The history and folklore surrounding beer, wine, and mead in myth is extensive. For as long as history has been recorded, all around the world, we can see examples of these beverages being enjoyed and even fought over. In the Bible, alcoholic drink is mentioned often. Going further back, mead is mentioned in the ancient hymns of the Rigveda of India, poets of the Middle ages, and plays an important role in the Nordic mythology of the Eddas. Wine goes very far back, of course, mentioned often by the philosophers of the ancient Greeks. It could be said that, as far as we know, the arts of fermentation were among the first technologies developed by humans.
It appears that beer may be the most ancient of beer, wine, and mead in myth – at least, as far as we know. Beer is mentioned in the Epic of Gilgamesh, and beer has been discovered in archaeological sites to be chemically dated back to the year 5,000 BC. Samples from pottery jars found in the cradle of civilization, what is today known as Iran, yielded these findings. It is likely that the creation of beer goes back farther than that, but there is little evidence that has survived. In my estimation, is has all been drunk.
Many more recent examples of the mythic legacy of beer exist – it is widely held that ancient Egyptians enjoyed beer, partially, perhaps, as a method of purifying water. One myth surrounding beer is the ancient hymn to Ninkasi, which identifies this Sumerian Goddess as one of fermentation, dated back to around 1900 BC. For most of recorded history, we can see this myth played out in different religious and cultural venues again and again. Spiritualism was the explanation for everything back then, and the presence of beer, wine, and mead in myth is telling of mankind’s ubiquitous application of supernatural elements to all processes of life. But, perhaps, the reverence with which humanity approached fermentation in ancient history is also indicative of a deeper appreciation of the experience of inebriation. In this day and age, such appreciation is not as common, except, perhaps, among the educated – beer fans and connoisseurs.
It took a long time for brewers to discover the creature that is in actuality the cause of the fermentation process: yeast. Before yeast was discovered, brewers in the Nordic regions would yell and shout obscenities at the beer, hoping to wake up the spirit contained within and excite it to ferment the beer. Many monasteries during the middle ages would fervently pray over the beer, anointing it with many blessings from the Lord that He may bless the beer with the so-called “miracle” of fermentation. This process continued for quite some time, and as the church became more and more of an institution for societal control, it became necessary for brewers to hire a priest to bless each batch of beer. When these blessings became law, it effectively created a church rendered tax on brewing, which, I speculate, lasted in many regions of Europe until the Renaissance period.
In general, the Old Testament is in favor of drink, while the New Testament stands firmly against it (that’s old world values for you). Never the less, wine has for many centuries played an important role in the religious rites, including that of the Jewish Bar Mitzvah, and the Catholic Eucharist and its derivatives. There are many Hebrew words for differing kinds of wine and alcoholic beverage. According to the Bible, Noah was a vintner, as well as Jesus (although in rapid fashion). There are many warnings against the imbibing of wine as well, and it seems that the myths of many cultures contain this dichotomy concerning alcohol. There is great appreciation for it, and many warnings against misuse of the beverage.
In the region now known as Mexico, Pulque, a drink similar to a wine cooler, had prohibitions against who could partake. Known among indigenous peoples as Neutle, the drink made from a mixture of fermented Agave nectar and fresh Agave nectar. This was sometimes mixed with Peyote or other mind altering, or entheogenic plants. Neutle was a drink reserved for the shaman and for royalty. Severe penalties awaited those who were caught drunk who were not allowed the drink.
Mead appears most notably in Norse mythology as the tale of the mead of inspiration. In the days of this story, Odin and his brethren (the Aesir) had made a treaty with the former rules of the heavens, the giants. Odin had heard of the mead of inspiration, made from the blood of a god mixed with honey. As the story goes, this mead was being guarded by either a dwarfen woman or a giantess. Odin convinced the giantess to let him have but one sip of the mead in exchange for a night of lovemaking. After the long night had ended, Odin took his drink, but swallowed all of the mead. He then turned into an eagle and fled to Asgard, where he regurgitated the mead for all the Aesir to benefit from. But as he fled from the Giantess’s house, her father in hot pursuit, some drops of the mead landed to the earth. From these drops sprang entheogenic mushrooms, from which the poets of man gained their inspiration.
Wine is most notably apparent in the rites and myth surrounding the Greek god on Wine, Dionysus. This God was always known as a troublemaker, being the spurned offspring of god and man, and an insufferable partier. Like Dionysus himself, the followers of this God often were called out as rapscallions for their wine enhanced orgies and wild rites. Known also as Bacchus to the Romans, the rites of this God were outlawed by the senate at a certain point because it was suspected that they were used as a guise to plan the overthrow of the government. If they weren’t before, they probably were after.
This article is, of course, to short to go into much detail surrounding the presence of beer, wine, and mead in myth. There are numerous tales of such drinks throughout the world, including Africa, Asia, Russia, and many more countries. The book Sacred and Healing Herbal Beers by Stephen Harrod Buhner is a good source of information concerning beer, wine, and mead in myth. May your further researches be fruitful.
