[Sca-cooks] RE: Plums and Irish

[Terry Decker]

Harald Hardrada, who invaded England in 1066, had been a member of the 
Varangian Guard in his youth.  Vikings had been entering the Mediterranean 
both through the Straits of Gibraltar and down the rivers in the Steppes 
since the early 9th Century.  The probability that none of these venturers 
wound up in Ireland is very low.

Rollo settled in Normandy in 911 and whether his Vikings brought the plums 
or the Romans left them, that establishes a hundred year span for getting 
them into Ireland.  Since the Vikings were in the trading business as well 
as the raiding business, shipping prunes to other Viking settlements seems 
highly probable.

Were I looking for further evidence to support or refute the contention, I 
would look at what information is available on the diet of Viking Era 
Dublin.

Bear

> >From my understanding she is trying for Irish Norse feast. The Rus and 
> >the
> Svea were in the Mediterranean but not the Irish.
> Also, there was little contact between the Romans in Briton and the Irish.
> If she is trying for Irish Norse then it is a very slim possibility for 
> the
> Irish to have plums (actually prunes).
> I am not sure about the red plums.
> And though Normandy seems to have the plums does not mean that the Irish 
> had
> them. Also, the Normans would have introduced the plum either a little
> before or after 1066 (into England, not Ireland)and I think she is trying
> for 1005.
>
> Lyse
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> The Norse probably had access to plums and prunes beginning around 900 CE
> when they began direct trade with Byzantium.  Since Pliny (79 CE) states
> that the Syrian plum made its way first to Greece and then to Italy, I 
> would
> assume that plums were in cultivation in the Mediterranean regions when 
> the
> Vikings arrived.
>
> According to the Cambridge World History of Food, plums were introduced 
> into
> England by the Normans, suggesting that either the Romans or the Norse had
> introduced their cultivation into Normandy.
>
> Bear
>
>
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