Writing and Research – Byzantines, Romans and Vikings Oh My! – by Rob Shackleford

Writing and Research - Byzantines, Vikings and Saxons Oh My! Originally submitted as a guest post to N.N. Light's Book Heaven in October 2021: https://www.nnlightsbookheaven.com/post/writing-and-research-guest-post When I wrote my first novel, Traveller Inceptio, I became engrossed in issues of which most writers would be sympathetic: Was my story original? Was my writing style readable? Did I really have a clue? After all, I wasn’t a Stephen King, Andy Weir, Michael Crichton or Bernard Cornwell. What the heck did I know about innovative stories, sci-fi or historical fiction? As my storyline looks at the survival potential for 21st century researchers sent…
Read More

Viking Foods 7 – Booze by Rob Shackleford

Viking Foods 7 - Booze by Rob Shackleford In Viking times, one could not have a meal without a drink, and one would not have had the drink without women. Author Mark Forsyth notes how, “serving the drinks was the defining role of women in the Viking Age”. Women were also the first brewers and wine-makers until, as in other cultures, men became involved and eventually dominated the process. Ale, mead, and wine were made in roughly the same way. A cauldron or vat would be filled with water and placed over a fire to heat, and one then added honey and yeast…
Read More

Viking Foods 6 – Meats – by Rob Shackleford

Viking Foods 6 - Meats - by Rob Shackleford A major feature of the Viking diet was that every level of society, from kings to common sailors, ate meat on most days.  Often this would have been pork, as hogs were easy to raise and quick to mature, but Vikings also ate beef, mutton and goats. Horses were also raised for food, but was also eaten only rarely as horses were highly prized and very expensive. Horsemeat was only eaten on festive occasions. In Haakon the Good's saga it is described how horsemeat can be used to make a soup.…
Read More

Viking Foods – Fruits and Sweets by Rob Shackleford

Viking Foods - Fruits and Sweets by Rob Shackleford   When we say “fruit” – often we think of fruits such as apples, oranges, bananas and maybe pineapple. Yet none of these fruits were available to the Vikings! True, they had access to crab-apples, much harder than the apples that originated in Kazakhstan and were grown in China. Now, nearly 8000 varieties of apples have been identified around the world. Oranges are a hybrid of pomalo and mandarins, and were introduced into Europe by the Moorish invasions around the 10th Century. Vikings would have come into contact with oranges as…
Read More

Viking Foods 4 – Fish and Sea Life by Rob Shackleford

Viking Foods 4 - Fish and Sea Life by Rob Shackleford As we have seen with our Viking Food discussion so far, a typical evening meal could include fish or meat stewed with vegetables. They might also eat some more dried fruit with honey as a sweet treat. Honey was the only sweetener the Vikings knew. Vikings drank ale, mead or buttermilk daily. The Norse of Scandinavia and the Viking raiders who travelled on raids overseas required a significant amount of energy on a daily basis, and this diet seems to have more than sufficed. There is little evidence to suggest that the Vikings were underfed or…
Read More

Viking Foods 3 – Vikings Ate Their Veges by Rob Shackleford

Viking Foods 3 - Vikings Ate Their Veges by Rob Shackleford Why Vikings? Who Were the Vikings? What did Vikings Look Like? Viking Ginger Connection Vikings Loved Bling Part 1 Viking Hygiene Viking Clothes - Looking Good! Viking Men's wear Viking Women's Wear Vikings Loved Bling Part 1 Viking Jewellery Part 2 Inked Up - Vikings and Tattoos Were Vikings Inked?  Part 2 Viking Health Viking Teeth Viking Medicine Vikings at Home Viking Society Viking Thralls Viking Karls Viking Jarls Viking Women Part 1 Viking Women Part 2 Viking Women Part 3 Viking Villages and Towns Viking Fortresses Vikings and…
Read More