hvæim eru bekkir
baugum sánir,
flæt fagrlig
floth gulli?
"For whom are the benches strewn with rings and the gold beautifully scattered through the rooms?"
And the vala answers:
Her stændr Balldri
of bruggin miodr,
skirar væigar,
liggr skiolldr yfir
æn ásmegir
i ofvæni.
"Here stands for Balder mead prepared, pure drink; shields are overspread, and the ásmegir are waiting impatiently."
Thus there stands in the lower world a hall splendidly decorated awaiting Balder's arrival. As at other great feasts, the benches are strewn (cp. breida bekki, strá bekki, bua bekki) with costly things, and the pure wonderful mead of the lower world is already served as an offering to the god. Only the shields which cover the mead-vessel need to be lifted off and all is ready for the feast. Who or what persons have, in so good season, made these preparations? The vala explains when she mentions the ásmegir and speaks of their longing for Balder. It is this longing which has found utterance in the preparations already completed for his reception. Thus, when Balder gets to the lower world, he is to enter the citadel of the ásmegir and there be welcomed by a sacrifice, consisting of the noblest liquid of creation, the strength-giving soma-madhu of Teutonic mythology. In the old Norse heathen literature there is only one more place where we find the word ásmegir, and that is in Olaf Trygveson's saga, ch. 16 (Heimskringla). For the sake of completeness this passage should also be considered, and when analysed it, too, sheds much and important light on the subject.
We read in this saga that Jarl Hakon proclaimed throughout his kingdom that the inhabitants should look after their temples and sacrifices, and so was done. Jarl Hakon's hird-skald, named Einar Skalaglam, who in the poem "Vellekla" celebrated his deeds and exploits, mentions his interest in the heathen worship, and the good results this was supposed to have produced for the jarl himself and for the welfare of his land. Einar says:
Ok hertharfir hverfa
hlakkar móts til blóta,
raudbrikar fremst rækir
rikr, ásmegir, sliku.
Nu grær jörd sem adan, &c.
Put in prose: Ok hertharfir ásmegir hverfa til blóta; hlakkar móts raudbríkar ríkr rækír fremst sliku. Nu grær jörd sem ádan.