|
|
|
|
Drinking horn
|
| |
|
| |
A drinking horn was a drinking vessel formerly common in some parts of the world, and notably in Northern Europe.
l of the Northern European nations formerly drank out of horns, which were commonly those of the urus or European buffalo.
Discussion
Ask a question about 'Drinking horn' Start a new discussion about 'Drinking horn' Answer questions from other users |
Encyclopedia
A drinking horn was a drinking vessel formerly common in some parts of the world, and notably in Northern Europe.
Use
:"All of the Northern European nations formerly drank out of horns, which were commonly those of the urus or European buffalo. These horns were carefully dressed up and their edges lipped all round with silver. One of these immense horns, at least, an ox-horn of prodigious size is still preserved in Dunvegan Castle on the Isle of Skye in Scotland. It was only produced before guests, and the drinker in using it, twisted his arms round its spines, and turning his mouth towards the right shoulder, was expected to drain it off." (Dwelly’s [Scottish] Gaelic Dictionary: Còrn)
Drinking horns were common amongst the Germanic peoples. In the Prose Edda, Thor drank from a horn that unbeknownst to him contained all the seas, and in the process he scared Útgarða-Loki and his kin by managing to drink a conspicuous part of its content. They also feature in Beowulf, and fittings for drinking horns were also found at the Sutton Hoo burial site. Carved horns are mentioned in Guðrúnarkviða II, a poem composed about 1000 AD and preserved in the Poetic Edda:
- Váru í horni
- hvers kyns stafir
- ristnir ok roðnir,
- - ráða ek né máttak, -
- lyngfiskr langr,
- lands Haddingja
- ax óskorit,
- innleið dyra.
| On the horn’s face were thereAll the kin of lettersCut aright and reddened,How should I rede them rightly?The ling-fish longOf the land of Hadding,Wheat-ears unshorn,And wild things inwards. | |
The Arthurian tale of Caradoc also features the drinking horn. Large drinking horns were also common among the Thracians, often covered with worked silver or gold plating.
In parts of the ancient world, the drinking horn gave way to a horn-shaped drinking vessel called a "Rhyton" fabricated from metal or clay. When drinking from a rhyton, the vessel is held upright and the liquid flows out of a hole in the end of the "horn", suggesting that natural drinking horns could have been used in the same manner. This would have enabled the same horn to be used for both drinking and for sounding.
They were in use, well into the Middle Ages, dying out mainly in the 1600s. Modern-day Asatru adherents use drinking horns for Blóts and sumbels.
See also
External links
|
| |
|
|
