Drinking horn

TheRoordahuizumdrinking horn, made in the mid-16th century by silversmith Albert Jacobs Canter, kept in the Frisian Museum atLeeuwarden

Drinking Horn with Silver-gilt Mounts (detail), Northern German or Scandinavian, Late 15th century,The Hunt Museum

A drinking horn in the coat of arms ofHämeenkyrö

Adrinking hornis thehornof abovidused as adrinking vessel.Drinking horns are known fromClassical Antiquity,especially theBalkans,and remained in use for ceremonial purposes throughout theMiddle Agesand theEarly Modern periodin some parts of Europe, notably inGermanic Europe,and in theCaucasus.Drinking horns remain an important accessory in the culture of ritualtoastinginGeorgiain particular, where they are known by the local name ofkantsi.

Drinking vessels made from glass, wood, ceramics or metal styled in the shape of drinking horns are also known from antiquity. The ancient Greek term for a drinking horn was simplykeras(pluralkerata,"horn" ).To be distinguished from the drinking-horn proper is therhyton(pluralrhyta), a drinking-vessel made in the shape of a horn with an outlet at the pointed end.

Antiquity

Further information:Rhyton

Collection of drawings ofScythian stelaeof the 6th to 5th centuries BC.Many of them depict warriors holding a drinking horn in their right hand.

TheHochdorfdrinking horn (iron with sheet gold ornaments, capacity 5.5 litres)

Both in the Greek and the Scythian sphere, vessels of clay or metal shaped like horns were used alongside actual horns from an early time. A Late Archaic (ca. 480 BC)Attic red-figure vaseshowsDionysusand asatyreach holding a drinking horn.

During Classical Antiquity, theThraciansandScythiansin particular were known for their custom of drinking from horns (archaeologically, theIron Age"Thraco-Cimmerian"horizon). Xenophon's account of his dealings with the Thracian leaderSeuthessuggests that drinking horns were integral part of the drinkingkata ton Thrakion nomon( "after the Thracian fashion" ). Diodorusgives an account of a feast prepared by theGeticchiefDromichaitesforLysimachusand selected captives, and the Getians' use of drinking vessels made from horn and wood is explicitly stated.

The Scythian elite also used horn-shapedrhytamade entirely from precious metal. A notable example is the 5th century BC gold-and-silverrhythonin the shape of aPegasuswhich was found in 1982 in Ulyap,Adygea,now at the Museum of Oriental Art in Moscow. M.I. Maksimova (1956) in an archaeological survey of Scythian drinking horns distinguished two basic types (excluding vessels of clearly foreign origin), a strongly curved type, and a slender type with only slight curvature; the latter type was identified as based on aurochs horns by Maksimova (1956:221). This typology became standard in Soviet-era archaeology. There are a few artistic representation of Scythians actually drinking from horns from the rim (rather than from the horn's point as withrhyta).The oldest remains of drinking horns orrhytaknown from Scythian burials are dated to the 7th century BC, reflecting Scythian contact with oriental culture during their raids of theAssyrian Empireat that time. After these early specimens, there is a gap with only sparse evidence of Scythian drinking horns during the 6th century. Drinking horns re-appear in the context of Pontic burials in the 5th century BC: these are the specimens classified as Scythian drinking horns by Maksimova (1956). The 5th-century BC practice of depositing drinking horns with precious metal fittings as grave goods for deceased warriors appears to originate in theKubanregion.In the 4th century BC, the practice spreads throughout the Pontic Steppe. Rhyta, mostly of Achaemenid or Thracian import, continue to be found in Scythian burials, but they are now clearly outnumbered by Scythian drinking horns proper. Around the midpoint of the 4th century BC, a new type of solid silver drinking horn with strong curvature appears. While the slightly curving horn type is found throughout the Pontic Steppe, specimens of the new type have not been found in the Kuban area. The custom of depositing drinking horns as grave goods begins to subside towards the end of the 4th century BC. The depiction of drinking horns onkurgan stelaeappears to follow a slightly different chronology, with the earliest examples dated to the 6th century BC, and a steep increase in frequency during the 5th, but becoming rare by the 4th century (when actual deposits of drinking horns become most frequent). In the Crimean peninsula, such depictions appear somewhat later, from the 5th century BC, but then more frequently than elsewhere.

Scythian drinking horns have been found almost exclusively in warrior burials. This has been taken as strongly suggesting an association of the drinking horn with the Scythian cult of kingship and warrior ethos. In the influential interpretation due toM. I. Rostovtzeff(1913), the Scythian ruler received the drinking horn from a deity as a symbol of his investiture. This interpretation is based on a number of depictions of a Scythian warrior drinking from a horn standing or kneeling next to a seated woman.Rolle (1980) interpreted the woman not as a goddess but as a high-ranking Scythian woman performing a ritual office. Krausse (1996) interpreted the same scenes as depicting a marriage ceremony, with the man drinking from the horn as part of anoathritual comparable to the scenes of Scythian warriors jointly drinking from a horn in an oath ofblood brotherhood. The Scythian drinking horns are clearly associated with the consumption ofwine.

