Viking Christmas

Christmas Origins

A Brief History of Yule

Yule

This is the name still used in Scandinavian countries to describe the celebrations of the festive season that most of the world knows as Christmas.  The celebration of Yule predates Christianity by thousands of years, but even the modern interpretation of Christmas still has many residual ideologies and traditions of the Viking era. This article will touch on some of these traditions and how they have been assimilated to the modern version of this festive celebration.

MidWinter Feast

During the Winter Solstice, the Midwinter feast would last for 12 days, and this tradition was continued, hence why we have 12 days of Christmas. The similarities do not stop there either. Many of the traditions have been kept or only slightly adjusted to fit in line with the Christian framework but are still essentially very similar to the celebrations of old.

Whether Jesus existed or not, it is generally accepted that he was not born in winter, but in Spring. The adaptation of ‘Christmas’  was a strategic move to convert “Heathens” and essentially not disrupt a major Pagan Holiday. This conversion strategy was also applied to the Romans as they had their own Winter Solstice celebration known as ‘Saturnalia’ which occurred at a similar time to the Nordic Midwinter festival.

Christmas Ham

During the Midwinter festival, the Vikings would traditionally sacrifice a wild boar for the Asa God, ‘Frey’ who was the God of fertility and farming. This was done with an expectation that the Gods would bless them for the next harvest.  The boar was cooked and eaten in celebration, and this tradition has barely changed, as most who celebrate Christmas consider ham to be a necessary part of the proceedings.

Christmas Tree Decorating

Yet another activity that has barely changed in thousands of years. The Vikings would decorate evergreen trees with fruit, pieces of clothing, miniature statues of the Gods, Runes, and other trinkets. This was a common practice and believed that it would entice the Tree Spirits to return in the Spring and rejuvenate the forest once again.

The tradition of tree decorating has not been lost, just the decorations have slightly changed over time.

Mistletoe

This is yet another Viking tradition. Though its relevance has changed over the years, it has still maintained a place in modern Christmas celebrations.

The Vikings believed that mistletoe possessed magical powers, powerful enough to resurrect the dead. This belief stems all the way back to the original Norse Mythology when the God Balder was killed from an arrow made of mistletoe but was resurrected by the tears of his mother ‘Frigga’ when upon contact with the red berries, turned them white and brought Balder back from the dead.(A story for another day)

Dressing as Santa

The dressing up as a bearded character and bearing gifts or as the Norse referred to as “Old Man Winter” who was welcomed into homes to participate in the Midwinter festivities is not a new concept whatsoever. Many suspected that incarnation was actually Odin himself.  He was known to either travel by foot or on his mystical horse Sleipnir which had 8 legs. It is believed by many that the modern day translation of 8 reindeer is a representation for each leg of Sleipnir.

Sleipnir

When the Vikings started making their way into England in the 8th and 9th centuries, the tradition was passed on but this is where the modern adaptation of “Father Christmas” comes from.

As you can see, the celebration of Christmas has been altered over the course of time, but the traditions have been carried on throughout religious changes and thousands of years. It is amazing that these practices are still being celebrated, though be it, with a modern twist and the distortion of Christianity, nonetheless, many practices are either near identical, or very close to the original.

I am not sure how our ancestors would react in seeing how we celebrate Christmas, but as long as they had some fresh boar and some warm mead, I imagine they would let these changes slide.

Till my next installment, I wish you all an enjoyable Yule or Christmas (or whatever the name of your celebration is) and may the Gods watch over you.

Skol!

Dispelling Myths :The Tale of 2 Beards

THE TRUTH BEHIND THE BLOND BEARD

Myths Exposed

Did all Vikings have blond hair and beards?

Hail friends, Vikings, and enthusiasts!

This article is complementary to my previous submission regarding Viking Hipsters. I will be discussing particular theories pertaining to why the Norse were so Blond, yet the Celts and Gauls were red in comparison. Even though their origins are similar, and can both be traced back to Germanic Tribes, what caused these differences in appearance and fashion?

Did Vikings bleach their hair and beards?

