N-drink-trad-art - 7/30/98 "Norse Drinking Traditions" by Gunnora Hallakarva. NOTE: Please see also the files: N-drink-ves-msg. beer-msg, Norse-msg, Norse-food-msg, Norse-games-msg, TEIO-Vikings-art, mead-msg, honey-msg. ************************************************************************ NOTICE - This file is a collection of various messages having a common theme that I have collected from my reading of the various computer networks. Some messages date back to 1989, some may be as recent as yesterday. This file is part of a collection of files called Stefan's Florilegium. These files are available on the Internet at: http://www.florilegium.org I have done a limited amount of editing. Messages having to do with separate topics were sometimes split into different files and sometimes extraneous information was removed. For instance, the message IDs were removed to save space and remove clutter. The comments made in these messages are not necessarily my viewpoints. I make no claims as to the accuracy of the information given by the individual authors. Please respect the time and efforts of those who have written these messages. The copyright status of these messages is unclear at this time. If information is published from these messages, please give credit to the originator(s). Thank you, Mark S. Harris AKA: THLord Stefan li Rous Stefan at florilegium.org ************************************************************************ Subject: ANST - RE: ANST-Alcohol Traditions Date: Fri, 01 May 98 22:01:56 MST From: Gunnora Hallakarva To: ansteorra at Ansteorra.ORG "Norse Drinking Traditions" by Gunnora Hallakarva. Hávamál (Sayings of the High One) 11. Byrfli betri berrat maflr brautu at, an sé manvit mikit; aufli betra flykkir flat í ókunnun stafl, slíkt es válafls vera. [A better burden no man can bear on the way than his mother wit: and no worse provision can he carry with him than too deep a draught of ale.] 12. Esa svá gott, sem gott kvefla, öl alda sunum, flvít fæ'ra veit, es fleira drekkr, síns til gefls gumi. [Less good than they say for the sons of men is the drinking oft of ale: for the more they drink, the less they can think and keep a watch over their wits.] 13. Óminnis hegri heitr sás of ölflrum flrumir, hann stelr gefli guma; fless fugls fjöflrum ek fjötraflr vask í garfli Gunnlaflar. [A bird of Unmindfullness flutters over ale-feasts, wiling away men's wits; with the feathers of that fowl I was fettered once in the garths of Gunnlodr below.] 14. Ölr ek varfl, varfl ofrölvi at ens frófla Fjalars; flvi's ölflr bazt, at aptr of heimtir hverr sitt gefl gumi. [Drunk was I then, I was over-drunk, in the fold of wise Fjalar; But best is an ale feast when a man is able to call back his wits at once.] These are the words of the great god Ódinn, cautioning against drunkenness and unrestrained drinking. And yet the drinking of alcoholic beverages was a prominent feature of Scandinavian life in the Viking Age. Beer and ale were brewed from grain, especially barley. Mead, a golden wine made by fermenting honey was popular as well. Fruit wines were made in very small quantities in areas such as southern Sweden, though production was always rather low (after the Viking Age all the fruit wine output was used as sacramental wine). The wealthy Viking chieftain might also import fine wines from the Continent, especially from the German states. The drinking of beer was particularly important to several seasonal religious festivals, of which the Viking Scandinavians celebrated three: the first occurring after harvest, the second near midwinter, and the last at midsummer. These festivals continued to be celebrated after the introduction of Christianity, although under new names. Historical records show that beer consumption at these festivals, even in Christian times, was quite important: the Gulathing Law required farmers in groups of at least three to brew ale to be consumed at obligatory ale-feasts on All Saints (November 1 - Winternights), Christmas (December 25 - Yule), and upon the feast of St. John the Baptist (June 24 - Midsummer) More ordinary festivities, celebrated even today, are so closely associated with beer that they are known as Öl ("ale") and include Gravöl (a wake, or "funeral beer"), Barnöl (a christening, or "child-beer") and Taklagsöl (a barn-raising, or "roofing-beer"). The drinking of beer required