SC - Viking tucker
Robyn.Hodgkin at mailhost.dpie.gov.au
Robyn.Hodgkin at mailhost.dpie.gov.au
Mon Mar 23 14:12:17 PST 1998
I did a bit of asking in the right places and have the following information
for anyone interested in Viking food:
The best general reference - with a section on food and drink (see p252ff)
is The Vikings, by Brondsted (with a slash through the o), published by
Penguin - may be out of print, but I'm sure amazon.com could find one.
Brondsted lists barley, wheat, herrings, hazelnuts, apples, elder- and
strawberries, hops, herrings, cabbage, onions, honey, wholemeal rye bread,
herrings, porridge, herrings, pork, veal, herrings, mutton, whale, herrings,
seal and bear (polar) meat - boiled for preference - beer and mead. And more
herrings.
The Vikings used milk, too, both fresh and in yoghurt. Their extensive
trading and other networks through the Mediterranean and especially into
Russia meant they came in contact with a wide variety of foods (King Harald,
for example, was commander of the Emperor's troops in Constantinople), but
homegrown stuff was pretty boring.
The sagas contain some references to food and drink: there's a description
of a feast in BEOWULF, but also try NJAL'S SAGA, KING HARALD'S SAGA,
LAXDAELA'S SAGA, The ELDERREDA (not sure of the spelling - my appetite for
sagas is very limited) and there would be references in the Icelandic sagas.
Hope this is of help.
Kiriel
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