Viking Ships 1 – by Rob Shackleford

Viking Ships 1 Think Vikings - think the dragon-headed Viking Long Ship The Viking ship are described by some scholars as perhaps the greatest technical and artistic achievement of the European dark ages. These fast ships had the strength to survive ocean crossings while having a draft of as little as 50cm (20 inches), allowing navigation in very shallow water. Their unique structure, used in Scandinavia from the Viking Age throughout the Middle Ages, were a vital part of Viking society, not only as a means of transportation, but also for the prestige that it conferred on her owner and…
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Viking Foods 10 – Drinking Horns by Rob Shackleford

Drinking Horns Every medieval, Viking and mythical movie (like Game of Thrones) have all major actors using drinking horns to quaff their brew of choice. A drinking horn is the horn of a horned creature such as a cow, buffalo, etc, which is used as a drinking vessel. Drinking horns are a custom that is over 2000 years old, having been known from Classical Antiquity, especially in the Balkans. They remained in use for ceremonial purposes throughout the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period in some parts of Europe, notably in Germanic Europe and in the Caucasus. But here…
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Viking Foods 8 – Meals & Feasts by Rob Shackleford

Viking Foods 8 - Meals & Feasts by Rob Shackleford In discussing Viking foods, it’s important to consider when foods were eaten. Most Viking family meals were eaten in a common room of the longhouse. This meal was often either a stew served with bread or, in Iceland at least, skyr, a type of yoghurt, and cheese with bread. The Norse ate two meals a day: one, the dagveror (day meal) shortly after waking in the morning and the other, the nattveror (night meal), in the evening, roughly around 9:00 pm (21:00). The Vikings had bowls and plates very similar…
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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…
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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.…
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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…
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