kidattypewriter

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

If only we could have stopped this happening from happening long after it happened, then it would not have happened apart from happening

He went out of the yard, and found a draught horse of Skallagrim's, got on its back and rode after Skallagrim's party. No easy way had he over the moor, for he did not know the road; but he kept his eyes on the riders before him when copse or wood were not in the way. And this is to tell of his journey, that late in the evening he came to Swan-ness, when men sat there a-drinking.
Egil's Saga
It is just appalling, the effect our current lax drinking rules and regulations have on the drinking habits of 10th century Vikings. Clearly, we need to change our laws relating to drink pricing and labelling now, before it is too late for these 10th century Vikings who are, er, late.
He went into the room, but when Yngvar saw Egil he received him joyfully, and asked why he had come so late. Egil told of his words with Skallagrim. Yngvar made Egil sit by him, they two sat opposite Skallagrim and Thorolf. For merriment over their ale they fell to reciting staves. Then Egil recited a stave:
'Hasting I came to the hearth fire
Of Yngvar, right fain so to find him,
Him who on heroes bestoweth
Gold that the heather-worm guardeth.
Thou, of the snake's shining treasure
Always a generous giver,
Wilt not than me of three winters
Doughtier song-smith discover.'
Yngvar praised this stave, and thanked Egil much therefor, but on the morrow he brought to Egil as reward for the poem three sea-snail shells and a duck's egg.
This regrettable incident clearly shows the deleterious effects of alcohol advertising in sport, or something. If only Egil Skallagrimson had not been exposed at a young age to alcohol advertising that occurred long after he was dead, this happening would not have happened (apart from happening). We must stop Vikings receiving sea-snail shells and duck eggs at all costs!
Egil's poetry won him thanks from many men.
Yet more evidence of the shocking toll of drinking on Iceland's Australia's young.

21 comments:

Caz said...

On the contrary, if only drunken men were handed sea-snail shells and duck eggs as they exited licensed establishments, the angry fighting toll would come at an abrupt halt, me thinks.

Caz said...

Or if handed to them on arrival, the possibility of consuming massive amounts of alcohol would require a great deal more determination and dedication.

TimT said...

I didn't find the quote I was after but I think in my copy of this book there are several scenes featuring copious Viking drinking in close relationship with vigorous Viking battles. In one scene I'm sure they drink exaggerated amounts of liquor while bragging about the exaggerated feats of war they have accomplished on previous occasions, often while drinking further exaggerated amounts of liquor.

The sea-snail shells and duck eggs are a particularly charming touch though. Still not quite sure what the significance is!

TimT said...

Tim Worstall once made the point that drink reformers often seem to labour under the notion that a tradition of binge drinking that goes back for millenia can somehow be changed overnight with the passing of a law or two and the addition of the odd label, which I had somewhat in mind when I came up with this post.

Caz said...

Viking romance novels? They should re-issue that: 50 shades of Viking (and much drinking and cavorting).

The problem with blaming alcohol, or so called binge drinking, for acts of random and mindless violence in Oz is that it doesn’t add up. There’s this persistent and demonstrably untrue social and political debate and handwringing over Australia’s unique position as big time drinkers and bingers, coupled with singular causation and correlation between those habits and violence.

All rubbish. We have a great deal of alcohol related violence, but we are not the world’s only or most voracious drinkers. Japan, Russia, Germany … the British; surely the British tipple quite a bit, purely to cope with the miserable weather? We have a lot of competition out there. What isn’t tackled is that other big drinking nations do not have the same associated violence: the violence is a distinct (though not unique) feature of Australian culture – the violence, the anger, the random aggression. There are no warning labels to address that deeply embedded cultural problem.

Take away the culture of violence, and no one would much care how much anyone drinks (so long as they don’t drive or oversee children’s homework).

TimT said...

Well it's a very different type of romance to the sort you get in Mills and Boon... pre-romantic poets, pre-courtly love; it's pretty much 'romance' in the sense of a creative adventure tale. Like, I assume, the 'Romance of Charlemagne'.

Considering the content maybe it could be called '50 Shades of Slay'?

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