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44-617: Fjölnir was said to have drowned in a vat of mead while visiting Peace-Fróði, a similarly legendary king of Zealand , the Danish island. Fjölnir was then succeeded by his son Sveigðir . The etymology of the Old Norse name Fjǫlnir is unclear. It could stem from the verb fela ('to hide'), with Fjǫlnir as 'the concealer [of the mead of poetry ]', or it may have emerged as an abbreviation of fjǫlviðr ('the very wise'). A derivation from fjǫl ('crowd') has also been proposed, with Fjǫlnir as

88-401: A Faroese ballad recorded in 1840 about Odin and his son Veraldur . It is believed that this Veraldur is related to Fjölnir and Freyr, as per Snorri's statement that Freyr was veraldar goð ("god of the world"). In this ballad Veraldur sets off to Zealand to seek the king's daughter in marriage despite Odin's warnings. The king of Zealand dislikes Veraldur and tricks him into falling into

132-502: A brandy or liqueur strength, in which case it is sometimes referred to as a whiskey . A version called "honey jack" can be made by partly freezing a quantity of mead and straining the ice out of the liquid (a process known as freeze distillation ), in the same way that applejack is made from cider . In Finland , a sweet mead called sima is connected with the Finnish vappu festival (although in modern practice, brown sugar

176-496: A brewing vat in a "hall of stone" where Veraldur drowns. When Odin hears the news, he decides to die and go to Asgard where his followers will also be welcomed after death. The tale is similar to that of the death of Fjölnir, son of Freyr, who accidentally fell into a vat of mead and drowned while paying a friendly visit to Fridfródi the ruler of Zealand. Mead Mead ( / m iː d / ), also called honey wine , and hydromel (particularly when low in alcohol content),

220-399: A cloudy look. The cloudiness can be cleared up by either "cold breaking", which is leaving the mead in a cold environment overnight, or using a fining material, such as sparkolloid, bentonite, egg white, or isinglass. If the mead-maker wishes to backsweeten the product (add supplementary sweetener) or prevent it from oxidizing, potassium metabisulfite and potassium sorbate are added. After

264-515: A common misconception that mead is exclusively sweet, it can also be dry or semi-sweet. Mead that also contains spices is called metheglin ( / m ɪ ˈ θ ɛ ɡ l ɪ n / ), and mead that contains fruit is called melomel . The term honey wine is sometimes used as a synonym for mead, although wine is typically defined to be the product of fermented grapes or certain other fruits, and some cultures have honey wines that are distinct from mead. The honey wine of Hungary , for example,

308-514: A contemporary of Taliesin. In the Old English epic poem Beowulf , the Danish warriors drank mead. In both Insular Celtic and Germanic poetry, mead was the primary heroic or divine drink, see Mead of poetry . Mead ( Old Irish mid ) was a popular drink in medieval Ireland . Beekeeping was brought around the 5th century, traditionally attributed to Modomnoc , and mead came with it. A banquet hall on

352-554: A grain and honey drink similar to mead that he encountered while travelling in Thule . According to James Henry Ramsay this was an earlier version of Welsh metheglin . When 12-year-old Prince Charles II visited Wales in 1642 Welsh metheglin was served at the feast as a symbol of Welsh presence in the emerging British identity in the years between the Union of the Crowns in 1603 and the creation of

396-421: A lower room. Above it was a loft, in the floor of which was an opening through which liquor was poured into this vessel. The vessel was full of mead, which was excessively strong. In the evening Fjolne, with his attendants, was taken into the adjoining loft to sleep. In the night he went out to the gallery to seek a certain place, and he was very sleepy and exceedingly drunk. As he came back to his room he went along

440-459: A recipe for mead in De re rustica , about 60 CE. Take rainwater kept for several years, and mix a sextarius of this water with a [Roman] pound of honey. For a weaker mead, mix a sextarius of water with nine ounces of honey. The whole is exposed to the sun for 40 days and then left on a shelf near the fire. If you have no rain water, then boil spring water. Ancient Greek writer Pytheas described

484-584: A thousand years. In the United States, mead is enjoying a resurgence, starting with small home meaderies and now with a number of small commercial meaderies . As mead becomes more widely available, it is seeing increased attention and exposure from the news media. This resurgence can also been seen around the world in the UK and Australia particularly with session (lower alcohol styles) sometimes called hydromel and Mead-Beer Hybrids also known as Braggots. In

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528-457: Is an alcoholic beverage made by fermenting honey mixed with water, and sometimes with added ingredients such as fruits , spices , grains , or hops . The alcoholic content ranges from about 3.5% ABV to more than 20%. Possibly the most ancient alcoholic drink, the defining characteristic of mead is that the majority of the beverage's fermentable sugar is derived from honey. It may be still, carbonated, or naturally sparkling, and despite

