SC - My mother's health.....

[Sharon R. Saroff]

Nanna wrote:
>And don´t forget that Mongolian mutton soup I told you about that is so
>remarkably similar to the traditional Welsh and Icelandic soups - that one
>at least must have developed independenly, ´cause the only mention of
>Vikings anywhere near Mongolia that I can recall was in a rather weird
>Hammond Innes novel I once had to read.

Not to suggest that recipes can't be independently invented more than once,
but I see no reason why this one couldn't have originated with one source.
It would not be necessary for the Vikings or Swedes to have gone to
Mongolia. By the time that the colonization of Iceland was mostly finished,
Eastern Europe had been invaded several times over by Central Asian nomads
(Huns, Avars, Khazars) who could have exchanged recipes with Mongols.

The Huns travelled through much of Europe and for a while ruled many of the
German tribes. There's even a Hunnish connection to Iceland: the Volsunga
saga contains many references to the Huns and to various people who fought
against them, and includes Attila (Atli) as a major character. In the saga,
the Huns seem to be remembered as if they were just another German tribe. So
it's not unlikely that there could be some other traces of Hunnish influence
in Icelandic culture.

Henry of Maldon/Alex Clark

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