Door  8

The pig was the guest of honor
 

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Although the beer was most important thing during Jól, meat also played a major role. Before the food was put on the long table, the host blessed it with religious words and handrails. The meat the Norsemen ate during Jól, was dried or salted livestock that was slaughtered in the fall, and freshly slaughtered meat offered to the gods.

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Fresh fish was a welcome change on the table at Jól, but the most sought dish of all was pork. It had a high status among the Vikings, and one of the gifts in the afterlife was the opportunity to eat it every day.

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According to mythology, Odin had the pig Særimne in Valhall, and every time someone cut a piece of the side flap, it grew out again. Such an animal could feed all the dead warriors that was called upon by the gods themselves.

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Viking age pigs were different from the one who rolls around in the pigpens today. The fat content was significantly higher, so the faces and beards of the vikings was shining in the dim light as the consumed large pieces with their fingers.

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As Jól nights progressed, the Norsemen must have been quite a vision. They were sprinkled with sacrificial blood, soaked in meat juices and wet from beers, mash and in some cases also vomiting. The alcohol made their eyes shiny, and they rushed up in joy or rage over the drunk talk the side men could bring themselves to say during the feast.

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After three festive nights, they were out of beer and the meat slaughtered in honor of the gods, and Jól was over. The guests could go home with throbbing headaches while praising the host and trusting that the blot (sacrifices) had brought something good to them all. Only a few months later, they would know if the gods had won enough power to defeat the winter and provide for a fertile spring.

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