Runes, Beer, and Crazy People: Musings on ALU - The Troth

Runes, Beer, and Crazy People: Musings on ALU
Daniel T. Campbell

The runic inscription ALU is well-known to us from the Migration Era (3rd – 6th c. A.D.)
and is frequently cited by modern Heathens as good for healing magic. The „ale runes‟
referred to in the opening of Sigdrifumal are often supposed to at least include ALU, if not
being ALU alone. Runologists, though typically skeptical of magical interpretations of
runic inscriptions, are often willing to attribute religious, possibly magical, meaning to
the ALU inscriptions that survive on rune stones and bracteates from the Migration Age
(Polomé 1996; Antonsen 2002, pgs 196-200). But does ALU mean „ale‟, and if so what
kind of „ale‟ does it mean? What role did ALU / ale play in Germanic religion? And why
would „ale runes‟ (ALU or otherwise) be associated with being hale and whole?

Linguists are generally satisfied that ALU does mean „ale‟, though there have been other
meanings put forward for the runic inscriptions. It is cognate with Old Norse (ON) „øl‟,
Old English (OE) „ealu‟, and Modern English (ModE) „ale‟ (Antonsen 2002, pgs 196-
200) – terms which we now regard as synonymous with ModE „beer‟. „Beer‟ in the
original languages, however, is not always „beer‟ as we think of it today.

Old English „ealu‟ and „beor‟, and Old Norse „øl‟ and „bjórr‟, all refer to alcoholic drinks.
However, whereas „ealu‟ and „øl‟ mean a weakly alcoholic drink made from grain (and
not sweet to taste), „beor‟ and „bjórr‟ seem to mean a stronger drink, sweetened with
honey and possibly made with fruit juice. In lists of alcoholic drinks, wine (OE „win‟,
ON „vin‟) ranks first, followed by mead (OE „meadu‟, ON „mjöðr‟), then „beor‟ / „bjórr‟,
and lastly „ealu‟ / „øl‟. It is possible that „beor‟ / „bjórr‟ is related to bragot (Welsh
„bragawd‟) – it certainly sounds like a mead/beer hybrid. But while „beor‟ and „bjórr‟ are
often translated as „beer‟, it is more likely that ModE „beer‟ is a borrowing from German
„bior‟, given the long contrast in Britain between the native „ale‟ made without hops and
the imported, hop-infused „bior‟ (Hornsey 2003, pgs 251-9, 323-6). Thus, what we now
think of as „beer‟ – mildly alcoholic, made from grain, and common compared to stronger
drinks – is essentially „ale‟, but with one important difference from today‟s „beer‟: no
hops.

Although there is evidence for hops being used quite early, they did not become a de
facto ingredient in beer until the 14th century. Use of hops caught on partly due to an
export trade enabled both by its preservative effect on beer and by taxes which applied to
the use of „gruit‟ in beer but not the use of hops. Gruit was a mixture of herbs, varying
from region to region, that was traditionally added to ale and then mandated by law in the
Middle Ages to ensure income from a corresponding tax (Hornsey 2003, pgs 534-7).
From our perspective (ignoring the tax laws), gruit probably functioned like hops,
balancing the sweetness of the ale with some bitterness and contributing a preservative to
the beverage. This is not necessarily the case. Some of the herbs known to have been
used impart bitterness, others do not; and a few have a preservative effect but not to the
same degree as hops. Further, ale was not always sweet, as cultures of lactic acid
bacteria were quite common in early brews, imparting a tartness or sourness to the ale – a
characteristic that now is only found in Berliner Weisse, lambic, and Flemish brown ale

in Europe but is common in traditional African beers like Kaffir (Hornsey 2003, pgs 20-
5). The ales in Europe which retain this tart/sour character (from the presence of lactic
acid bacteria working alongside the yeast) are not hopped as strongly as other beers, since
the lactic acid helps to balance the sweetness of the malt. Thus, gruit herbs are more
likely to have been chosen for their ability to mask (or complement!) unpleasant flavors
in the ale – or to increase the potency of the brew.

The most commonly used gruit herbs were bog myrtle (Myrica gale, also know as „sweet
gale‟), wild rosemary (Ledum palustre), and yarrow (Achillea millefolium) – although
wormwood, juniper, ginger, cinnamon, and many other herbs and spices were often
included. Bog myrtle, wild rosemary, and yarrow add bitterness to ale when used in
brewing. Bog myrtle has some antiseptic properties, while yarrow is well known for its
antiseptic, antimicrobial, and antibacterial effects (Buhner 1998, 169-188). So far, then,
these three primary ingredients in gruit resemble hops in their use in ale: bitter and
preservative. However, bitterness and preservation are not the only characteristics of
these herbs.

