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regulated the ingredients which could legally be used in brewing beer (only water, barley, hops and, later, yeast) and, in so doing, continued the practice of legislation concerning beer which the Babylonians under Hammurabi had done some 3,000 years earlier. The Germans, like those who preceded them, also instituted a daily beer ration and considered beer a necessary staple of their diet. From the Celtic lands (Germany through Britain, though which country brewed first is disputed) beer brewing spread, always following, basically, the same principles first instituted by the Sumerians (female brewers making beer in the home with the use of fresh hot water and fermented grains). The understanding that beer was a gift from the gods continued on from ancient times as well. The popular Slavic god of hospitality, Radegast, was claimed to have invented beer by the Czechs and, in Norse mythology, the sea god Aegir and his family brewed beer for the gods which was served in goblets which refilled themselves when empty. The Finnish Saga of Kalewala (first written down in the 17th century CE from much older, preChristian tales and consolidated in its present form in the 19th century) sings of the creation of beer at length (devoting more lines to the creation of beer than the creation of the world). The female brewer, Osmata, trying to make a great beer for a wedding feast, discovers the use of hops in brewing with the help of a bee she sends to gather the magical plant. The poem expresses an admiration for the effects of beer which any modern-day reader acquainted with the drink would recognize: Great indeed the reputation Of the ancient beer of Kalew, Said to make the feeble hardy, Famed to dry the tears of women, Famed to cheer the broken-hearted, Make the aged young and supple, Make the timid brave and mighty, Make the brave men ever braver, Fill the heart with joy and gladness,
Fill the mind with wisdom sayings, Fill the tongue with ancient legends, Only makes the fool more foolish. In the Finnish saga, as in the writings of the ancient Sumerians, beer was considered a magical brew from the gods endowing the drinker with health, peace of mind and happiness. This understanding was cleverly phrased by the poet A.E. Houseman when he wrote, “Malt does more than Milton can to justify God’s ways to man” (a reference to the English poet John Milton and his ‘Paradise Lost’). From ancient Sumeria to the present day, Houseman’s claim would go undisputed among those who have enjoyed the drink of the gods and, no, that drink is not wine. *** Acknowledgements: A version of the article was first published in Ancient History Encyclopedia, http://www.ancient.eu.com/article/223/ March 2011. Grateful acknowledgement is made to Editor Jan van der Crabben. *** Further Reading: Egyptian Beer for the Living, the Dead, and the Gods http://beeradvocate.com/articles/629 Hammurabi: http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/ ancient/hamcode.htm The Kalevala: http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/ kveng/ World’s oldest beer receipt? - Free Online Library : http://www.thefreelibrary.com/
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