The main subject of the article is the comparison between two different mythic accounts of the origin of the sacred mead of inspiration in the context of the Old Norse religious tradition. These two myths are both narrated, although in a highly enigmatic style, as parts of the eddaic poem Hávamál. Both myths have three basic features in common: the frame setting is a difficult trial of the hero; the main character is the supreme god Óðinn; and the acquired treasure is the mead of inspiration. In all other respects the two stories seem to be completely dissimilar, the first one being a dynamic colourful adventure reminiscent of a folktale and the second one being a static vision, an esoteric experience of self-sacrifice. -- The central argument of the article is that these two myths can be explained as two aspects of the same process, the two accounts being necessary complements to each other. However, the structural relationship between the two narratives is of a peculiar nature corresponding to the "internal" and "external" aspects of ritual experience and to several other binary concepts that are shown to be present already as established emic categories of the Old Norse culture. Thus Óðinn's self-hanging corresponds to the factual level of an initiatory ritual, whereas Óðinn's extravagant adventures and metamorphoses correspond to the extatic perspective experienced internally by the initiand. -- The focal argument is supplemented first by the prolegomena, where the problems and limits of intra-cultural and inter-cultural comparisons and identifications are discussed; then the basic introduction to the Old Norse cultural context is provided; and, finally, the primary sources are presented and evaluated. The study is concluded with the epilegomena, where the results of the analysis and the interpretation are reflected upon and their possible applications and wider theoretical significance are considered, especially the new perspective on the relationship between double-aspected ritual and myth in the case of initiatory scenarios.