Beer brewed with bog myrtle is described as “strongly intoxicating, with unpleasant after
effects” by Odd Nordland in his 1969 history of Norwegian brewing (Buhner 1998, 177).
Similarly, wild rosemary “in high doses produces cramps, rage, and frenzy”, can “cause
headache, vertigo, restlessness, and a peculiar delirium”, and “may cause violent
headache and symptoms of intoxication” (Ratsch 1994; Moore 1993; Erichsen-Brown
1979; Grieve 1931 – all quoted in Buhner 1998, 181). Yarrow is known for mild narcotic
effects (among many other medicinal effects) and contains thujone, the same narcotic
substance found in wormwood, which itself was added to beer to make it more
intoxicating (Buhner 1998, 184-196). Overall, these three herbs (plus wormwood) were
normally added to ale to make it “heady” and mind-altering – a direct contrast to the
soporific effect of hops in beer that we are more familiar with today (Buhner 1998, 169-
196).

Another herb, not normally part of gruit, deserves special mention: heather. Heather ale
is legendary in Northern Europe, with stories about its secret going to the grave with
either the last of the Picts in Scotland or the last of the Vikings in Ireland. At the end of
the 19th century in Scotland, R.C. Maclagan determined that while palatable ale could be
made with heather, it did not seem to warrant its legendary reputation (Hornsey, 2003,
520-2). More recently, however, Bruce Williams, working with brewing chemist Keith
Thomas, not only has produced the fine heather ale Fraoch, but also found that a moss
naturally occurring on the heather “possessed narcotic and mildly hallucinogenic
properties” (Buhner, 1998, 31-32). Although Williams washes off this moss in producing
his heather ale, traditional brewers would not have done so. Recipes for heather ale
obtained by Maclagan stipulated that the heather should be harvested when in full bloom
(Hornsey, 2003, 521), suggesting that the moss‟s mind-altering effects were important in
the legendary ale – yet another example of early brewers making their beers more potent
through their choice of herbal additions.

Ale brewed with gruit, as opposed to beer brewed with hops, is documented from at least
the 10th century (Hornsey 2003, 535) up through the 17th century (Buhner 1998, 174).
Archaeological evidence further supports the use of gruit herbs – particularly bog myrtle
and yarrow – in beverages made from honey, grain, and sometimes fruit during the Iron

Age in northern Europe. The use of heather in ale (and possibly mead) is attested in
Scotland from at least the 19th century all the way back to the Neolithic (Hornsey 2003,
515-22; Buhner, 1998, 28-35). Thus, it is likely that the ale of the ALU inscriptions – and
the ale of the „ale runes‟ in Sigdrifumal – was a powerfully intoxicating beverage, due to

the presence of bog myrtle, wild rosemary, heather, and/or yarrow. This possibility
becomes particularly intriguing in light of the cultural significance of the ALU

inscriptions.

Edgar Polomé, in his 1996 article “Beer, Runes and Magic”, confirms an etymology
(which he originally proposed in 1954) for *alu(þ) that brings together “Homeric Gk.
alúō „I am beside myself,‟ Latvia aluót „wander aimlessly,‟ Run. alu and Hitt. alwanza-
„bewitched‟ as derivations from the same IE verbal stem *alw- (*H2él-w-) „put under a
magic spell.‟” In support of this etymology, he cites the religious importance of alcohol
in Germanic culture – specifically that “beer and mead appear to be the alcoholic

beverages used by the Germanic people to attain that particular level of consciousness
which may induce religiously inspired ecstasy”. This interpretation is supported by the

role that alcoholic beverages have in traditional cultures, both ancient and modern. In
these cultures, alcohol is consumed in social rituals of hospitality, such as feasting, and as

part of religious ceremonies. The Celts and Germans certainly used alcohol in this way
from the early Iron Age up through the Viking period. Further, the Bronze Age “Beaker
package” of drinking vessels and weapons may have been a precursor to the Iron Age
heroic drinking cult in Europe (Hornsey 2003, 3-5, 146-220; see also the Viking Answer
Lady‟s article on „Alcoholic Beverages and Drinking Customs of the Viking Age‟,
available online at http://www.vikinganswerlady.com/).

Compare the etymology of alu (“I am beside myself”; “wander aimlessly”; “under a
magic spell”) with the effects of wild rosemary, yarrow, bog myrtle, wormwood, and
heather – and one finds that early Germanic religious rituals may owe their “religiously
inspired ecstasy” to the combination of the herbs and the alcohol rather than alcohol
alone. Further, such herb-infused ale also becomes a tempting explanation for berserker

rage.