vessels in which to serve the beverage. The oldest mode of serving beer was to offer it in a large howl, often a brass cauldron in which the beer had been heated, from which everyone served themselves by means of small bird-shaped dippers called Ölgass or "ale-geese." In Lokásenná we are given a description of such a beer-cauldron in Aegir's hall. Later Scandinavians drew their beer from the vat into Tapskalar or "tap-bowls,"which were like pitchers, provided with a short pouring spout or lip. Tapskalar were then emptied into pitchers or large tankards, which were set upon the tables and used to serve beer into individual drinking vessels. The drinking vessels themselves could be of varied types. The most primitive were simple cones made of rolled birch or rowan bark. Carefully polished horns were used. These were often adorned with precious metals and jewelry-work at mouth and point. The drinking horn has become known as the only Viking drinking vessel to modern folks, however the average Viking probably considered the drinking horn a peasant's drinking-vessel, or an extremely old-fashioned one, used mostly for rituals such as offering a stirrup-cup, the various Öl festivities and seasonal celebrations, and the formal ale-feast of sumbel. It was much more usual in the Viking Age for people to use more convenient vessels which could be set down without spilling. Coopered vessels made of wooden staves bound with willow bands might take the form of tankards or covered flagons. Birchbark drinking vessels, the seams sealed with pitch, were used to hold drink. Very rich Scandinavians might use imported glass beakers, which werecalled Hrimkaldar, or "frostcups' (usually shaped like cones or horns but of a relatively small size, perhaps 8 to 12 fluid oz. capacity). Tumblers were made from cow horn, but horns which had the point cut off in the solid tip area to provide a flat base to the cup. After 1500 (well after the Viking Age), various turned vessels made from wood became available in Scandinavia. Especially important was the Kåsa, a cup which was either carved in one piece from wood, made with coopered staves, or later crafted from silver or pewter. Kåsor were made with round bowls which widened upwards, provided with two handles which might end in animal heads, stylized animal forms, or birds' beads and tails. Kåsor were often of a formal and ceremonial nature, and became associated with special holiday customs. No less ceremonial than the drinking vessel itself was the mode of serving.The sagas often tell of the first round of drink (at least) being served by noble women, as in this passage from Beowulf "Wealhtheow, Hrothgar's queen now made her appearance according to courtly custom. Adorned with gold, she greeted the company in the banqueting hall. The noble lady first presented a goblet to Hrothgar. She bade him enjoy the revels, upon which the king gladly took part in the sumbel. Then Wealhtheow the Helming princess visited every corner of the hall, tendering the jewelled cup to veterans and the younger men." The serving of ale in this manner was not a servant's task, but a jealously guarded privelege accorded to the highest ranking Germanic women. This ritual of the queen serving the ceremonial drink is part of a ritual which confirm's the king's rulership and cements the social order of the king's followers. The order in which each is served shows relative rank between te participants, with the king coming first, then men of higher rank, and finally the youngest and lowest ranking. The sharing of the cup helpes establish bonds between the men as well. The presentation of ale to the lord of the hall might be accompanied with words such as these from Sigurdrfiumal: "Ale I bring thee, thou oak of battle With strength blended and brightest honor -- 'Tis mixed with magic and mighty songs, With goodly spells, wish-speeding runes" The revellers would later be served by men or women who "carried ornamental ale cups and performed the office of pouring out the sparkling beer," as was the custom in Heorot. The gods themselves had the Valkyries as cupbearers, as these named by Ó›inn in Grímnismál: "Hrist and Mist the horn shall bear me, Skeggiold and Skogul But Hild and Thrtith, Hlokk and Herijotur, Goll and Geironul, Rondgrith and Rathgrith and Reginleif To the einherjar ale shall bear." Once the Vikings had