Bragi -- The Norse God of Poetry

Imagine yourself in Ancient Vinland (Newfoundland) for a moment. See the rise and fall of giant ships on the icy waves, knowing that they belong to the Warriors in the village around you. You hear a soft sound of a Bard's poetry from behind you, and turn to walk towards the village center.
These Bards, better known as Skalds, sung poetry in the extremely structured ways of the Vikings.
These people were influenced by and believed that a God by the name of Bragi gave them the gift of their poetry.
Bragi was said to be the Son of Odin -- and he had Eldar Futhark runes carved on his tongue. It is said that these runes held great power, and gave Bragi the gift of poetry. Because of those Runes, He was said to be the only one to have such a profound skill with words. It was said he could make even the darkest, grimmest news and events in history seem beautiful.
Norse Skalds worshipped Bragi and thanked him for the gifts that they were given. Some tribes even went as far as making their King drink from a chalice called the Braggarful. This Chalice was said to be blessed by Bragi and gave the King the gift of fair speech in order to rule his lands.
Poetry in ancient times was important -- as I've said, people in Norse Mythology see that their Skaldic/Bardic arts were given to them by a God (Bragi), and that they weren't simply born with the talent.
Many stories and poems thought to originally have been the songs of Skalds are chronicled in the Norse Eddas, both the Prose Edda and the Poetic Edda. These Poems depict the Norse mythology we are vaguely familiar with today.
To these people, their Muse was actually a God -- a being to be worshipped and thanked. It's just something to think about. Though I've only provided a small sense of who Bragi was to the Skalds, finding the information gave me insight on the thought of Musework and again on the Religious significance in poetry.