ANST - RE: ANST-Alcohol Traditions

Gunnora Hallakarva gunnora at bga.com
Fri May 1 21:48:46 PDT 1998


Tiarna Aodhfionn Mac Cormaic proposed an interesting new subject (thank the
gods! that dead horse is starting to really stink up the place!)
>The thread I am not mention ing here =} got me to thinking about historical 
>traditions dealing with alcohol, and it occurred to me that I know more
about 
>historical traditions/ceremonies dealing with water than I do about those 
>dealing with alcohol.
>I know that there are many cultures societies where alcohol consumption 
>is (or at least was) required at some point, but I can only think of a
very few.  
>Unfortunately, most of those are Catholic/Christian in origin.  Drinking of 
>wine at Communion, weddings, funerals, etc.
>I remember hearing that the Mongols had a drinking ceremony where a 
>refusal to drink brought down a sentence of death, but I don't know if this 
>is true, or where it might have come from.
>So, what are the historical traditions involving alcohol?  Also, did any of 
>the non-Christian traditions/ceremonies expressly forbid becoming drunk?

Greetings.

Of course, you knew that the Viking Answer Lady would have an Answer,
didn't you?

Hávamál (Sayings of the High One)

11.
Byrþi betri     berrat maþr brautu at,
     an sé manvit mikit;
auþi betra     þykkir þat í ókunnun staþ,
     slíkt es válaþs 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 kveþa,
     öl alda sunum,
þvít fæ'ra veit,     es fleira drekkr,
     síns til geþs 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 ölþrum þrumir,
     hann stelr geþi guma;
þess fugls fjöþrum     ek fjötraþr vask
     í garþi Gunnlaþar.

[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 varþ,     varþ ofrölvi
     at ens fróþa Fjalars;
þvi's ölþr bazt,      at aptr of heimtir
     hverr sitt geþ 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 Óðinn, 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 Óðinn 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 Óðinn, and was made for victory and
the king's success. Snorri Sturleson gives Earl Sigurðr's first toast at a
festival at Hlaðir 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 Óðinn, 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
Óðinn 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 Óðinn 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 Óðinn into a fire to honor the covenant with Loki). It is also
recorded that Óðinn 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::

Wæs Þu Hæl (Waes Thu Hael)

::GUNNORA::

Gunnora Hallakarva
Herskerinde
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
Ek eigi visa þik hversu oðlask Lofstirrlauf-Kruna heldr hversu na Hersis-Aðal
(Ek eigi thik hversu odhlask Lofstirrlauf-Kruna heldr hversu na Hersis-Adhal)

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