Homedemo

The Sayings of the Vikings

Tor Kjølberg

April 27, 2018

The authentic Hávamál was the more than 1000 years old famous guide on how to manage everyday life. A new and readable translation into English is now available from Danish publishing company Gudrun.

Hávamál is one of the more famous and certainly one of the most popular of the so-called Eddaic poems. The part of Hávamál which is published in the tiny, charming book from publishing company Gudrun is unique in its being neither heroic nor mythological, but rather a poem of didactic nature.

The Edda signify for the northern culture what the Vedas mean to India and the Homeric poems are for the Greek. Their variety and wealth are such, that they have been a source of inspiration and delight for generations, and still are.

Related: Valley of Vikings in Norway

Scholars do not agree on where the Hávamál was written, nor when; some argue it originated in Norway, some hold it was composed in Iceland, others still in the British Isles. Apart from the problem og discovering where the Hávamál was composed, there is the question of origination.

Is it a collection of ancient sayings, which were hovering in the cultural atmosphere of the ancestors of the Vikings, and finally written down by a scribe in one of these countries? Is it a mixture of Latin proverbs and the old heathen wisdom bound together in the metre of Edda?

Related: The Danish Viking Land

The question of age of the Hávamál is of course related to the question of where and how. There is almost a consensus that it was composed in the period around AD700-900, though it could have been written down for the first time later.

One thing is certain, however. The spirit of the poem, at least, has been greatly influenced by the attitude and culture of the Viking era culminating in the period AD800-1000.

The aim of this little softcover book is to make the Hávamál accessible to the English reading public. Many people have helped the translator Björn Jónasson. An in the book’s foreword he thanks Mr. Christopher Sanders of the Amamagnæan Institute in Copenhagen and Mr. Martin Regal of the University of Iceland, for their invaluable criticism, and especially Mr. Bernard Scudder for his criticism, ideas and inspiration. “Where this translation has succeeded, it is because of the aid of these generous people, and where it has failed, is in through faults if mine,” writes Jónasson.

The Sayings of the Vikings, from the book’s foreword

Scandinavian Common Crab

Tor Kjølberg

April 25, 2018

Common crabs (cancer pagurus) also known as edible crabs) are very, well, common, and certainly not a fisherman’s friend.

They destroy nets, eat the fish in them and their powerful claws can easily cut your fingers off. The claws are the only part of the common crab that’s usually eaten in Scandinavia. This practice often means that the fishermen tear off the claws and throw the defenseless creatures back into the sea – enough to put off eating the crab at all. And, in fact, the whole beast can be eaten, even if it’s a bit fiddly.

Appearance and taste
Common crabs are sold at a mature age. They are huge – 20-25cm across is not unusual – and have varying colors depending on their habitat. The claws contain fine, thread-like, juicy meat. If you want to eat the crabs whole, female crabs have a broader behind to contain the roe and are much meatier than the males. Crabmeat generally is more fibrous and has a much more distinct taste than other shellfish.

Buying and storing
In Scandinavia claws are not too expensive, but whole crabs you can buy for almost nothing. You should always try to buy whole crabs, and ones that are not only fresh but alive – beware of the claws, though they should normally be clamped by a rubber band. Ready-boiled claws are always overdone, and it’s hard to know if they are fresh enough. If you detect any whiff of ammonia, the meat is too old.

Culinary uses
Crabmeat’s strong taste means that it can take a heftier spicing – chili works well – or be made into a spicy salad with a saffron-garlic mayonnaise. The easiest and freshest way to dress the whole crab is to mix the edible parts with a little of your preferred mayonnaise, a little diced celery, cucumber, shelled peas, asparagus, or just lettuce. Serve this salad in the shell, so guests can pick at the claws as well as eat the luscious salad – accompanied by some toasted rye bread or sourdough, of course. Alternatively, crab claws can be grilled whole for 10 minutes under a very hot grill. Eat with a green salad, sourdough, lemon, and a mayonnaise or chervil cream.

Related: Norwegian Crow’s Balls

How to prepare and eat crab

To boil
Crabs can be boiled in the same court-bouillon as that used for crayfish. Whether you are preparing whole crabs or claws only, put them in the boiling liquid, cook for 10 minutes, then remove from the heat and leave to cool in the pan. Remove when they have just cooled and, in the case of the claws, crack them with a hammer – preferably outside!

To eat
The claws are relatively straightforward: you simply extract the meat with a lobster fork, or a small pointed knife. When it comes to a whole crab, the fun part is to distinguish the edible from the inedible inside it – it’s not difficult but it is messy, which is to reason whole crabs are so cheap.

To begin, pry the top shield off. Stuck inside it is reddish goo, which has a wonderful taste: scrape it into a bowl. The rest of the crab is mostly greenish grills, seemingly made of rock wool, and they must be removed. The rule hereafter is that anything soft and chewable inside the crab is great to eat, including the green, black and brown stuff.

Scandinavian Common Crab, written by Tor Kjolberg