Stanzas 13-14: In a warning against drunkenness, Odin uses his own experience of being "fettered" in Gunnlǫð's court as a negative example. This is a direct reference to his quest for the mead, which was guarded by the giantess Gunnlǫð.
13.‘It’s called the heron of oblivion, the one that stands quietly
over ale-feasts;
it steals a man’s wits;
with this bird’s feathers I was fettered
in the court of Gunnlǫð.
14.‘I got drunk, got extremely drunk,
at the house of wise Fjalarr;
in that case the best ale-feast is one where each man
gets his faculties back.
Stanzas 104-110: This section provides the most detailed narrative of the myth in the Poetic Edda. Odin recounts his visit to the giant Suttungr's halls, his seduction of Gunnlǫð, the use of the auger Rati to drill into the mountain, his escape with the mead (here named Óðrerir), and how he brought it to the world of men.
104. I visited the ancient giant, [and] now I have come back;
I got little by keeping quiet there;
with many words I spoke to my advancement
in Suttungr’s halls.
105. Gunnlǫð gave me on a golden seat
a drink of the precious mead;
I let her have a poor reward
for her true feelings,
for her troubled mind.
106. I made Rati’s mouth make room
and gnaw through rock;
above and below me stood the roads of giants;
that’s how I risked my head for it.
107. I’ve made good use of the well-bought look;
for the wise one, little is lacking;
because Óðrerir has now come up
to the rim of the sanctuary of men.
108. I doubt that I would have come back
from the courts of the giants,
if I hadn’t made use of Gunnlǫð, the good woman,
who laid her arm over me.
109. The following day, frost-giants went
to seek Hávi’s counsel in Hávi’s hall;
they asked about Bǫlverkr, whether he had come among the gods,
or whether Suttungr had slaughtered him.
110. I think Óðinn has sworn a ring-oath;
how can his pledges be trusted?
He cheated Suttungr of the drink,
and caused Gunnlǫð to weep.
Stanza 140: After learning nine magical songs, Odin gets a drink of the "precious mead, poured from Óðrerir." This connects the mead not just with poetry, but with deeper magical knowledge.
‘Nine mighty songs I learnt from the famous son
of Bǫlþórr, father of Bestla,
and I got a drink of the precious mead,
poured from Óðrerir.
Stanza 34: In a list of different names for ale among the various races, the dwarf Alvíss reveals that the sons of Suttungr refer to it as sumbl, a possible kenning for the Mead of Poetry.
‘It’s named ǫl among men, but bjórr by Æsir,
Vanir call it veig,
giants hreinalǫgr, and in Hel mjǫðr,
Suttungr’s sons call it sumbl.’
Chapter 56-57(p. 61): The story begins after the war between the Æsir and the Vanir. They make a truce by spitting into a vat, and from this spittle, the gods create a being of immense wisdom named Kvasir.
Bragi replied: ‘The origin of it was that the gods had a dispute with the people called Vanir... But when they dispersed, the gods kept this symbol of truce and decided not to let it be wasted, and out of it made a man. His name was Kvasir...
Chapter 57-58(p. 62): Kvasir is murdered by the dwarves Fjalar and Galar, who drain his blood into two vats, Són and Boðn, and a pot called Óðrerir. They mix the blood with honey, creating the mead that grants the gift of poetry to whoever drinks it. The dwarves then give the mead to the giant Suttung as compensation for their murder of his father, Gilling.
They poured his blood into two vats and a pot, and the latter was called Odrerir, but the vats were called Son and Bodn. They mixed honey with the blood and it turned into the mead whoever drinks from which becomes a poet or scholar.
Suttung took the mead home with him and put it for safe keeping in a place called Hnitbiorg, setting his daughter Gunnlod in charge of it.
Chapter 58(p. 63): Odin, calling himself Bölverk, plots to retrieve the mead. After working for Suttung's brother Baugi, he has a hole drilled into the mountain Hnitbjörg. He enters as a snake, spends three nights with Gunnlöð, and in return is allowed three draughts of the mead, which he uses to empty all three containers.
Bolverk went to where Gunnlod was and lay with her for three nights and then she let him drink three draughts of the mead. In the first draught he drank everything out of Odrerir, and in the second out of Bodn, in the third out of Son, and then he had all the mead.
Chapter 58, i, Epilogue(p. 64): Odin escapes in the form of an eagle, pursued by Suttung. Back in Asgard, he spits the mead into vats for the gods and true poets. Some that he spills in his haste becomes the "rhymester's share." This establishes poetry as "Odin's booty," "find," "drink," and "gift."
But Odin gave Suttung’s mead to the Æsir and to those people who are skilled at composing poetry. Thus we call poetry Odin’s booty and find, and his drink and his gift and the Æsir’s drink.