The short and simple answer to this question is yes. This also rings true for the Celtic tribes. But what reasonings were behind this extra step of Manscaping and Peacocking that made these cultures stand apart from many other tribes roaming Europe at the time?

It is well documented that the Norse people had grooming regimens that simply made the Anglo-Saxons seem like a nation that suffered from Aquaphobia (Fear of water). The Norse people had a weekly bathing schedule, and the daily grooming rituals. This rings true for the Celtic tribes and the Gauls also, but how does the topic of hair dyeing come into this?

Viking Soap

Due to geographical variances amongst these Germanic tribes, the ingredients of their soaps were also varied. The Norse people used a soap base that contained ‘lye’, a substance that has strong alkaline properties usually obtained by leaching ashes. As a consequence,  lye has bleaching properties which were utilised by the Norsemen in particular to whiten their hair and beards. It has also been suggested that this practice kept hair lice to a minimum. No matter how much research I do, I always find overlapping evidence that the Norse were ‘Peacocking’ and ‘Manscaping’ for various reasons, but the major reason appearing to be purely aesthetic and to instigate competition and rivalry amongst their own tribes. Now if you had any common sense, you would not tell a Viking that he had a similar grooming process to Marilyn Monroe in fear of being cleft in twain, but it is surprisingly true nonetheless. The same can be said for the Celts and the Gauls.

Celtic and Gaul Soap

The Celtic people, though of a similar origin, and some overlapping lines of DNA, had a very different look to the ‘Bottle Blond’  Vikings.  Their choice of hair colouring was red. The soap that the Celts and Gauls used was generally comprised of goat’s fat and Beech ashes, which consequently dyed their hair red. On top of this, there is evidence showing that these cultures decorated their beards and hair in similar ways to the Norsemen i.e. putting beads and rings in their beards, combing hair and using the goat’s fat as a basic form of hair product like gel to keep it in place whilst in battle, or when meeting up with fellow tribesmen to show off their new look.

No matter which way you look at this, these guys, though always battle ready, ferocious and fearless, spent a great deal of time on their appearance and beauty regime. It appears they may have put more hours into perfecting their look than the men of today that claim that this Hipster craze is unique, but in fact, it puts the modern ‘Hipster’ to shame. These guys would shave with knives, wax, dye their hair regularly and decorate themselves, and would still be able to carry out any masculine task requested of them.

Blonds Vs Redheads

Though each group were unique in many ways, without their manscaping schedules, they all looked rather similar. Many had light coloured hair and beards usually with a red tinge. This look is not exclusive to the Norse but attributed to the awesome power of Viking Soap that made them stand apart from the Celts and the Gauls.  

Of course other factors come into play here like recessive genes and the continuation of these genetic traits through breeding and what each tribe perceived to be beautiful (Which is always changing and forever will)  also helped shape the traits that modern day descendants have.

Next time you think one of your fellow Norseman is taking too long to get ready, just spend a moment to reflect on the Vikings of old, and imagine saying that to their face and getting away with it!

I hope you enjoyed this addition to my previous Viking Hipster article. Till my next installment, may the Gods watch over you.

Skål

Norse Mead

Mead Month

Hail Vikings, Norman descendants and enthusiasts. September seems to have been an important month for the Vikings and the Normans alike. Festival of Mabon begins

Mabon, the Celebration of Harvest End, 22-23 September, traditionally a Pagan festival is but a minor blot on the Nordic radar acknowledging the end of the Harvest Season, also associated with vintage and mead-making. Most people held off the full celebration of this holiday, though, until the main festival of Winternights, which strangely enough is the same time the Mead is ready to be consumed.  

Yes, that's right people. It's time for us Viking Hipster descendants to brew some mead and celebrate the end of the Harvest. As I mentioned in previous articles, September marks many important events in Viking and Norman heritage for many reasons, but today I am concentrating strictly on mead!

It is almost certain that even though the Normans were Christian from approximately 1000 AD, the festival of mead making still would have been celebrated, but with the usual Norman adaptation that made them the culture absorbing people as we know them to be. There is NO WAY you could ever deny a Norman his mead! It exists to this day for a reason.

