Lars Walker
Special thanks to author Lars Walker for the historical context of this recipe!
“Food” probably isn’t the first thing you think of when you think of the Vikings. But few great human endeavors have had nothing at all to do with food. In the case of the Viking Age, you’ve got a lot of people from a marginal economy (in some cases a sub-arctic climate) making inroads (peaceful and not-so-peaceful) into places with more food (and a greater variety of it).
My novel West Ovesea begins in Norway (where the food situation is a little tight), and moves to Iceland (where it’s tighter still) and Greenland (where survival is almost impossible without imports). There’s also a stop-off in a wonderland called Vinland (North America) whose resources the Greenlanders would dearly love to exploit.
At the beginning of the book , the hero, a real historical character named Erling Skjalgsson, is the most powerful chieftain in Norway. As such he has access to a more varied diet than the average Norwegian. He enjoys wine from Germany, and wheaten bread (some of it, perhaps, from grain grown in his own fields, near present-day Stavanger, one of the few places in the country suitable for that kind of crop).
The average Norwegians of the time had fewer choices. That’s not to say they were malnourished. Skeleton analysis of Viking graves shows that they were tall and strong (just as the sagas say). They ate a diet rich in protein, derived from a variety of dairy products, meat, fish, and eggs.
When it came to grains, what grew in Norway was mostly oats, barley, and rye. The most common way of preparing grain was porridge, but bread was also eaten, usually in dry, hard forms (either flat or bagel-shaped) that kept well. Food preservation was a priority in a climate with a short growing season. A major use for barley was in the brewing of ale, a preserved foodstuff that offered the added attraction of alcoholic content.
Fruits and vegetables were eaten as they were available. Honey was important as a food flavoring, a preservative, and the chief ingredient in mead—probably the Vikings’ favorite drink. Nuts were also important.
The Vikings generally ate two meals a day—one in the morning, after a couple hours of work, and another in the evening.
As my characters sail west, they come to the Norse settlements of Iceland and Greenland, where the growing seasons are even shorter than in Norway, and meat, fish, and dairy products correspondingly more important.
Any place with limited food resources will inevitably school its inhabitants to eat things that appear (and smell) bizarre to outsiders. Iceland is particularly rich in such foods, notably singed sheep’s head (the eyes are a delicacy), and a fermented shark meat called hákarl. Hákarl is generally described by non-Icelanders as “rotten shark,” but it’s actually the product of a fermentation process, involving burial in sand. After the fermentation, the meat is dried before serving. The fermenting is in fact perfectly rational and practical—the shark we are talking about is the Icelandic basking shark, whose meat is poisonous when eaten fresh. Fermentation renders it safe (if not tasty by most people’s standards) for human consumption.
On a sweeter note, I offer the following simple recipe, which is not my own, but that of a fellow reenactor, Kelsey Quandt of the Skjaldborg Group in Omaha. This is the kind of food a rich Viking like Erling, or a resident of one of the more southern homelands or settlements where apples grew, might have enjoyed. Serves eight to twelve. Modern spices like cinnamon may be added if authenticity isn’t your top priority.
Mead Baked Apples and Pears
Combine In a Medium-Sized Pot:
3-4 cups chopped apples
3-4 cups chopped pears
1-2 cups honey
Mead to cover
Simmer over a medium fire until very thick, serve!
About the author
Lars (pronounced Larce) Walker is a native of Kenyon, Minnesota, and lives in Minneapolis. He has worked as a crabmeat packer in Alaska, a radio announcer, a church secretary and an administrative assistant, and is presently librarian and bookstore manager for the schools of the Association of Free Lutheran Congregations in Plymouth, Minnesota.
He is the author of four previously published novels, and is the editor of the journal of the Georg Sverdrup Society. Walker says, “I never believed that God gave me whatever gifts I have in order to entertain fellow Christians. I want to confront the world with the claims of Jesus Christ.” His latest release is West Oversea: A Norse Saga of Mystery, Adventure and Faith.
Visit Lars online at www.larswalker.com/ and his blog at www.brandywinebooks.net/ .
About West Oversea
In this Viking adventure tale, Erling Skjalgsson valiantly relinquishes his power and lands rather than be dishonorable to his evil brother. Supported by a well-drawn cast of characters, Skjalgsson sets sail for uncharted vistas with Greenland as the ultimate destination. The first leg of their voyage takes them to a newly settled Iceland. A dangerous storm blows the adventurers off-course where they encounter new peril with the wild lands and peoples of North America.
Meanwhile, Erling’s Irish priest, Father Aillil, on a quest to rescue his enslaved sister, wrestles with a secret dark power that threatens to destroy them all.
West Oversea is set against the historical and dramatic Eleventh century backdrop of a Norway in flux as pagan Norwegians are converted to Christianity—sometimes by force.
Thanks for hosting Lars, today. This recipe sounds good, especially for fall weather.
Cheryl