The drinking horn reachedCentral Europewith theIron Age,in the wider context of "Thraco-Cimmerian"cultural transmission. A number of earlyCeltic(Hallstatt culture) specimens are known, notably the remains of a huge gold-banded horn found at theHochdorf burial. Krauße (1996) examines the spread of the "fashion" of drinking horns (Trinkhornmode) in prehistoric Europe, assuming it reached the easternBalkansfromScythiaaround 500 BC. It is more difficult to assess the role of plain animal horns as everyday drinking vessels, because these decay without a trace, while the metal fittings of the ceremonial drinking horns of the elite are preserved archaeologically.

Julius Caesarhas a description ofGaulishuse of aurochs drinking horns (cornu urii) inCommentarii de Bello Gallico6.28:

„Amplitudo cornuum et figura et species multum a nostrorum boum cornibus differt. Haec studiose conquisita ab labris argento circumcludunt atque in amplissimis epulis pro poculis utuntur. “

"The [Gaulish] horns in size, shape, and kind are very different from those of our cattle. They are much sought-after, their rim fitted with silver, and they are used at great feasts as drinking vessels."

Migration period

Vendel erabronze horn fittings and 3rd Century glass drinking horn on display at theSwedish Museum of National Antiquities.

TheGermanic peoplesof theMigration periodimitated glass drinking horns from Roman models. One fine 5th centuryMerovingianexample found atBingerbrück,Rhineland-Palatinatemade from olive green glass is kept at theBritish Museum. Some of the skills of the Roman glass-makers survived inLombardicItaly, exemplified by a blue glass drinking-horn fromSutri,also in the British Museum. The twoGallehus Horns(early 5th century), made from some 3 kg ofgoldandelectrumeach, are usually interpreted as drinking horns, although some scholars point out that it cannot be ruled out that they may have been intended asblowing horns.After the discovery of the first of these horns in 1639,Christian IV of Denmarkby 1641 did refurbish it into a usable drinking horn, adding a rim, extending its narrow end and closing it up with a screw-on pommel. These horns are the most spectacular known specimens ofGermanic Iron Agedrinking horns, but they were lost in 1802 and are now only known from 17th to 18th century drawings.

Some notable examples of drinking horns of Dark Ages Europe were made of the horns of theAurochs,the wild ancestor of domesticcattlewhich became extinct in the 17th century. These horns were carefully dressed up and their edges lipped all round withsilver.The remains of a notable example were recovered from theSutton Hooburial.

The British Museum also has a fine pair of 6th centuryAnglo-Saxondrinking horns, made from Aurochs horns with silver-gilt mounts, recovered from theprincely burial at Taplow,Buckinghamshire.

Numerous pieces of elaborate drinking equipment have been found in female graves in all pagan Germanic societies, beginning in the GermanicRoman Iron Ageand spanning a full millennium, into theViking Age.

Viking Age

Further information:Sumbel

A drinking scene on animage stonefromGotland,Swedish Museum of National Antiquities,Stockholm.

TheBullion Stone,aPictishimage stone depicting a warrior drinking from a large horn while on horseback (discovered in 1933,Museum of Scotland,Edinburgh)

Drinking horns are attested fromViking AgeScandinavia. In theProse Edda,Thordrank from a horn that unbeknown to him contained all the seas, and in the process he scaredÚtgarða-Lokiand his kin by managing to drink a conspicuous part of its content. They also feature inBeowulf,and fittings for drinking horns were also found at theSutton Hooburial site. Carved horns are mentioned inGuðrúnarkviða II,a poem composed about 1000 AD and preserved in thePoetic Edda:

Váru í horni hvers kyns stafir ristnir ok roðnir, - ráða ek né máttak, - lyngfiskr langr, lands Haddingja ax óskorit, innleið dyra.

On the horn’s face were there All thekin of letters Cut aright and reddened, How should I rede them rightly? Theling-fishlong Of the land ofHadding, Wheat-ears unshorn, And wild things inwards.

Beowulf(493ff.) describes the serving of mead in carved horns.

Horn fragments of Viking Age drinking horns are only rarely preserved, showing that both cattle and goat horns were in use, but the number of decorative metal horn terminals and horn mounts recovered archaeologically show that the drinking horn was much more widespread than the small number of preserved horns would otherwise indicate. Most Viking Age drinking horns were probably from domestic cattle, holding rather less than half a litre. The significantly larger aurochs horns of the Sutton Hoo burial would have been the exception.