572-404: Is called a melomel , which was also used as a means of food preservation , keeping summer produce for the winter. A mead that is fermented with grape juice is called a pyment . Mulled mead is a popular drink at Christmas time, where mead is flavored with spices (and sometimes various fruits) and warmed, traditionally by having a hot poker plunged into it. Some meads retain some measure of

616-406: Is often used in place of honey ). During secondary fermentation , added- raisins augment the amount of sugar available to the yeast and indicate readiness for consumption, rising to the top of the bottle when sufficiently depleted. Sima is commonly served with both the pulp and rind of a lemon . An Ethiopian mead variant tej (ጠጅ, [ˈtʼədʒ] ) is usually home-made and flavored with

660-610: Is possibly the soma mentioned in the hymns of the Rigveda , one of the sacred books of the historical Vedic religion and (later) Hinduism dated around 1700–1100 BCE. The Rigveda predates the Indo-Iranian separation, dated to roughly 2000 BCE, so this mention may originate from the Western Steppe or Eastern Europe . The Abri , a northern subgroup of the Taulantii , were known to

704-483: Is the fermentation of honey-sweetened pomace of grapes or other fruits. Mead was produced in ancient times throughout Europe, Africa, and Asia, and has played an important role in the mythology of some peoples. In Norse mythology , for example, the Mead of Poetry , crafted from the blood of Kvasir , would turn anyone who drank it into a poet or scholar. Mead is a drink widely considered to have been discovered prior to

748-521: The Hill of Tara was known as Tech Mid Chuarda ("house of the circling of mead"). Mead was often infused with hazelnuts . Many other legends of saints mention mead, as does that of the Children of Lir . Later, mead was increasingly displaced by other alcoholic beverages for which the fermentable sugars required were less expensive and more readily available, which combined with taxation and regulations governing

792-610: The Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. There is a poem attributed to the Welsh bard Taliesin , who lived around 550 CE, called the Kanu y med or "Song of Mead" (Cân y medd). The legendary drinking, feasting, and boasting of warriors in the mead hall is echoed in the mead hall Din Eidyn (modern-day Edinburgh ) as depicted in the poem Y Gododdin , attributed to the poet Aneirin who would have been

836-546: The Philippines , local mead makers are also putting mead back into the radar of liquor and alcohol aficionados. In fact, to promote mead in the country, the Philippines had its first International Mead Day celebration for the first time ever on August 3, 2024. List of names of Freyr The Germanic god Freyr is referred to by many names in Old Norse poetry and literature . Multiple of these are attested only once in

880-427: The yeast employed during fermentation , and the aging procedure. Some producers have erroneously marketed white wine sweetened and flavored with honey after fermentation as mead, sometimes spelling it "meade." Some producers ferment a blend of honey and other sugars, such as white refined sugar, again, mislabeling the product as mead. This is closer in style to a hypocras . Blended varieties of mead may be known by

924-414: The 'manifold' or the 'multiplier', although such an adverbial formation has no attested parallel. According to Lindow , the second etymology may be more fitting for a name of Odin, but the meaning remains uncertain in any case. Fjölnir is indeed also frequently mentioned as a name of Odin . In Grímnismál ('The Lay of Grímnir'), Odin mentions it to Geirröðr as one of his many names that constitute

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968-663: The Swedes and the Upsal domains . He was powerful, and lucky in seasons and in holding the peace. Fredfrode ruled then in Leidre , and between them there was great friendship and visiting. Once when Fjolne went to Frode in Sealand , a great feast was prepared for him, and invitations to it were sent all over the country. Frode had a large house, in which there was a great vessel many ells high, and put together of great pieces of timber; and this vessel stood in

1012-463: The advent of both agriculture and ceramic pottery in the Neolithic , due to the prevalence of naturally occurring fermentation and the distribution of eusocial honey-producing insects worldwide; as a result, it is hard to pinpoint the exact historical origin of mead given the possibility of multiple discovery or potential knowledge transfer between early humans prior to recorded history. With

1056-623: The ancient Greek writers for their technique of preparing mead from honey . During the Golden Age of ancient Greece , mead was said to be the preferred drink. Aristotle (384–322 BCE) discussed mead made in Illiria in his Meteorologica and elsewhere, while Pliny the Elder (23–79 CE) called mead militites in his Naturalis Historia and differentiated wine sweetened with honey or "honey-wine" from mead. The Hispanic-Roman naturalist Columella gave

1100-452: The ancient Irish queen Medb , among others. The Chinese word for honey, mì (蜜) was borrowed from the extinct Indo-European Tocharian word mit – also a cognate with the English word mead . Meads will often ferment well at the same temperatures at which wine is fermented, and the yeast used in mead making is often identical to that used in wine making (particularly those used in

