Information on food, banquets, and cooking in general can be found in a wide range of primary sources from medieval Iceland, which include archaeological findings, sagas, the
Eddas, skaldic poetry, and legal texts. This is because food touches on various aspects of individual and social life. One finds mentions of meat such as livestock and poultry (Snorri Sturluson,
Óláfs saga helga, ch. 163;
Vatnsdæla saga, ch. 44), game, whales, seals, fish (e.g., stockfish, flatfish, haddock, lumpfish, halibut, pike, salmon), and dairy products (milk, butter, buttermilk, skyr, whey, cheese, as shown for example in
Egils saga Skallagrímssonar, ch. 43, and
Eyrbyggja saga, ch. 45). “Ármóðr had the table set for them, on which were placed large bowls full of skyr”, reads
Egils saga2455 words
Citation: Maraschi, Andrea. "Food in Old Icelandic prose texts". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 28 June 2023 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=19720, accessed 21 November 2024.]