Medieval to Early Modern period

Drinking horns were the ceremonial drinking vessel for those of high status all through the medieval period References to drinking horns in medieval literature include theArthuriantale ofCaradocand the Middle English romance ofKing Horn. TheBayeux Tapestry(1070s) shows a scene of feasting beforeHarold Godwinsonembarks for Normandy. Five figures are depicted as sitting at a table in the upper story of a building, three of them holding drinking horns.

Most Norwegian drinking horns preserved from the Middle Ages have ornamented metal mountings, while the horns themselves are smooth and unornamented. Carvings in the horns themselves are also known, but these appear relatively late, and are of a comparative simplicity that classifies them as folk art.

Corpus Christi CollegeofCambridge Universityhas a largeaurochsdrinking horn, allegedly predating the College's foundation in the 14th century, which is still drunk from at College feasts.

Drinking horn of Sigismund of Luxemburg, before 1408

The "Oldenburg horn" was made in 1474/75 by German artisans forChristian I of Denmarkwhen he visited Cologne to reconcileCharles the Boldof Burgundy. It is made of silver and gilt, richly ornamented with the coats of arms of Burgundy and Denmark. The horn has its name from being kept in theOldenburg family castlefor two centuries before being moved to its present location in Copenhagen. It became associated in legend with countOtto I of Oldenburg,who was supposed to have received it from a fairy woman in 980.

Drinking horns remained in use for ceremonial purposes throughout the Early Modern period. A magnificent drinking horn was made for the showpiece of the Amsterdam Guild of Arquebusiers by Amsterdam jeweller Arent Coster in 1547, now kept in theRijksmuseum.

In 17th to 18th centuryScotland,a distinct type of drinking horn develops. One aurochs drinking horn still preserved inDunvegan Castleon theIsle of SkyeinScotland.It was only produced before guests, and the drinker in using it, twisted his arms round its spines, and turning his mouth towards the right shoulder, was expected to drain it off.

German RenaissanceandBaroquehorns often were lavishly decorated with silverwork. One such example is depicted in a 1653 painting byWillem Kalf,known asStill Life with Drinking Horn.

Modern period

An 1893 depiction of theNorse goddessSifholding a drinking horn.

Lavishly decorated drinking horns in theBaroque style,some imitatingcornucopias,some made fromivory,including gold, silver andenameldecorations continued to be produced as luxury items in 19th to early 20th centuryimperial AustriaandGermany.

Also in the 19th century, drinking horns inspired by theRomanticViking revivalwere made for Germanstudent corpsfor ritual drinking. In the context of Romanticism, a ceremonial drinking horn with decorations depicting the story of theMead of Poetrywas given to Swedish poetErik Gustaf Geijerby his students in 1817, now in the Private Collection of Johan Paues,Stockholm.

Ram or goat drinking horns, known askantsi,remain an important accessory in the culture of ritualtoastinginGeorgia. During a formal dinner (supra) Georgians propose a toast, led by a toastmaster (tamada) who sets the topic of each round of toasting. Toasts are made with either wine or brandy; toasting with beer is considered an insult.

InSwiss culture,a large drinking horn together with a wreath ofoakleaves is the traditional prize for the winning team of aHornussentournament.

Modern-dayAsatruadherents use drinking horns forBlóts(sacrificial rituals) andsumbels(feasts).

See also

• Blowing horn
• Fairy cup legend
• Cornucopia
• Powder horn
• Qanci
• Rhyton
• Sumbel
• Drink portal

References

• Enright, Michael J.Lady With a Mead Cup: Ritual Prophecy and Lordship in the European Warband from La Tène to the Viking Age.Dublin: Four Courts Press. 1996.
• V.I. Evison,Germanic glass drinking horns,Journal of Glass Studies-1, 17 (1975)
• Dirk Krausse,Hochdorf, Bd.3, Das Trinkservice und Speiseservice aus dem späthallstattzeitlichen Fürstengrab von Eberdingen-Hochdorf,Theiss (1996),ISBN978-3-8062-1278-5.
• Hagen, Ann.A Second Handbook of Anglo-Saxon Food and Drink: Production and Distribution.Hockwold cum Wilton, Norfolk, UK: Anglo-Saxon Books. 1995.
• Magerøy, Ellen Marie. "Carving: Bone, Horn, and Walrus Tusk" inMedieval Scandinavia: An Encyclopedia.Phillip Pulsiano et al., eds. Garland Reference Library of the Humanities 934. New York: Garland. 1993. pp. 66–71.
• Wieland, Anja,Skythisches Gold in griechischem Stil,Bonn (2013), "Trinkhörner und Rhyta", pp. 25–49.

External links

• Viking Answer Lady: Alcoholic Beverages and Drinking Customs of the Viking Age