poisonous vapor breathed out by the flying dragon. However, the “winged dragon” that stands for quicksilver becomes a poison-breathing monster only after it unites with the “wingless dragon” which corresponds to sulphur.

Source: Carl Jung — Broken Link

The idea here is of the proto-substance, the origin of everything which as an essential qualifying attribute is both poisonous and life-giving. An intricate idea of this is mentioned by Paracelsus: “All things are poison, and nothing is without poison; the Dosis alone makes a thing not poison”. Further ventures for his idea concerning poison can be found *here, while the abstract presence of poison in the world is discussed [here](https://www.academia.edu/40007738/Jan_Baptist_Van_Helmont_and_the_Medical_Alchemical_Perspectives_of_Poison&nav_from=48bd0300-9deb-4ba8-8a18-ab46138560fc&rw_pos=0)*.

Everything requires something to propagate it. Poison just so happens to be something organic that can not only harm but cure. Whoever stumbled upon this would’ve surely been dumbfounded, the collocated property represented a part of nature beyond their understanding. Turn back to the birth of Ymir, he was born due to both Niflhel and Muspelheim, of frost and fire. Two wholly different things gave birth to creation.

Additionally, poison appears as a form of equivalent exchange or change in general within the Nordic Mythos. Mistletoe, for instance, was the changing factor, the underdog neglected by Frigg, that led to the death of Baldr. Jormungandr’s venom kills Thor in an act of equivalent exchange, to balance out the loss. Meanwhile, Loki is sentenced to a punishment where venom drips over his head. And when it does come into contact with him, he writhes in pain, and earthquakes result. It’s a simple idea of the small thing doing big wonders.

The paragraph I quoted concerning Elivagar mentions the term yeasty which as Google describes it {is} “characterized by or producing upheaval or agitation; in a state of turbulence, typically a creative or productive one.” Across Indo-European cultures, poison has significance in creation or power, as seen with Halāhala {हलाहल} or kālakūṭa {कालकूटं} in Hinduism, the poison churned to obtain the nectar of immortality {for further reading see *this and [this](https://hindutempletalk.org/2023/05/17/halahala-the-poison-that-shook-the-universe/amp/)*}. Shiva drank it himself while in some variants Vayu the god of the wind, reduced its potency first.

Irrespective of that, it’s rather prominent that poison or venom had importance in signifying a special event. It was the ultimate test, something so simple that could easily kill you. Venom was important as the ground substance, the start of creation. It may even be a stand-in for the cyclical structure of Ragnarok, it leads to it and at least three major events {the birth of Ymir, the death of Baldr, and the death of Thor} are influenced by it. Or as the first quotation suggests it may just be an explanation for the ferocity of the giants. So does it have its life-giving powers courtesy of Muspelheim? Who knows? There’s not much to suggest that AFAIK.

And that’s that. I hope you guys enjoy it. Have a nice day!