Runes on the Horn, Leeks in the Ale: Literacy and its Consequences in Early Germanic Drinking Conventions

This article looks at instructions on detoxifying proffered drinks of ale that are part of the medieval Old Norse-Icelandic poem called Sigrdrífumál (The Lay of Sigrdrífa) from the collection known as The Poetic Edda, the valkyrie (‘chooser of the slain’). Sigrdrífa, whose name means ‘victory-driver’, instructs the future hero Sigurðr about the various kinds of runes that will prove helpful in his future vocation as hero and dragon-slayer. She begins by offering him luck-bringing ale where he is recommended to inscribe a fingernail with the nauðr rune. This recommendation has prompted scholarly speculation on both female sexual desire and the need to counter it in some symbolic fashion.