Viking Drinking Game
Stories similar to this that you might like too.
In the Norse world of Old and New Kingdoms, alcohol was an ever-present part of daily life. From beer and ale to mead, wine, and spirits, Norsemen drank their way through life. If you wanted a good laugh or some extra excitement at your next game night with friends, you could play the Viking drinking game and enjoy all the drinking that the Vikings did while still remaining sober.
The rules are simple. Drink whenever a character drinks or is seen drinking during the episode. It’s up to you how many drinks it takes for each player to be declared drunk.
If you’re in a group of four or more, have two people designated as “drinkers” and they can be players or just regular watchers like you. One drinker gets five points. Another is a “dry guy” who collects money or something else worth collecting for each person that they see drinking (i.e., coins, gold bars).
He can collect three times as many points for every time he sees someone drink if it’s a real-life actor instead of an animated one. Finally, everyone gets to take turns being the dry guy, so that no one will be too upset about losing out on potential points by playing this drinking game.
You can also change how many points are collected each round. You can decide that everyone needs to get at least three drinks in them before getting a turn being the dry guy. Or maybe the dry guy only gets three drinks each round, and everyone gets three drinks when they make their move.
It’s up to you. And if you have any other ideas for twists, go ahead and include them in your version of the game.
So here are a few episodes of Norse mythology to play around with. Enjoy!
The Saga of the Volsungs (Old Kingdom): Drink anytime someone drinks, which is pretty much all the time. Drink for everything from a sip to a full mug of beer. And for a good laugh, drink whenever someone gets really angry at something, especially if it has to do with drink.
For instance, if there’s some drinking contest going on and Thor says, “It’s not a competition!” but Odin is still drinking like he thinks it’s a competition, then you’ll know why this was named the Saga of the Volsungs.
Hávamál (New Kingdom): In Norse myth, there is a god known as Fjölnir who is the hammer of the gods. If you want to drink to the end of Hávamál or any of the other tales of Norse mythology, play this drinking game. Drink for anything having to do with a hammer or a fight.
For instance, if an animated character is holding a hammer or a sword and looks ready to start swinging it around, drink. But try not to drink too much or you may get hammered by the time Hávamál ends.
***
The Saga of Gullveig: Play this drinking game to enjoy one of the better stories from Viking lore. It’s about the daughter of a farmer, Gulla, who falls in love with a handsome young warrior named Harald and agrees to marry him. But she wants to see his face before they tie the knot and decides to sneak into the palace and meet the prince.
As she reaches the top of the stairs where Harald awaits, her father comes up behind her, and in front of everyone, tells her that it will be the end of the world as long as she stays with Harald. Her response? “As my mother said, the world is not so dear to me as this boy, and I am sure as soon as I see him I shall find out how to make him mine.”
She gets her to wish. The story ends with Gulla being taken to a hall with a giant fire lit inside it, and Harald standing right over it. When she sees him, she realizes she loves him and throws herself into his arms. Then both are burned alive, and Gulla’s body disappears in a flash of blue light.
The last thing the princess hears from Harald is, “It is as I thought.” So when you’re playing this drinking game, drink whenever a character drinks or is seen drinking. And for a good laugh, drink anytime a Norse character has an expression like, “Oh no, what have I done?” or “He was such a good kid, why would he do something like that?”
Völundur the Smith (Old Kingdom): You’ll find this drinking game in the Saga of Eiríkr, which tells the tale of how Gudrún’s father was captured and brought back by the king who took him to his court. There he meets a woman named Svana, who is described as beautiful but not as stunning as Gudrún and who is also the only one in the court who doesn’t want to kill him.
She does not like the fact that she can only have him for the length of the king’s attention span. One night, they get drunk and make love. The next morning, when Gudrún finds out what happened, she is outraged and goes to see Svana and her husband, Völundur.
She asks them how a man who could make such powerful weapons and armor ended up sleeping with her father. They tell her they have always wanted to know what happens between men and women. So the girls go on a quest to see what really goes on when men and women hook up. You play this game just like you do the Saga of Hávamál but with less fighting and more kissing.
***
So there you have it: seven drinking games based on Viking myth. If you like these, try to come up with some twists to play along with. Maybe you should include some of the monsters from the Fenrir wolf pack instead of humans. Or maybe if you play as many rounds as Odin, the gods will finally take pity on your soul.
And for all of you who are wondering if we included the drinking game based on Ragnarök, let me say this—if there’s one thing Norse myth does not need, it’s another drinking game based on the end of the world.
“The gods have no pity. Not even for your souls.” –Gunnlaug
***
Now we’ll get into an interesting part of Norse mythology—the stories of giants who were turned into monsters by Thor or Loki or something else. The giants were once powerful, immortal creatures.
They fought among themselves, fought each other’s people, and even went so far as to battle Odin himself, and every time they did, Odin got the upper hand and made them his servants. They became known as giants in honor of their size but also because that is how Odin had changed them.
Some say Odin turned them into giants but that they chose to fight for him against his brother and other enemies. There are also versions where Thor turned the giants into giants but only because they were too proud to follow his godly commands.
One giant, in particular, was described as having an arm longer than a horse, and he was called Jörmungandr. This giant has been seen many times over the ages but never fully captured. People saw him at the beginning of the First World War when it looked like the war might end quickly; it’s said he tried to stop the carnage, but then everyone decided to go home, and the giant was forced to stay behind.
In the early 20th century, someone named H. T. Webster wrote about a sighting of Jörmungandr during World War I. He claimed that he was on board a ship near England when he saw this giant’s head appear over the side. He thought it must have fallen overboard, but then he realized what he was seeing: “It was no accident,” he wrote. “There can be no doubt whatever as to its nature.”
The giant had to have been more than six feet tall and was described as having “large eyes and a face that showed a look of horror, yet at the same time seemed strangely calm and collected.” This giant had to have been Jörmungandr because there are other mentions of him, including one story where his arm is caught in the jaws of a whale.
In the Saga of Hávamál, there’s an account of when two giants went hunting in the woods outside of Valhalla, which is how they met Gunnar, who killed one of them with a single stroke of his spear. The other giant, whose name is not given, was furious and vowed revenge.
But in order for him to get it, he would need a new name because his old one had been given to his murderer, and so he asked his companion what he should call himself. His friend suggested the name of Thor’s hammer—Sauðblaði. It was a fitting name for this giant because it is from a place that means “the hammer is in sight.”
We’ve discussed the names of giants over the ages. We know now that many of them were based on actual giants or men who may have been giants but whose stories are not fully recorded. We know that Loki turned them into giants in honor of his trickery and that they did not always like it.
The most famous story that features Jörmungandr is that of the Serpent’s Tongue, but if you’re looking for a drink based on the serpent-tongued giant, try this one instead. The recipe is from a book called A History of Whisky, which contains many recipes by an Irish doctor named John B. Higgins, who was an authority on whisky.
He was known as “The Wizard of Malts” and claimed to be able to create new malts, just as he created new scotches from malted barley.
It’s a good idea to start your night out with this drink and then end it with another one like Gunnar’s Spear (see below), which was made popular after a movie released in 2011 about a Viking hero.
Higgins’ Drink:
One part Jameson Irish whiskey
One part ginger beer
Half an orange twist
Shake the ingredients well and serve in a highball glass. Add soda water to taste.
“When we meet in Valhalla, the drink will be better.” –Gunnar
The End