[[intoxication]] [[bees]] -> [[honey]] -> [[mead]] (see also [[the-sacred-cup-and-drink]]) *** ## Etymology PIE `*médhu-` [389] Gloss: "mead; sweet" (item 92 in [[bjorn2017]]) Sweetened with honey melit- [359] Semitic: `*mVtḳ–` "sweet" (Nichols 1997: 143) NE Caucasian: "*miʒʒV" ‘sweet’ > e.g. Ingush merza Uralic: `*mete` ‘honey’ (Thomsen 1869: 2, Wiklund 1906: 63) Old Chinese `*mjit` ‘honey’ (Lubotsky 1998) - Connection between Honey and Poetry - Greeks called poets "honey-tongued" - Norse mead origin of poetry - Mead became Soma among the Indo-Iranians (Ephedra?) which stimulated Vedic singers. - Narrative: female gives mead to man to drink and be inspired (Germanic) ## Biblio [[nordvig2013]] ## Web Resources [ie-connection: mead](https://www.indo-european-connection.com/words/mead) [Wikipedia: Samudra manthan: Comparative Mythology](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samudra-manthan#Comparative-mythology)