1144-430: The beginning of his epiphany. In Reginsmál ('The Lay of Reginn '), a man who is clearly Odin uses Fjölnir to refer to himself as he is standing on a mountain addressing Sigurd and Regin . In Gylfaginning ('The Beguiling of Gylfi '), Fjölnir appears among the 12 names given for Alfödr , another name of Odin. Grottasöngr informs that Fjölnir was the contemporary of Caesar Augustus (63 BC – AD 14). He

1188-475: The eventual rise of ceramic pottery and increasing use of fermentation in food processing to preserve surplus agricultural crops, evidence of mead begins to show up in the archaeological record more clearly, with pottery vessels from northern China dating from at least 7000 BCE discovered containing chemical signatures consistent with the presence of honey, rice, and organic compounds associated with fermentation. The earliest surviving written record of mead

1232-545: The fermentation process has been halted prematurely by dormant or dried yeast. With many different styles of mead possible, there are many different processes employed, although many producers will use techniques recognizable from wine-making. One such example is to rack the product into a second container, once fermentation slows down significantly. These are known as a primary and a secondary fermentation, respectively. Some larger commercial fermenters are designed to allow both primary and secondary fermentation to happen inside

1276-483: The gallery to the door of another left, went into it, and his foot slipping, he fell into the vessel of mead and was drowned. Snorri also quoted some lines of Ynglingatal , composed in the 9th century: Varð framgengt, þars Fróði bjó, feigðarorð, es at Fjǫlni kom. Ok sikling svigðis geira vágr vindlauss of viða skyldi. The Historia Norwegiæ provides a Latin summary of Ynglingatal , which precedes Snorri's quotation. It also informs that Fjölnir

1320-615: The ingredients of alcoholic beverages led to commercial mead becoming a relatively obscure beverage until recently. Some monasteries kept up the traditions of mead-making as a by-product of beekeeping , especially in areas where grapes could not be grown. The English mead – "fermented honey drink" – derives from the Old English meodu or medu , and Proto-Indo-European language , * médʰu . Its cognates include Old Norse mjǫðr , Proto-Slavic medъ , Middle Dutch mede , and Old High German metu , Sanskrit madhu and

1364-944: The king of Zealand . Fjölnir, son Yngvifreys, réð þá fyrir Svíum ok Uppsala auð; hann var ríkr ok ársæll ok friðsæll. Þá var Friðfróði at Hleiðru; þeirra í millum var heimboð ok vingan. Þá er Fjölnir fór til Fróða á Selund, þá var þar fyrir búin veizla mikil ok boðit til víða um lönd. Fróði átti mikinn húsabœ; þar var gert ker mikit margra alna hátt, ok okat með stórum timbrstokkum; þat stóð í undirskemmu, en lopt var yfir uppi, ok opit gólfþilit, svá at þar var niðr hellt leginum, en kerit blandit fult mjaðar; þar var drykkr furðu sterkr. Um kveldit var Fjölni fylgt til herbergis í hit næsta lopt, ok hans sveit með honum. Um nóttina gékk hann út í svalir at leita sér staðar, var hann svefnœrr ok dauðadrukkinn. En er hann snerist aptr til herbergis, þá gékk hann fram eptir svölunum ok til annarra loptdura ok þar inn, missti þá fótum ok féll í mjaðarkerit, ok týndist þar. Fjolne, Yngve Frey's son, ruled thereafter over

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1408-463: The kingdom after Njord , and was called drot by the Swedes, and they paid taxes to him. He was, like his father, fortunate in friends and in good seasons. Frey built a great temple at Upsal , made it his chief seat, and gave it all his taxes, his land, and goods. Then began the Upsal domains , which have remained ever since. Then began in his days the Frode- peace ; and then there were good seasons, in all

1452-418: The land, which the Swedes ascribed to Frey, so that he was more worshipped than the other gods, as the people became much richer in his days by reason of the peace and good seasons. His wife was called Gerd, daughter of Gymir , and their son was called Fjolne. Then Snorri tells that after Freyr's death, Fjölnir became the king of Sweden. However, he drowned in a vat of mead visiting Peace-Fróði ( Friðfróði ),

1496-527: The mead clears, it is bottled and distributed. Primary fermentation usually takes 28 to 56 days, after which the must is placed in a secondary fermentation vessel for 6 to 9 months of aging . Durations of primary and secondary fermentation producing satisfactory mead may vary considerably according to numerous factors, such as floral origin of the honey and its natural sugar and microorganism contents, must water percentage, pH , additives used, and strain of yeast, among others. Although supplementation of