The image of the berserker in both modern scholarship and Old Norse literature – and as
employed in the Isle of Lewis chessmen – is that of warriors that “howl, foam at the
mouth, and bite their shields” and are “invulnerable to fire and iron”. Various sources for
this inspired frenzy have been proposed, ranging from cultic furor to magic mushrooms

(Liberman 2004). If ale or mead was the source, then an alcoholic beverage brewed with
intoxicating herbs – such as wild rosemary (which “produces cramps, rage, and frenzy”)
or thujone-laden yarrow or wormwood – makes the most sense of the berserkers‟ state.
As a native beverage, it would also be a better explanation than hallucinogenic

mushrooms, marijuana, or opium. Unfortunately, the berserker we know and love is
likely to be little more than a literary image, as Liberman details in his 2004 article

chronicling the creation of this image by modern scholars. Thus, while we can be certain
that ale – and the states it inspired – were integral to Germanic culture, we cannot say that
it was used to work warriors into battle frenzy.

We are left, then, with ALU inscriptions associated with cult activity, possibly because of
the narcotic, agitated inebriation imparted to ale by the herbs discussed above. The
effects of these herbs further provide an explanation for the beer, “blended with power
and great fame”, which Sigdrifa gives to Sigurd. A beverage which induces a narcotic
euphoria or a berserker-like sense of invulnerability could be seen as increasing the
health and vigor of the imbiber, and thus supporting the contemporary Heathen
association of ALU with health. But this supposition is unnecessary. The healthy effects
of ale are more fundamental – and not just because ale was safer to drink than water in
pre-modern times.

Nowadays, beer is stored for long periods with refrigeration and often filtered and/or
pasteurized to improve its appearance or increase its shelf-life. Beer in traditional
societies, however, was drunk quite fresh, within a few days of brewing, and with little
attempt at filtration prior to serving. Beer in the ancient Near East was drunk either with
straws or in jugs with strainers, to separate the alcoholic liquid from the grains and other
particulate matter left in the brew after primary fermentation – a side effect of mashing,
boiling, and fermenting in the same vessel (Hornsey 2003, 32-125). Kaffir beer in South
Africa is similarly produced in a single vessel and “always consumed in an active state of
fermentation…opaque and effervescent in appearance, with a pleasant yeasty odour and
fruity tang” (Hornsey 2003, 20-1). Because of this freshness, more of the substance of
beer is imbibed, from fragments of malted grain to live yeast. In this way, traditional
beers contribute significantly to the nutrition of the people who make and consume them.

All of the components of beer offer something of nutritional value. Alcohol (ethanol) has
double the calories of the carbohydrates from which it is made and can represent 2-10%
of the calories consumed by regular imbibers. Malting grain increases B-group vitamins
in the grain (Hornsey 2003, 10-11) while fermentation by yeast further augments B-group
vitamins in the final product, beer. Brewer‟s yeasts themselves “contain essential trace
minerals…in amounts comparable to fresh fruits and vegetables” and are “also high in
protein”. Although these specific health benefits would not have been known prior to the
modern era, it is telling that Western attempts to reduce consumption of native alcoholic
beverages in indigenous societies resulted in a corresponding rise in diseases associated
with vitamin and mineral deficiency (Buhner 1998, 70-3, 161-2).

Thus, when brewed as an indigenous beverage, ale is both wholesome and inspiring. In
early Germanic cultures, it would have been integral to diet and ritual, nourishing both
body and soul. The alcohol, malted grain, and yeast contributed calories, vitamins,
minerals, and protein, while the herbs used in brewing augmented the euphoria and
ecstasy of drinking the alcohol ritually. In this context, the runic inscriptions of ALU
mean not only „ale‟, but health, happiness, and holiness.

Antonsen, Elmer H. Runes and Germanic Linguistics. Trends in Linguistics: Studies and
Monographs, 140. Mouten de Gruyter, New York. 2002.

Buhner, Stephen Harrod. Sacred and Herbal Healing Beers. Siris Books, Boulder. 1998.

Hornsey, Ian S. A History of Beer and Brewing. Royal Society of Chemistry, Cambridge.
2003.
Liberman, Anatoly. “Berserkir: A Double Legend.” Brathair, 2004; 4(2): 97-101.

Polomé, Edgar C. “Beer, Runes, and Magic.” Journal of Indo-European Studies, 1996;
24(1-2): 99-105.

Viking Answer Lady. “Alcoholic Beverages and Drinking Customs of the Viking Age.”
Accessed online November 5, 2007: http://www.vikinganswerlady.com/drink.shtml.