SC - lamb balls revisited again.

[Tollhase1@aol.com]

I'd sure like to know what source this came from.....I don't know anything about
the chinese part but the Viking part seems doubtful.

The semantic step from 'ska/ol'* to 'skalle' (sw. 'skull') doesn't seem too far
fetched, can't remember the icelandic word for skull though, I think that would
be closer to the Viking word since swedish has changed a lot over the centuries.

I've never ever, not at Birka or anywhere else, seen it mentioned anywhere that
Vikings used skulls as goblets or even kept heads of their victims as trophees.
Archaeological findings suggest that they used glasses to some extent, shaped
like an upsidedown cone, since they were traders besides being farmers and
explorers it seems like the better bet.
The only time I can think of skulls being used would be for some ritual offering
to the gods.

*: a/o is an a with a small circle above it.

Angus MacIomhair.

Christine A Seelye-King wrote:

> I don't know, kind of bowdlerized, but semi-interesting...
> Christianna
>
> --------- Forwarded message ----------
> From: Margaret Rose <margaret at premier.net>
> To: <TY at reashelm.ce.utk.edu>
> Date: Thu, 08 Jul 1999 08:19:19 -0500
> Subject: [TY] Skal!
>
>   Here's some more interesting Trivia.  I don't know if it's true
> or not, but it *is* interesting....
>
>         Margaret Rose
>
> > There are beer mugs, wine goblets, shot glasses and . . .
> >
> > Drinking customs are serious business, especially when
> > you're doing business abroad. In China, for example, if
> > you're invited to drink up but you don't drink, you should
> > turn your glass over and offer a good excuse for not
> > imbibing, such as "doctor's orders."
> >
> > It's also important to know the local toasts. In Sweden,
> > it's "skal." Many people in the US also like to use that
> > toast, but they might not if they knew what it really
> > meant. It descends from the Vikings and refers to their
> > drinking glass, made from an enemy's skull.
> >
> > - The Vikings seemed to have the right idea: Don't let
> > liquor go to your head; let it go to someone else's head.
>

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