SC - Coronation feast.

[Philip & Susan Troy]

This talk of eating well and being heavy started me on another related
theme.  I've been reading Egil's Saga looking for food references and have
noted the typical Norse hospitality theme.

Boat sails into harbor.  Men get off the boat and go meet the local
householder.  Either (a) they all try to kill each other, or (b)
householder and boat captain talk, and householder invites captain to
bring as many men as he "thinks good" up to the house and they all eat and
drink for a week.

Alternate scenario has the householder inviting the captain and "as many
men as he thinks good" to spend the winter with him.  

The "thinks good" part seems to be literally meant - the captain ussually
takes some but not all of his men, leaving some to guard the boat, sleep
on the boat, or winter with other households.  The captain is being
invited to share hospitality, but not to take undue advantage of it.

The hospitality seems mainly to involve lots of eating and drinking.
Sometimes no ale is offered, as sign of poverty or deliberate insult, and
in those cases the guests are offered bowls of curds and expected to drink
the whey.  This is fine unless the guests find out that other food is
available but not being served to them - in which case obviously the guest
needs to kill the householder and all his men.

When I began looking for food references, I was mainly looking for "what"
not "how" - but I found much more "how" they ate information and very
little "what they ate" information.  Curds and whey.  Ale.  Bread.
Porridge.  And lots of references to "good food" and "as good a feast as
ever they had eaten".

Anyone have more information, and or comments, on this?

Elaina

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