Baptized by Beer: Continuity and Change in the Religious Use of Alcoholic Beverages in Medieval Norway and Iceland

Abstract

Thirteenth-century Scandinavian charters describe the use of beer as a sacred liquid in Christian baptism and Communion rituals in the Nidaros See, which at the time covered both Norway and Iceland. This article brings forward contemporary and pre-Christian evidence that contributes to the understanding of the socio-cultural practices that could have led to the religious use of beer, instead of water and wine, for these respective sacraments, as an orthodox practice after the Christianization of these countries. The explanations here proposed conflate two arguments. First, that these rituals were the result of the way in which the newly converted Norse understood the symbolism behind these Christian ceremonies. Some pre-Christian rituals, especially toasts to the gods and a name-giving rite, involved similar circumstances, actions and liquids to those of the Christian Communion and baptism. Therefore, the liquids involved in the newly adopted liturgy kept the same symbolic value and meaning they had in the pagan past. Second, the scarcity and high prices of alcoholic beverages in Iceland and Norway led their cultures, whether pre-Christian or Christian, to value ritual beverages mainly by their price and prestige rather than by the specific religious and symbolic meaning attached to each of them. The primary sources used in order to support the above-mentioned arguments include medieval charters, laws, mythology and the sagas of Icelanders and the sagas of the kings, all of which give evidence for the cultural and economic backgrounds that led to the syncretic practices here discussed.