Fire in the Head | Home | Clergy Program | Contact | Join | Links | Member Services | Organization | Our Faith | Resources | Fire in the Head: A Tradition of Ritualized Drinking by Dan O'Halloran With all thanks to Eric Wodening, Garman Lord, and Gert McQueen, and the members of the Normannii Thiud for their invaluable "urth" in the development of this piece, the credit for this belongs to them. While our modern culture descends from our Celto- Germanic forbearers, and this European backdrop pervades our present, neither folklorists, historians, nor anthropologists have systematically combed through the available historical and archaeological records to truly understand the phenomenon of Indo-European "drinking." Fewer still have compiled or advanced any theories as to why and how socalized drinking gained such prominence in Germanic European culture, despite the fact that many of our current customs and habits derive directly and indirectly from this parent culture. The simple fact is, the preeminence of custom and lore demonstrates a startling social reliance on alcohol. Whether we speak of today's "talking things over a drink" to settle disputes or make deals, or celebratory "nights out," or the not so long ago "acceptance of a draught of hospitality" and "ritual drinking," we are speaking of a phenomenon with multi-level implications. A myriad of public and private social events have ramifications or implications, connections or correlations in the realm of social alcohol consumption. For example, during traditional European weddings, drinking from the same vessel (be it horn, glass, or bowl) is the action necessary to solemnize a marriage. This tradition was carried over from Heathen customs of hallowing a union with alcohol, and was retained in Christian Marriages where communion under both species was the socially required norm. Traditionally, when persons at a bar, inn, or tavern argued, they were bound by custom to remove themselves from the bar in order to fight (as in "Let's take it outside..."). However, if the arguing parties ignored the custom they both drew the wrath of the inkeeper's bouncer, regardless of who was right or wrong. Ostracism and humiliation became tools of cultural constraint. Drinking places were considered frithsteads1 as were other public places such as pageants and festivals. A traditional ploy used in Medieval Europe to gain someone's services was to place a coin under a drink, and offer it to the prospective employee. If the person accepted the drink and took a "swig," he found the coin beneath and was obligated to enter into employment. This lead to a curious custom of creating glass bottoms on Drinking Steins to prevent being deceived into accepting employment! The drink was seen as a binding social contract to men of honor, it was a force of compulsion and reciprocity. Given this brief backdrop, what can we indeed hope to say of the use and power of alcohol and social and ritual drinking? Who were these Europeans and what sort of culture created these strange "norms" of behavior? Of course the they didn't spring into existence out of nowhere, and in fact, there are fairly sound associations to be made between the Germanic Culture's drinking habits, and those of a host other Indo-European cultures. The seed culture had already pioneered the art of drinking, and it seems the Gefolge were inheritors of this rather than the inventors of it. The Indo-European peoples, who settled in Western Europe and became the Germans and Celts, had been hearty warriors, who probably spent the better part of a thousand years wandering throughout Eurasia, following the migratory paths of reindeer and bison through the cold lands created by the end of the Ice Age 2. In the chaotic change from pastoral nomad to sedentary farmers, the Germanic people were forced to quickly adapt to and gain control over their new environment. In doing so they carried with them the predispositions of their Indo-European ancestry. These included, among other notable characteristics (like a propensity for warring), brewing and consequently drinking. The typical climate of Europe consisted of warm summers and cold snowy winters, this oscillating weather allowed the Europeans to develop substantially different patterns of behavior in winter and summer. The long periods of inactive time during the cold winters allowed alcohol to become a staple of sorts. It kept the folk warm throughout the barren winter nights, and Celtic and Germanic literature are replete with references to alcohol "warming the loins." It was far easier to make merry and deaden the doldrums of being shut inside for long periods of time, with the use of alcohol. During the summertime, outside work was exhausting and thirst producing. Alcohol again came to the rescue this time as a sedative before bedtime, and quenched dry throats during or after a day's work. In wartime, the ecstatic frenzy and pain numbing effects of alcohol played a role in certain military sects, especially the berserkers. The history of religious use of alcohol cannot be separated from the history of the Indo-European, and Proto-Germanic3 tribes of Europe. And in our descendant cultures, the words we use for our alcoholic beverages directly reflect their Celto-Germanic origins. The Proto-Indo-European (PIE) 4 word alu5, for example is best preserved in the Celtic and Germanic, Ale. Ale is a fermented grain drink, made with malt, but containing no hops. "Alu" appears on inscriptions found on burial urns and preserved drekkahorns from the Heathen Period of Europe, and appears to have been a hallowing and blessing term6. It has at least a 4500 year history of use in Europe, and there is no telling how far back before the Indo-Europeans it goes. The Celtic Song "Canu y Cwrwf" is the "Tale of Ale". It appears in the 12th century, on several codices as a part of the Myvyrian record7. The word beer, also of Celto-Germanic ancestry, is derived from the PIE form beor and indicates a fermented grain beverage made with hops and malt. It is frequently referred to in Celtic songs as the "bolsterer of courage" and "fortifier of man". Another PIE alcohol word that connotes blessing is madhu, meaning in modern English, mead. In the Celtic form, it is Medd and appears frequently. Mead is a honey based alcohol usually similar in texture to wine, and appears to have been a major religious beverage. It is mentioned quite frequently. In the Romance lists of Celtic Sagas, the "Canu y Medd" is an entire Song related to the brewing and use of Mead, and is attributed by legend to Taliessin8. Earlier references include ties to the Celtic God Goibniu, who is master smith and brewer. The legend of the Feast of Age features Goibniu's Mead, which renders the drinker invulnerable in battle... and an extension of this gift to the God Manannan, is everlasting life, that flows from the Mead brewed with the waters of the Danu river9. Some Germanic references10 to alcohol include the Mead of Inspiration, Mead of Wisdom, Mead of Poetry, Mead of Knowledge, Mead of Remembrance, Draught of Wisdom, Cauldron of Invulnerability, Bolsterer of Courage, Fortifier of Man, and Bee's Blessing. People who see into the future drink the mead of Kvasir's Well, and the references to Cerridiwen's Cauldron, in which mead or other alcohols are brewed, is cognate to Hymir's Cauldron, and Aegir's brewing Cauldron. So what does this lead to? And from where do such drinking habits stem? There are two areas into which drinking may be divided, though ultimately they are interdependent; Social and Magico-Religious. In the former, inter- and intra- kin relationships are shaped and maintained, and in the latter, connection to the divine and one's relationship to Wyrd11