Depending in which hemisphere you reside, one may prefer a chilled honey mead, or a warm, spiced mead, but today I shall only be submitting one recipe, and that is for Honey Mead. I hope you enjoy the season, and if you are too lazy to make your own, I'm sure one of your local liquor outlets will stock them.

YIELD:
Makes about five gallons, which should fill 53 twelve-ounce bottles.

INGREDIENTS

12 to 18 pounds(5-8Kg) of grade-A honey
4 1/2 gallons (17 Litres) of tap or bottled water
7-8 grams (1/4 ounce) of freeze-dried wine, champagne, or dedicated mead yeast

PREPARATION

Note on equipment:
Making mead requires essentially the same basic kit necessary to brew beer at home: primary and secondary plastic-bucket fermenters with air locks and spigots, transfer hosing, a bottle-filler tube, heavy bottles, bottle caps, bottle capper, and a bottle brush and washer. You should be able to find these items for approximately $70 total (excluding the bottles) through a home-brewing supplier. Bottles cost from $6 to $20 per dozen approx, depending on style. You might instead buy a couple of cases of beer in returnable bottles, drink the beer, and after sanitizing them!  — reuse those bottles. Being economical is the key!

All your equipment must be sanitized or sterilized before use. Ordinary unscented household bleach does the job fine. Put all the equipment (including the lid and stirring spoons) into the fermentation bucket, fill with water, and add 2 teaspoons of unscented bleach. Let it sit for 30 minutes. Drain the water through the spigot, rinse everything in hot water, and allow to air-dry.

Bring the 4 1/2 gallons of water to a boil. Well water, by the way, should be avoided because of potentially high levels of strong tasting minerals like iron. Boiling should remove harsh chlorine from municipal tap water. If you don't own a pot large enough to hold five gallons of water, boil as much as possible. You will add the remaining water to the fermenter later.

Once the water reaches a boil, remove it from the heat and stir in all of the honey. Do not boil the honey, as it reduces the aromatic quality of the finished mead.

While the honey dissolves in the water, put a cup of lukewarm (90 to 100°F or 32-37 Celcius) water into a clean bowl. Sprinkle in the yeast and cover the bowl with plastic wrap. When the honey has been fully dissolved in the water and the pot is cool to the touch (not over 80°F- 26.6C), pour the honey-water into the fermentation bucket and stir in the yeast mixture. Note: Cooling the honey-water should take about half an hour. This process can be accelerated with a so-called sink bath, that is, repeatedly immersing the pot in cold water in a sink or basin.

If you have not already added the full 4 1/2 gallons of water, top it off with the balance in bottled water (or tap water if you're confident of its quality).

Seal the bucket and allow the mixture to ferment for two weeks to one month. The progress of fermentation can judged by monitoring the carbon-dioxide bubbles escaping from the air lock: When they drop to one bubble per minute, the process of fermentation is near its end. Note that is only an issue during the primary fermentation; secondary fermentation has more to do with aging and mellowing and hence allows more flexibility. When primary fermentation has subsided, siphon the mead over to your secondary fermentation bucket and seal it. Allow one to four months ageing time. Do not open the fermenter, as this risks contaminating the mead.

When you decide it has matured enough (and the mead has cleared), you will want to siphon it into sterilized bottles and cap them. Follow the same procedure as you would for home-brewed beer.

Mead typically improves with age, so the longer you can wait to open the bottles, the better.

I wish you the best on your mead making endeavours!

Till next time, Skal!

Written by Justin Ferry

Viking Kryptonite

Viking Kryptonite

The Silent Assassin

Some of you may be aware of a condition known as “Viking Claw” which predominantly affects people of Norse descent. This article will be touching on another condition that has higher contraction rates amongst the Scandinavian people compared to the global statistics. It is a disease that has directly affected 3 of my family members, and all of them are descended from the Norman lineage I share. In Scandinavian countries such as Sweden, the prevalence is approximately 67 people per 100,000 as opposed to the worldwide average of 16.5 people per 100,000.

