Celebration because the mermen have expelled a monster from the lake:
pealing bells;
thanksgiving Mass;
embroidered vests;
flowing blouses;
sweeping skirts;
roasting ox;
steaming kettles;
beer, mead and wine barrels;
bagpipes;
flutes;
horns;
drums;
fiddles;
kolo around a cauldron;
Father Tomislav, dancing, says, "'Leap like David before the Lord!'" (p. 134)
And that is yet another Biblical reference that we have not noted before: 2 Samuel 6: 14-15.
We always appreciate Poul Anderson's details, whether in battle or in feast.
5 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
It was because of how often I've seen mead being drunk in stories like HROLF KRAKI'S SAGA that I started sometimes drinking it myself. Well brewed mead tastes very good. And I even found a mead producer in my home county,. the 1634 Meadery, in Ipswich, MA.
Ad astra! Sean
Standard mead is made by fermenting honey diluted with water.
In some of the Vorkosigan stories by L.M. Bujold, maple mead is drunk. Parts of the colony planet Barrayar are suitable for growing sugar maples. Those maples are tapped for the sweetish sap, which is boiled to reduce the water content to make maple syrup, but if it isn't boiled all the way to syrup it can be fermented to make an alcoholic drink. Googling 'maple mead' finds some websites about how to make it.
Maybe I could find some to sample.
Kaor, Jim!
Maple mead seems intriguing and tasty. Albeit the purist in me would insist true mead has to be fermented from honey.
Ad astra! Sean
I'll stick to wine, myself.
Kaor, Mr. Stirling!
I sometimes drink wine too. Also, despite being fermented from honey, mead doesn't have to be "sickly sweet." The meads I favor are on the "dry" side.
Ad astra! Sean
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