Then Gangleri said, ‘You say that all men who have fallen in battle from the beginning of the world are now with Odin in Valhalla. With what does he feed them? I should think the crowd there is large.’
High answered: ‘It is true as you say. A huge throng is already there, but many more are still to come. Yet even these will be thought too few when the Wolf [Fenrir] comes. Never are there so many in Valhalla that they run out of meat from the boar called Saehrimnir. He is cooked every day but is whole again in the evening. As to your question, few, it seems to me, are so wise that they could answer it correctly. Andhrimnir is the cook and Eldhrimnir is the kettle, as it says here:
Andhrimnir has Saehrimnir boiled in Eldhrimnir, the best of meat. But few know on what the Einherjar feed.’
(The Lay of Grimnir. 18)
Then Gangleri asked, ‘Does Odin eat the same food as the Einherjar?’
High replied, ‘He gives the food on his table to his two wolves, Geri and Freki. He himself needs nothing to eat. For him, wine is both drink and food. So it says here:
Geri and Freki are fed by the battle-skilled father of armies; But on wine alone, weapon glorious Odin ever lives. (*The Lay of Grimnir. 19*)
‘Two ravens sit on Odin’s shoulders, and into his ears they tell all the news they see or hear. Their names are Hugin [Thought] and Munin [Mind, Memory]. At sunrise he sends them off to fly throughout the whole world, and they return in time for the first meal. Thus he gathers knowledge about many things that are happening, and so people call him the raven god. As is said:
Hugin and Munin fly each day over the wide world. I fear for Hugin that he may not return, though I worry more for Munin.’
(The Lay of Grimnir. 20)