their cups filled, they offered up toasts, or Fulls.The first full was assigned to Ó›inn, and was made for victory and the king's success. Snorri Sturleson gives Earl Sigur›r's first toast at a festival at Hla›ir in 952 as an example. Freyr and Njord were the recipients of the second toast, which was for peace and plentiful harvests. The third toast was often made to Bragi, god of poetry. After this, men might make the Minni, a toast to those of their kinsmen who had become famous. At weddings, the toasts offered might be slightly different: the story of Herraud and Bosi recounts that the cup was consecrated to Thórr. The first toast was made to all the gods, the next toast to Ó›inn, and the third to Freyja. These rounds of toasting were a part of the custom of Sumbel (Old Norse) or Symbel (Old English), both meaning "ale-gathering." Toasts might be combined with vows or oaths, boasts, storytelling and song. Tacitus wrote in his Germania of the custom of sumbel, saying "Drinking bouts lasting all day and all night are not considered in any way disgraceful." More than one sumbel is encountered in Beowulf, and in Old Norse poetry such as "Lokásenná," where Loki is told: "Seats and places for thee at sumbel The Aesir never choose Because the Aesir know which wights To have at a glorious drinking-feast." Sumbel is even mentioned in Christian poetry such as "The Dream of the Rood," where it is told that "There are God's folk seated at symbel." The term "symbel daeg"came to be used in Old English to denote a Christian feast day. The sumbel was a joint activity. Those participating came and sat together, usually within a chieftain's hall. It was often referred to as a drinking feast, where ale, beer or mead might be served in a ceremonial cup (such as the kåsa), and passed from hand to hand around the hall. The recipient of the cup made a toast, oath, or boast, or he might sing a song or recite a story before drinking and passing the cup along. While referred to as a "feast," the sumbel did not include food, but might precede or follow a meal. A sumbel was solemn in the sense of having deep significance and importance to the participants, but was not a grim or dour ceremony - indeed, at Hrothgar's sumbel in Beowulf, "...there was laughter of the men, noise sounded, the words were winsome." However, as the quotes from Hávamál above clearly show, it was considered poor form to become drunk at the sumbel. Taking drink from the ceremonial cup might be thought of as symbolizing the divine inspiration given to Ó›inn by the Mead of Poetry, and the Allfather had much to say in Havamal about overdrinking: "I counsel thee ... I pray thee be wary ... Be wariest of all with ale." (from v. 131) This is not to say that Ódinn was a prohibitionist: he himself drank only wine, and would not drink unless his blood-brother Loki had also been served (giving rise to the custom of flicking a few drops of every toast raised to Ódinn into a fire to honor the covenant with Loki). It is also recorded that Ódinn drank each day with the goddess Saga in her hall. Finally, as Peter Foote points out, while "the Vikings seem to have been men of some thirst," their drink contained large quantities of impurities, and therefore they, too, were subject to "frightful hangovers ..." Readings Bauschatz. Paul C. The Well and the Tree, Amherst University of Massachusetts Press. 1982. Craigie, William A. The Religion of Ancient Scandinavia, Freeport NY; Books for Libraries Press. 1969. Crepin, Andre. "Wealhtheow's Offering of the Cup: A Study in Literary Structure." in Saints, Scholars and Heroes: Studies in Medieval Culture I. eds. Margot King and Wesley Stevens. Collegeville, 1979. pp. 45-58. Enright, Michael J. Lady With a Mead Cup: Ritual Prophecy and Lordship in the European Warband from La Tene to the Viking Age. Dublin: Four Courts Press. 1996. ISBN 1-85182-188-0. Foote, Peter and David M. Wilson. The Viking Achievement, London; Sedgwick and Jackson. 1970. Hollander, Lee M. trans. The Poetic Edda, Austin; University of Texas Press. 1962. Palsson, Hermann and Paul Edwards. trans. Seven Viking Romances, NY; Penguin Books. 1985. Turville-Petre, E.O.G. Myth and Religion of the North, Westport CN; Greenwood Press. 1964. Wright, David. trans. Beowulf, NY; Penguin Books 1957 Gunnora Hallakarva Herskerinde Edited by Mark S. Harris N-drink-trad-art Page 6 of 6