The best available guess is that Norse people primarily ate agricultural products raised on their own farms: meat from cattle, sheep, horses, pigs, goats, and poultry; cereals, such as barley, rye, oats, and (rarely) wheat; dairy produce, such as milk from cows, sheep, or goats, as well as cheese and butter; vegetables, such as peas, beans, cabbage, onions, and an assortment of herbs; and wild fruits, such as apples, pears, cherries, and berries. Sugar was unknown; the only available sweetener was wild honey.

To these foods would be added whatever could be hunted, captured, or gathered. Along coastal regions, and near rivers and lakes, fish were a staple part of the diet. Fish were caught with hook and line from small boats. (Two 10^th century fish hooks are shown to the right.)

Saga evidence suggests the importance of fishing. Laxdæla saga (ch. 14) mentions a fishing station at Bjarneyjar, and the author says that at the time of the saga, people went there in great numbers and that some stayed year-round.

It's likely that fish was the most important food wherever there was a concentration of people, such as in trading towns, or at the annual Alþing assembly. Some sources suggest that whales were driven ashore by Norsemen in their ships, where they were killed, providing a bounteous harvest for an entire settlement. More probably, Norsemen simply took advantage of dead or weakened whales that washed ashore.

Wild animals were hunted for food, using either spears, or bow and arrow. These include deer, bear, boar, and elk, as well as smaller game such as rabbits. In the far north, seals and walruses were hunted, not only for the meat, but also for the skins which were especially valuable.

Sea birds (right) and their eggs (left) were also a part of the Norse diet. Norsemen harvested both the eggs and the birds from the cliffs on which the birds nested by swinging down from the top of the cliff on ropes.

The great auk (Pinguinus), a large, meaty, flightless bird now extinct, was an important part of the diet in Iceland, based on excavated bones.

Some wild plants were probably consumed because of the medicinal qualities they were known to possess. For instance, the leaves of scurvy-grass (Cochlearia officinalis, shown left) were known to help prevent one's teeth from falling out, one of the symptoms of scurvy (vitamin C deficiency). The plant is mentioned in the stories (for instance, chapter 73 of Grettis saga), but its medicinal properties are not, making me wonder if it wasn't until later in the medieval period that the beneficial properties became known. The stories do suggest that scurvy (skyrbjúgr) was known to sailors (chapter 4 of Þorsteins saga hvíta).

Meat and fish were preserved by smoking (the smoky upper reaches of the longhouse helped to keep meat hung there from spoiling), pickling in brine or whey (in which the lactic acid prevented food spoilage), salting, or drying. Smoked lamb hanging from the kitchen beams in the longhouse at Eiríksstaðir is shown to the left. Despite its thoroughly unappetizing appearance, the meat is delicious. On the right is shown fish drying outdoors in an open shed in modern Iceland. The dry, cold wind removes the moisture and preserves the fish.

The most common method for cooking food was by boiling it. Meat was sometimes prepared by boiling it in a wood-lined pit. A pit was dug and lined with wood. Meat and water were placed in the pit, and hot stones were dropped in to bring the temperature up to boiling. More hot stones could be added as needed to keep the liquid hot. The liquid was seasoned with whatever spices and herbs might be available.

Eyrbyggja saga (chapter 54) tells that the farm at Fróðá (shown to the right as it appears today) was troubled by ghosts, who came to the fire-room of the house and drove away the living residents of the house. As a result, they had neither light nor heated stones nor any of the other comforts of the fire to which they were accustomed.

Meat could also be roasted on a spit. The sketch shows a spit found in Norway, with an elaborate handle, allowing the meat to be turned as it roasted over the fire. The spit probably rested on forked sticks on either side of the fire.

More commonly, food was boiled in soapstone or iron cauldrons. A reproduction Norse era cauldron is shown to the left. Cauldrons were constructed from a number of thin iron plates riveted together to form the pot. The photo to the right shows a modern replica in use, suspended from a tripod over an outdoor camp fire. The cauldron holds a stew made of pork, cabbage, leeks, and spices.

The medieval Icelandic lawbook Grágás (K 246) states the standard dimensions of an iron cauldron: a weight of half a load (40 pounds, or 18kg) with a capacity of eight bucketfuls (7.5 gallons, or 30l). The thickness of the iron required would have been nearly 1/4 inch (about 6mm). That much iron would have represented a small treasure in the Norse era, so cauldrons this large couldn't have been common. Typical cauldrons found from the Norse era are smaller than this standard. However, in chapter 145 of Brennu-Njáls saga, Sölvi was boiling meat in a cauldron at Alþingi. The cauldron was big enough that when Hallbjörn picked him up and plunged him head first into the boiling cauldron, Sölvi was killed instantly.

Food was also prepared by roasting in soapstone pots. While clay pottery (left) was known in Norse lands, almost no broken potshards have been found, as in other parts of Europe. Pottery was probably a poorly developed craft in Norse lands, and soapstone must have been used almost exclusively. Soapstone has the advantage that it can be pierced, allowing it to suspended by iron hooks over the fire. Additionally, if broken or cracked, soapstone can be repaired with iron staples, unlike pottery.

Reproductions of two different utensils for frying food are shown in the photo to the right. The gridiron (on the right in the photo) was used for cooking meat or fish over an open fire. The pan of the griddle (on the left) rotates on a pivot at the end of the handle, so that food on the pan can be rotated in the fire, allowing it to be cooked more evenly. In the photo above to the right, the griddle is in use cooking two loaves of flatbread.

Bread was typically made from unleavened barley flour ground in stone querns (left). The handle of the quern was used to rotate the top stone over the bottom stone, grinding the grain between the stones. In Iceland, lava querns were used, which produced finer flour.

Stone chips from querns have been found in recovered flour, so the bread must have made for a gritty repast. Cooked on a flat pan over the coals of an open fire, it would have been eaten warm, since such loaves turn rock hard when cooled. The bread shown in the photo above was made from stone ground wheat, barley, oat, and rye flours, mixed with whey, honey, and nuts.

Norse families ate two meals per day: dagverðr at mid-morning, and náttverðr in the evening. Most families had a table of some sort, and wealthy families used a linen tablecloth. Meats were served on wooden trenchers and eaten with one's personal knife. Stews, porridge, and similar items were served in wooden bowls and eaten with wooden or horn spoons (right). A reproduction of a wooden serving bowl is shown to the left. Shells were used for ladles and spatulas.

Cold beverages were consumed from horn cups or (especially for feasts) from drinking horns. Modern replicas are shown to the left.

While glass drinking vessels are known to have been used, their cost must have limited them to only the wealthiest of families.

Autumn was the season when the greatest variety of foodstuffs were available. It was when freshly slaughtered meat was most available, when fresh vegetables and grains were available, and when imported foodstuffs were most abundant. Feasts and celebrations were planned for the fall to take advantage of this abundance and variety. The image to the right depicts the variety of food available in York during the Norse era and includes fish, small game, vegetables, nuts, and fruit.

There is nothing to indicate that poor quality food or cookery was accepted in the Norse era. Spices were available and were used, not to disguise the taste of food gone bad, as is commonly thought, but to enhance the flavor of food. Based on current knowledge, it is quite possible that a varied and nourishing diet was available. But there is insufficient data to say how much of the population was able to take advantage of such a diet.