Sarcoidosis

A disease involving abnormal collections of inflammatory cells (Granulomas) that can form as nodules in multiple organs. The formations of these granulomas are most often started  in the lungs or its associated lymph nodes, but any organ can be affected. Sarcoidosis seems to be caused by an immune reaction to an infection or some other trigger that continues even after the initial infection or other antigen is cleared from the body.

In most cases, it clears up by itself without any medical intervention, but some cases go on to affect the person's long-term or become life-threatening and require medical intervention, most often with medications. Vitamin D3 is the main cause for elevated blood calcium measurements, and in sarcoidosis is overproduced by sarcoid granulomata.

There is speculation that the rapid expansion of the Norse people, though adaptable in nearly every other way, were not genetically prepared for the warmer climates and higher exposure rates to the sun (a massive supplier of Vitamin D).

Treatment is usually designed to help relieve the symptoms and thus does not directly alter the course of the disease. This treatment usually consists of anti-inflammatory drugs, but In cases where the condition develops to the point that it has a progressive and/or life-threatening course, the treatment is most often steroid treatment with Prednisone. Alternatively, drugs that are most commonly used to treat cancer and suppress the immune system.The average mortality rate is less than 5% in untreated cases but can cause many other complications throughout the body.

In the United States it most commonly affects people of Northern European (especially Scandinavian or Icelandic) or African/African American ancestry between the ages of 20 and 29, although any race or age group can be affected. Japan has a lower rate of sarcoidosis than the United States, although in these people the disease is usually more aggressive in its course with the heart often affected.  Japanese individuals also have a different peak age for sarcoidosis, 25–40 years of age. It occurs about twice as often in women, where it usually takes a more aggressive course. In developing countries, it often goes misdiagnosed as Tuberculosis(TB) as its symptoms often resemble those of TB.

Sarcoidosis was first described in 1877 by an English doctor named Dr. Jonathon Hutchinson as a skin disease causing red, raised lesions on the arms, face, and hands.

Signs and symptoms.

Systemic sarcoidosis

Sarcoidosis is a systemic inflammatory disease that can affect any organ, although it can be asymptomatic (No noticeable or visible symptoms) and is discovered by accident in about 5% of cases. Common symptoms, which tend to be varied and extremely vague, include fatigue-like symptoms (unrelieved by sleep; occurs in 66% of cases), decreased energy, loss of weight(Or in my case, massive weight gain) , joint aches and pains (which occur in about 70% of cases),   Arthritis (14–38% of persons),dry eyes, swelling of the knees, blurry vision,asthmatic symptoms, a dry, hacking cough, or skin lesions (as shown above in the picture tag linked to Wikipedia)

Less commonly, people may cough up blood. The cutaneous symptoms vary, and range from a simple rash and noduli (small bumps) to Lupus Pernio. Sarcoidosis and cancer may mimic one another, making the diagnosis and differentiation difficult (Snowflake indeed)

“The combination of erythema nodosum, bilateral hilar lymphadenopathy, and joint pain is called Löfgren syndrome which has a relatively good prognosis.[1] This form of the disease occurs significantly more commonly in Scandinavian patients than in those of non-Scandinavian origin. “  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarcoidosis#cite_note-MSR-7

Respiratory tract

Localization to the lungs is by far the most commonly found and diagnosed form of this disease. At least 90% of affected persons experience lung involvement.

Overall, about 50% develop permanent pulmonary abnormalities, and 5 to 15% have progressive fibrosis of the lungs. Sarcoidosis of the lung is primarily in which the inflammatory process involves the alveoli, small bronchi and small blood vessels. In acute and subacute cases, physical examination usually reveals dry crackling sounds throughout the respiratory system.  At least 5% of persons will suffer heart related Sarcoid. (My Father is one of these unfortunate Vikings)

Even the toughest of the tough have weak points or vulnerabilities that may not be noticeable at first, it looks like even one of the most feared people in History are susceptible to this mystery illness.

