Vikings drank from the skulls of their enemies

Vikings drank from the skulls of their enemies

Essay - Reception

People once thought that Vikings drank from the skulls of their enemies. This is a misunderstanding of Krákumál 25 where it states: 'drekkum bjór af bragði ór bjúgviðum hausa' 'drink beer at once from the curved branches of skulls'. 'Curved branches of skulls' is a kenning meaning 'a horn' but was translated by Ole Worm in Runir seu Danica Literatura Antiqvissima (1651, p. 203) as: 'Sperabant Heroes se in aula Othini bibituros ex craniis eorum qvos occiderant' 'The heroes hoped to drink in Odin's hall from the skulls of those they had killed'.

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English, Latin, Old Norse

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17th century, modern, Viking Age, medieval

People once thought that Vikings drank from the skulls of their enemies. This is a misunderstanding of Krákumál 25 where it states: 'drekkum bjór af bragði ór bjúgviðum hausa' 'drink beer at once from the curved branches of skulls'. 'Curved branches of skulls' is a kenning meaning 'a horn' but was translated by Ole Worm in Runir seu Danica Literatura Antiqvissima (1651, p. 203) as: 'Sperabant Heroes se in aula Othini bibituros ex craniis eorum qvos occiderant' 'The heroes hoped to drink in Odin's hall from the skulls of those they had killed'.

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