Viking Food

What were Vikings commonly eating as food ?

– Looking for the Evidence By Jennifer Baker ( Jenny Baker )

Some of the Wonderful Food - Yummm

Research Disclaimer : Please note that This Research was done many years ago now :

so the information contained may now be out of date , photos gone missing or web links broken

My apologises : But It has become an impossible task to try and keep it up to date - Jenny

These finding where based on my Viking Food Data base * see at the bottom of the page for it.

What were Vikings commonly eating as food ?

Using The Viking Food Data base as a source to answer this question we come up with the following answer to this question

Out of a total number 18 of country/ regions looked at

(Denmark, Frisia, Zeeland, Norway, Sweden, Gotland, Russia, England, Scotland, Isle of Man, Ireland, Orkney, Shetlands, Faroe Islands, Iceland, Greenland, Vinland, ) that Viking lived in and that there is archaeological data from

FRUIT

Apple / Crab Apple ( Malus sylvestris Miller) Found in 8 Country / regions

Crowberry - Black Crowberry or Curlewberry ( Empetrum nigrum) Found in 6 Country / regions

Raspberry ( Rubus idaeus) Found in 6 Country / regions

Juniper - Seeds & Berries ( Juniperus communis L / Juniperus sp.) Found in 5 Country / regions

Plum / Wild Plum - bullace or cherry plum ( Prunus domestica ssp. Domestica / Prunus domestica sl ) Found in 5 Country / regions

Rose - Rose hip ( Rosa sp.) Found in 5 Country / regions

Blackberry / Bramble ( Rubus fruticosus agg.) Found in 4 Country / regions

Cherry / Cherries & wild cherries ( Rosaceae, genus Prunus / Cerasus vulgaris) Found in 4 Country / regions

Strawberry / Strawberry Alpine / Wild Strawberry ( Fragaria vesca) Found in 4 Country / regions

GRAIN

Barley ( Hordeum sp.) Found in 16 Country / regions

Rye ( Secale cereale) Found in 9 Country / regions

Wheat - Bread Wheat / Club Wheat / Common Wheat ( Triticum aestivo-compactum / Triticum vulgare) Found in 8 Country / regions

Wheat – Emmer ( Triticum dicoccon) Found in 5 Country / regions

HERB

Fat Hen - Sedge, Swamp Grass . Sedge Family (Chenopodium album L. / Cyperaceae / Carex sp.) Found in & Country / regions

Black Mustard (Brassica nigra / Brassica / Sinapis sp.) Found in 5 Country / regions

Buttercup / Buttercup Shrub ( Potentilla) Found in 5 Country / regions

Violets / Parma / Yellow Violet ( Viola sp.) Found in 4 Country / regions

Strawberry / Strawberry Alpine / Wild Strawberry ( Fragaria vesca) Found in 4 Country / regions

NUTS

Hazel / Hazel Nuts / Common Hazel ( Corylus avellana) Found in 8 Country / regions

Walnut (Juglans regia) Found in 5 Country / regions

OIL PLANT

Flax - Flax Seed / cultivated flax (Linum usitatissimum) Found in 8 Country / regions

Hempseed oil Found in 4 Country / regions

PULSE

Pea / Garden Pea / Field Pea ( Pisum sativum) Found in 6 Country / regions

Bean - Field / Horse bean ( Vicia faba L) Found in 3 Country / regions

SEED – EDIBLE

Poppys / Poppy Seeds ( Papaver sp. / Papaver somniferum) Found in 4 Country / regions

VEGETABLE

Cabbage / Wild Cabbage or kale / Cabbage Family ( Brassica oleracea / Cruciferae) Found in 7 Country / regions

Carrot / Wild Carrot ( Daucus carota ssp. Sativus) Found in 5 Country / regions

Chickweed / Chickweed, common / spring-beauty- Portulacaceae. / Chickweed, mouseear ( Stellaria sp. / Stellaria media (L.) Vill ) Found in 5 Country / regions

Turnip ( Brassica rapa var. rapa ) Found in 5 Country / regions

TREE

Oak ( Quercus sp.) Found in 5 Country / regions

Pine - Scots pine ( Pinus sylvestris) Found in 5 Country / regions

MEAT - DOMESTIC ANIMAL

Cattle / Cows ( Bos taurus dom. L.) Found in 13 Country / regions

Pig ( Sus domesticus / Sus scrofa) Found in 13 Country / regions

Sheep ( Ovis aries dom. L.) Found in 10 Country / regions

Goats ( Capra hircus dom. L.) Found in 6 Country / regions

MEAT - WILD MAMMAL

Seal ( Phocidae sp. Seal sp.) Found in 5 Country / regions

Hare (leporidae Lepus) Found in 4 Country / regions

Whale ( Cetacea sp Whale sp) Found in 4 Country / regions

BIRD

Duck Family / Species ( Anser sp. / Anatidae sp / Duck species) Found in 6 Country / regions

Chicken ( Gallus domesticus ) Found in 5 Country / regions

Goose / Geese ( Branta / poss. Domestic / Goose sp. / Anatidae) Found in 5 Country / regions

FISH - ESTUARINE SHELLFISH

Mussel - Common or blue mussel ( Mytius edulis) Found in 3 Country / regions

FISH – FRESHWATER

Salmon / Salmonid family (Salmonidae sp ) Found in 5 Country / regions

FISH – MARINE

Cod - Atlantic Cod & Cod family / Gadid / Gadid family ( Gadus morhua L. / Gadidae sp.) Found in 9 Country / regions

Fish ( Fish species indet.) Found in 9 Country / regions

Herring & Atlantic Herring ( Clupea harengus) Found in 6 Country / regions

Salmon / Salmonid family (Salmonidae sp ) Found in 5 Country / regions

Some of the Wonderful Food - Yummm

Fathma cooking the feast

Photos of the food are from The Gathering of the Hird event which was put on by Jomsvikings and their wonderfull viking cook Fathma - 2009 at Corryong Victoria Australia

The Viking Food Database

Viking Food Database v2

These findings on this page where based on my Viking Food Data base * which can be downloaded from here

* NOTE: This is a 126KB Microsoft Excel file. To view this file you must have Excel or download the Excel viewer from the Microsoft website

- File updated on 3 May 2017 - removal of all 14th century Polish ingredients

Awarded the Silver Gundestrop Cauldron Award

12 July 2011 : awarded this certificate from the Authentic Viking Food group

on facebook for my research on Viking foods and the creation of the Viking Food Data Base