I wrote this piece as I felt I needed to bring awareness to my fellow Scandinavian descendants. This disease has affected more than one member of my family, and I personally felt it was worth a mention.

No matter how tough a Viking you may be, this is definitely one disease where early intervention can make a massive difference.

Till next time, go and get yourself checked by your doctor, or read up on the disease to gain more of an understanding.  I have basic links back to Wikipedia for you to further investigate Sarcoid.

Written By Justin Ferry

Norse Bling

The Jewels of the Norse

Hello again my friends! One of our loyal members has requested I write a piece regarding the jewellery our ancestors once wore.

Yes! That's right folks, another article in support of our hipster past.

Some archeological digs that correlate with early Norse history have recovered many different forms of jewellery and accessories at various burial sites, everything from necklaces, rings, brooches and other pieces of flair.

Just like my article on male grooming, manscaping had many purposes,the same applies for jewellery of the Norse people.

The early finds show basic creations, as these were generally treated as currency among the Norse people.Our knowledge of Norse jewelry mainly comes from items discovered in hoards and burial sites.

Vikings wore arm and neck rings, usually made of silver, from which they would hack pieces off to make payment for goods and services. This type of jewelry is referred to as hack silver.
The ancient Vikings rarely wore finger rings or earrings, not until later in their history, but as any good Norman, adaptation and absorption of the cultures they integrated with, rings were eventually worn.

Silver was frequently used to make Viking jewelry. Gold was rarely used. Brooches made out of Bronze and worn by women were the most common jewelry items of the ancient Vikings.

Once again, this shows that the men were somewhat vain in their appearance, but also took the time and effort honing their metallurgy skills in creating pieces for their loved ones.

Over time the designs became more complex and intricate, some of this was simply because they were getting better at their skills, some of this was adaptation or imitation from other cultures. Regardless of which factors were more influential is uncertain, but the consequences were higher quality jewelry that both male and females wore with pride.

Not too shabby for a group of savages hey!? This only reinforces my previous mythbusting article about the Viking men. They adored their women, so much so, they would slave over a hot fire to make beautiful trinkets for them. This certainly does not correlate with a people that were considered war hungry, unkempt and ruthless.

Various archeological finds did uncover that some men did in fact wear rings on their fingers, and occasionally these were made from gold, though arm and neck rings were still the favourite choice through most of the Viking era. Gold was generally a symbol of a greater wealth that separated the average citizen from nobility and was worn with great pride.

Along with the grooming, hygiene and styling of the Norse people, these finds are only confirming how much our male ancestors loved to "Peacock"!

I actually find this humorous and amazing at the same time. There are so many myths regarding the Normans and their earlier heritage, but every time I research I keep finding that these big bad Normans had a soft side. Well, most definitely when they were at home, it seems they put a lot of time aside to help keep their female counterparts happy, by creating them specialised pieces to have on display as they would participate in their daily activities.

I guess, they obviously were not as stupid as some people think, and they realised the importance of the women and found yet another way to show their appreciation. This is still done in modern times, whether it is a bunch of flowers or a necklace, a good man will show his appreciation in a similar way to that of the Norsemen.

If anything, this disappointingly paints a picture that today's gentlemen have less of an idea of how to keep a good woman by their side. This is rather tragic, such a simple principle, slowly forgotten through the ages. If only we could revive these practices, I believe the modern woman would be appreciative that the modern male would be putting more thought into gifts, and also respecting the wishes of a woman when confronted with the unwanted advances of a brutish male.

Rather than get bogged down in a gender equality debate, I shall wrap up this article. I could honestly write all day about male and female jewelry of the Normans and Norse.

Without the men learning these skills, and also having a romantic side that is generally not publicised, the archeological finds would be far less exciting, and possibly make it even harder to decipher our past. The picture below is just a small snapshot of some of the pieces our Norman ancestors wore.

I hope you enjoyed this little fun fact, and I would like to thank one of my loyal fans for inspiring me to write this piece. Till my next article, may you all have a great day. Skol!