Viking feasts: What was on the menu?
What would a Viking feast have been like? When would this get-together be held, what types of food would likely be served there – and how do we know?
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The beginning of the Viking Age has been dated back to 793 AD, when Scandinavian warriors known as Vikings raided Lindisfarne. By the end of the 11th century, the Vikings had pillaged many other territories across Europe, earning a fearsome reputation along the way.
The Vikings have firmly left their mark on modern popular culture, as evidenced by the abundant Viking-themed TV and film dramas. It’s no wonder that many of us are inspired to research what the Vikings were really like. One aspect that doesn’t always get enough scholarly attention, though, is the Viking culinary scene…
What was a typical Viking feast like? What kinds of foods would the diners have consumed? Researchers have the answers, but how did they get them? Sky HISTORY thought we’d do some raiding (ahem) for answers…
What purposes did a Viking feast serve?
When would you hold a feast for people you know? Probably to celebrate a momentous event, like a birth or wedding. You can bet that Viking feasts happened for these reasons.
Some also took place on a seasonal basis. Vikings were dedicated to growing their food during warmer months, as the growing conditions were worse at colder times of year. So, Vikings needed enough food to last them in the meantime.
When there had been an especially successful harvest, a Viking feast would be in order. A Viking feast would also include religious rituals with sacrificed animals offered as gifts to Norse gods.
By putting on an especially extravagant feast, a Viking chieftain could show off their wealth to curry favour with other clans. You could therefore say that Viking feasts had a strong PR element – rather like your boss taking potential clients out to dinner to impress them.
What did Vikings eat from day to day?
To understand how Vikings nourished themselves at feasts, it’s good to start with what Vikings ate in their more casual, day-to-day lives.
An individual Viking’s exact diet would depend on where they spent the bulk of their time. For example, if they were often near the coast or at sea, they would inevitably catch more fish. Vikings based inland were bound to hunt woodland game, like deer and elk.
Vikings would have two meals a day. The first was called ‘dagmal’, meaning ‘day meal’, as it was eaten roughly an hour after rising. The second, ‘nattmal’, was saved for the evening.
The evening meal would likely be ‘skause’ (a stew of meat and vegetables), with an accompanying drink like ale or mead. As for ‘dagmal’ (the Viking equivalent of breakfast), this could constitute what was still left of the stew from the previous night.
With both meals, cooks could also throw in some fruit, like apples and berries, to (literally) sweeten the deal. Vikings made their own cheese and butter, too, but would need to keep dairy cows capable of providing the milk required.
How would a Viking feast differ from the culinary norm?
Some Viking feasts could be noticeably larger than others. That’s because, as mentioned earlier, one point of a Viking feast was for the host to show their wealth. So, if they did have more money to spend on food and drink, they weren’t going to be shy about actually spending it.
The food at a standard Viking feast would usually be familiar Viking fare, albeit a lot more of it. Wealthier hosts were able to offer greater variety, such as in the types of meat served. These could be from the farmed likes of cows, pigs, goats and chickens as well as game like boars, squirrels, seals and walruses.
Ancient written sources of what the Vikings ate mainly still date from after the Viking Age. So, researchers have resorted to studying archaeological remains – like skeletons and cooking utensils – directly from the era instead.
Interestingly, these do not always appear to completely back up the written sources. For example, Professor Marianne Vedeler explained that she struggled to find many porridge remnants in pots dating back to the 1100s.
Is it possible that Vikings did not consume quite as much porridge as previously assumed? It’s a question that might have to be left to future research teams.
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