Instead, it’s likely that Vikings would enjoy whales only when they beached and died on shore.įrom the land, Norse farmers raised cattle, sheep, goats, pigs and chickens. In fact, the Eddas, the written sagas the tell of the period, warn against it. It’s not believed the Vikings hunted whales and caught them at sea. There is evidence of them eating pretty much everything the sea has to offer, from herring to whales.

A large percentage of this would have been fish as the Vikings were skilled fishermen after all. Most historians agree that the Vikings ate better than the peasants in much of the rest of Northern Europe and many will have eaten as well as some kings and queens! What meat and dish did the Vikings eat? The Norse were also highly skilled at both minimising waste and preserving food to eat during the cold winter. They were skilled hunters as well as skilled farmers, foragers and even beekeepers! They were adept at raising food under the harshest of circumstances. Mostly, this tells us that the Vikings ate well. So, the fact that the Vikings chose to ‘waste’ energy on seafaring, raiding and pillaging tells us a lot. Life in the Viking Age was tough and simple living would have used a lot of energy. The next thing to consider is a logical conclusion that often gets ignored. Want some salad on that? Well, you’d better hope you live somewhere with fertile soil and the right climate to grow edible leaves.

It’s a lot different when, if you want to eat a chicken sandwich, you need to make the bread, churn the butter and most importantly rear the chicken. The total cost, including my time and the cost of the food would be less than an hour of labour. Right now, I could leave my house, go to the store, grab a chicken sandwich, a snack and a drink and return home in almost no time at all. Supermarkets and grocery stores are possibly the biggest time-savers we have invented. Modern culture makes it easy to forget just how much time and effort goes into the food we eat. To start with, it’s worth considering how much work is involved in the production of food and drink.

Find a viking ship carrot weather