The dwarves' killing of the giant Gillingr and his wife has grave consequences: the giant Suttungr demands the mead of poetry as wergild and hides it in the mountain Hnitbjörg under the guard of his daughter Gunnlöð.
Dvergarnir sögðu Æsum at Kvasir hefði kafnat í mannviti, því at engi var þar nógu fróðr til að spyrja hann. Þeir buðu síðan jötni þeim er Gillingr hét í heimsókn ok drápu hann á gangi. Síðan buðu þeir til konu hans ok buðu henni ganga út yfir sjó. Þá sökktu þeir henni.
The dwarves told the Æsir that Kvasir had suffocated in human wisdom, since there was no one learned enough to question him. They then invited the giant named Gillingr to visit and killed him on a walk. They next invited his wife and offered to take her out over the sea, whereupon they drowned her.
Sonr Gillings hét Suttungr. Hann fór til dverga ok tók þá ok bar á sker í hafi ok vildi drekkja þá. Þeir báðu sér friðar ok buðu honum til sætta miðinn dýra. Suttungr tók þar af sáttir ok fór heim með miðinn. Hann fann staðar í bjarg er Hnitbjörg heitir ok setti Gunnlöðu dóttur sína til varðveizlu.
Gillingr's son was named Suttungr. He went to the dwarves, seized them, carried them out to a reef in the sea, and meant to drown them. They begged for their lives and offered him the precious mead as settlement. Suttungr accepted the settlement and returned home with the mead. He found a place in the mountain called Hnitbjörg and set his daughter Gunnlöð as its guardian.
Skaldic quotations
Hávamál 104
Gunnlöð mér gaf gullnum stóli á drykk ins dýra mjaðar.
Gunnlöð gave me, upon her golden seat, a drink of the precious mead.