1540-432: The must with non-nitrogen based salts, or vitamins has been tested to improve mead qualities, no evidence suggests that adding micronutrients reduced fermentation time or improved quality. Cell immobilization methods, however, proved effective for enhancing mead quality. Mead can have a wide range of flavors depending on the source of the honey, additives (also known as "adjuncts" or " gruit ") including fruit and spices,

1584-489: The powdered leaves and bark of gesho , a hop-like bittering agent which is a species of buckthorn . A sweeter, less-alcoholic version (honey-water) called berz , aged for a shorter time, is also made. In Kenya a mead variant called Muratina is usually home-made which is used during a number of different important religious and social events. Mead in Poland and Ireland has been part of culinary tradition for over

1628-419: The preparation of white wines). Many home mead makers choose to use wine yeasts to make their meads. By measuring the specific gravity of the mead once before fermentation and throughout the fermentation process using a hydrometer or refractometer , mead makers can determine the proportion of alcohol by volume that will appear in the final product. This also serves to troubleshoot a "stuck" batch, one where

1672-400: The same vessel. Racking is done for two reasons: it lets the mead sit away from the remains of the yeast cells ( lees ) that have died during the fermentation process. Second, this lets the mead have time to clear. Cloudiness can be caused by either yeast or suspended protein molecules. There is also the possibility that the pectin from any fruit that is used could have set which gives the mead

1716-453: The story is a little different. It relates how King Hundingus of Sweden believed a rumor that King Hadingus of Denmark had died and held his obsequies with ceremony, including an enormous vat of ale. Hundingus himself served the ale, but accidentally stumbled and fell into the vat, choked, and drowned. When word came to King Hadingus of this unfortunate death, King Hadingus publicly hanged himself (see Freyr ). Dumézil (1973, Appendix I) cites

1760-450: The style represented; for instance, a mead made with cinnamon and apples may be referred to as either a cinnamon metheglin or an apple cyser . A mead that also contains spices (such as cloves , cinnamon or nutmeg ), or herbs (such as meadowsweet , hops , or even lavender or chamomile ), is called a metheglin / m ɪ ˈ θ ɛ ɡ l ɪ n / . A mead that contains fruit (such as raspberry , blackberry or strawberry )

1804-772: The sweetness of the original honey, and some may even be considered as dessert wines. Drier meads are also available, and some producers offer sparkling meads. Historically, meads were fermented with wild yeasts and bacteria (as noted in the recipe quoted above) residing on the skins of the fruit or within the honey itself. Wild yeasts can produce inconsistent results. Yeast companies have isolated strains of yeast that produce consistently appealing products. Brewers, winemakers, and mead makers commonly use them for fermentation, including yeast strains identified specifically for mead fermentation. These are strains that have been selected because of their characteristic of preserving delicate honey flavors and aromas. Mead can also be distilled to

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1848-535: Was a mighty king and the crops were bountiful and peace was maintained. At his time, King Fróði , the son of Friðleifr , ruled in Lejre in Zealand . Grottasöngr relates that when Fróði once visited Uppsala he brought two giantesses, Fenja and Menja : However, the two giantesses were to be his undoing (see Grottasöngr ). The Ynglinga saga tells that Fjölnir was the son of Freyr himself and his wife Gerd , but he

1892-633: Was the first of his house who was not to be deified. Freyr tók þá ríki eptir Njörð; var hann kallaðr dróttinn yfir Svíum ok tók skattgjafir af þeim; hann var vinsæll ok ársæll sem faðir hans. Freyr reisti at Uppsölum hof mikit, ok setti þar höfuðstað sinn; lagði þar til allar skyldir sínar, lönd ok lausa aura; þá hófst Uppsala auðr, ok hefir haldizt æ síðan. Á hans dögum hófst Fróða friðr, þá var ok ár um öll lönd; kendu Svíar þat Frey. Var hann því meir dýrkaðr en önnur goðin, sem á hans dögum varð landsfólkit auðgara en fyrr af friðinum ok ári. Gerðr Gýmis dóttir hét kona hans; sonr þeirra hét Fjölnir. Frey took

1936-726: Was the son of Freyr, the father of Svegder and that he drowned in a vat of mead: Froyr vero genuit Fiolni, qui in dolio medonis dimersus est, cujus filius Swegthir [...] Frøy engendered Fjolne, who was drowned in a tun of mead. His son, Sveigde, [...] The even earlier source Íslendingabók cites the line of descent in Ynglingatal and also gives Fjölnir as the successor of Freyr and the predecessor of Svegðir . In addition to this it summarizes that Fjölnir died at Friðfróði 's (i.e. Peace-Fróði): iii Freyr. iiii Fjölnir. sá er dó at Friðfróða. v Svegðir :. In Gesta Danorum , Book 1, Frodi corresponds to Hadingus and Fjölnir to Hundingus , but

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