In trendy bars and at themed gatherings, a familiar scene unfolds: groups of modern hipsters, often sporting beards and raising drinking horns, enjoy glasses of mead. This fermented honey drink is experiencing a remarkable 21st-century revival, with hundreds of new meaderies opening worldwide in the past two decades.
These establishments frequently lean heavily on Viking imagery for their branding, with names like Odin's Mead and Viking Blod, and logos featuring longships and axes. This commercial trend is part of a broader cultural 'Viking turn,' a pop culture fascination evident in everything from blockbuster TV series like Vikings to video games such as Assassin's Creed: Valhalla.
The Pop Culture Viking: A Boozy Invention
Since the raucous banquet scene in the 1958 film The Vikings, the image of the hard-drinking Norseman has become a staple. This hyper-masculine portrayal suggests Vikings consumed mead as readily as water. However, according to Simon Trafford, a Lecturer in Medieval History at the University of London's School of Advanced Study, historical evidence paints a more nuanced picture.
The association between Vikings and mead rests on three key cultural pillars, but as Trafford explains, these are more about symbolism than shopping lists.
Mead in Myth and Epic Poetry
The first pillar is the Anglo-Saxon poem Beowulf. This epic, which survives in a single Old English manuscript held by the British Library, is set in southern Sweden and Denmark in the early 6th century. Its action revolves around 'mead-halls' like that of the Danish king Hrothgar.
In Beowulf, these halls are centres of power where a lord would feast with his followers, reinforcing bonds of honour and loyalty through shared drinking. The consumption of mead is frequent and emotionally charged, representing the idealised contract of a heroic warrior society.
Secondly, Norse mythology places mead in a divine context. In Odin's great hall, Valhalla, the slain heroic warriors known as the Einherjar feast endlessly. Their drink is a never-ending supply of mead, which flows from the udders of a magical goat named Heiðrún who lives on the roof.
Another prominent myth describes Odin's daring theft of the 'mead of poetry,' a special brew made from honey and blood that bestowed wisdom and poetic skill. These stories underscore mead's profound cultural and symbolic significance.
The Historical Reality: An Expensive Rarity
Despite its prominence in stories, evidence suggests mead was not the everyday drink of the Viking age. As far back as the 1970s, philologist Christine Fell observed that the Old English word for mead, 'medu,' appears far more often in poetic works like Beowulf than in practical documents like laws or charters.
This contrasts sharply with words for ale, cider, or wine, which are used in more functional contexts. Fell concluded that the focus on mead was a 'nostalgic fiction,' a key part of an idealised, imagined heroic world rather than a reflection of daily life.
This pattern is mirrored in Scandinavian sources. A 2007 University of York study found the Old Norse word for mead, 'mjǫðr,' is plentiful in Eddic and skaldic poetry but rare in the sagas that depict everyday life. Words for ale, however, are common in practical contexts.
The strong impression from both English and Scandinavian sources is that by the time sources like Beowulf were written from the 10th century onward, the copious drinking of mead was largely symbolic.
The reality was that ale was the standard drink at feasts and daily meals. Honey was scarce in northern Europe, making mead an expensive and hard-to-source luxury. By the Viking age, exotic Mediterranean wine may have even begun to replace mead as the beverage of choice for the elite.
So, did Vikings ever drink mead? Certainly, some did. But it was not the common tipple of popular imagination. Its primary role was as a powerful symbol of a story-filled heroic past. For today's mead-drinking enthusiasts, this is arguably the very same appeal—a chance to connect with a romanticised, legendary neverland.
