Gary Shteyman, Period 8, 1/11/22

 Gary Shteyman

Period 8

1/11/22

Modern Mythology 2022

For my final Norse Mythology project, my group and I were tasked with reading the story The Mead of Poets. (Gaiman, 75-90) In this story, the two main tribes of Norse deities, the Aesir and the Vanir, establish a truce, which is manifested by the gods all spitting into a vat together. This coagulated spit gives rise to the god Kvasir, who knows everything. When I read this story, the name "Kvasir" instantly piqued my interest. You see, having grown up in a Russian household, I was surrounded by the drink known as kvas. Kvas is a fizzy, grain-based light beer, which to me always smelled and tasted like cough syrup. Having been practically raised in the stuff, the similarity in nomenclature between kvas and kvasir was interesting, but I shrugged it off as a coincidence and moved on. Then I got to the part of the story where Kvasir is killed and his blood boiled into mead. Now, kvas is not considered an alcoholic beverage by most russians, but my first concept of what alcohol was came in the form of kvas. So, we have two things, Kvasir the god and kvas the drink, that have similar names and are (eventually) semi-alcoholic beverages. I toyed with the idea that the two were linked, but I didn't feel the need to do extensive research on the subject. Until now.

My first step on this weird, weird journey was to find out if Vikings were ever in Russia. The answer I got was, thankfully, a resounding yes! For about 400 years, there was a loose group of Viking principalities in modern day Ukraine, Belarus, and Russia, known as the Kievan Rus. (Little, “When Viking Kings and Queens Ruled Medieval Russia.”) According to the Russian Primary Chronicle, a 12th century historical account of the region composed by Kievan monks, 3 Viking brothers ruled this land. It was the last surviving brother's son, Oleg the Prophet, that expanded the Kievan Rus to the aforementioned Eastern European territories, and established Kiev as a cultural, geographical, and political cornerstone of Europe. The Vikings of the Kievan Rus were mostly pagan (meaning they still followed the Aesir and Vanir) until the 10th century, when Vladimir the Great spread Christianity throughout the region. The Kievan Rus lasted until the 13th century, when Mongols and Crusaders brought enough instability to the region to destabilize the ruling monarchy. The resulting few centuries of political instability would eventually be settled by the Romanov dynasty, which ruled Russia until the 20th century, but that history is not crucial for my Nordic god/Russian beer conspiracy.

Next, was kvas known to the Vikings? Also yes! The first mention of kvas in literature is in 989 AD, in the Old Russian Chronicles, another set of Russian historical texts. (“Of Russian Origin: Kvas.”) This places kvas firmly in the time period of the Kievan Rus, meaning that the Vikings were drinking the (less commercialized, probably more alcoholic) same drink that I've demonized to my friends! To further solidify this connection, the Russian Primary Chronicle described Vladimir the Great's baptism, and how the citizens of Kiev were served with mead, bread, and kvas! Hypothetically, one of these drunken Vikings could have recited some particularly… elegant poetry, which could have evolved and morphed into the tale of Kvasir's birth and death. This research, while being a fun dive through Russian historical texts and kvas recipes, proved to me just how expansive Viking influence really is, and how malleable cultural diffusion is as a whole.

Work cited:

Gaiman, Neil, et al. Norse Mythology. Dark Horse Books, 2021. 

Hornsey, Ian S. Alcohol and Its Role in the Evolution of Human Society. Royal Society of Chemistry, 2012. 

Little, Becky. “When Viking Kings and Queens Ruled Medieval Russia.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 4 Dec. 2019, https://www.history.com/news/vikings-in-russia-kiev-rus-varangians-prince-oleg#:~:text=Dec%204%2C%202019-,For%20four%20centuries%2C%20Vikings%20held%20sway%20over%20parts%20of%20Russia,under%20Prince%20Oleg%20the%20Prophet.&text=Their%20loose%20federation%20of%20principalities,the%2013th%2Dcentury%20Mongol%20invasion. 

“Of Russian Origin: Kvas.” Kvas – Russiapedia Of Russian Origin, https://russiapedia.rt.com/of-russian-origin/kvas