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Did the vikings smoke weed?

I was reading an article about how hemp seeds had been found in the grave of a viking woman in Norway. Do you guys think the vikings knew about the intoxicating effects of weed?
 

Iffy

Nil Illegitimus Carburundum
ICMag Donor
Veteran
Historical Use

Historical Use

Hi Green Wolf,
I have researched this very question for a historical novel and the Chinese warriors used it around 5000 years ago. The Shahansha's mighty Persian army consumed it before battle, as did the Celts, the Turks, Carthaginians etc. In fact it is hard to conceive that any ancient race would have been ignorant of the medicinal properties of our wonderful Mary Jane.

Peace and happy growing!
regards,
Iffy :tiphat:
 

Iffy

Nil Illegitimus Carburundum
ICMag Donor
Veteran
i doubt it would be for smoking, you wouldn't want to smoke hemp. They certainly liked a drink.

Probably grew and used it for ropes and clothes

Yes Hemp was used for centuries and definitely used for all manner of clothing, rope, string etc but it would have been strange for them not to have discovered what the females produced over those many years and as it was grown so widely. There is evidence of many ancient warriors smoking 'hemp' but I agree with you, it wouldn't have been the fibrous stuff used for everyday items. I believe they could well have developed a medicine from the females and may even have selected and bred certain strains for this purpose. So much ancient knowledge was lost to us, especially the Romano/British texts lost in the chaos which followed their departure and I find it hard to believe they were ignorant of cannabis resin but I'm only guessing :biggrin:

Peace and happy growing!
Regards,
Iffy :tiphat:
 
Yes, i too think that they have to have known about the medicinal and intoxicating effects. Although it is not mentioned in ancient texts such as the Voluspa.

They figured out how to eat a poisonous shark by leeching it in urine so it would be strange if they didnt infuse mead with something as fragrant as a few flowers
 
i doubt it would be for smoking, you wouldn't want to smoke hemp. They certainly liked a drink.


Probably grew and used it for ropes and clothes

Female hemp flowers would probably taste pretty good to smoke. But pipes have never been found in viking settlements. So unlesd they used earth pipes they had no idea about smoking
 

Ringodoggie

Well-known member
Premium user
I don't know if they smoked it or not but they had to be high on something probably PCP or Meth.

You put 50 men in a boat the size of my house and have them ROW (OK, a little sailing) across the fucking ocean to North America to go into battle with a hard on.

If it was pot they were smoking..... I want that strain. LOL

Vikings were totally awesome.

Some of the best dressed warriors in history.
 
You have to just assume that yes of course they were smoking it. one of their most important Commodities was hemp rope to use for their sails, ships , clothes. And many varieties of hemp are very flavorful , very fragrant. And I have smoked hemp, a landrace variety located off of Highway K in the state of Missouri, that gave you a great little uplifting happy Buzz for about 20 minutes the first time you smoked it.
 
W

Water-

A 6th century statue of the Buddha manufactured in Kashmir on the India/Pakistan border was found in a Viking grave near Stockholm.

I'm sure if they had access to Buddha statue than they also had access to herb or hash from traders moving stuff across from Asia

The vikings traveled deep inland on rivers into eastern europe, founding Moscow and actually are the Rus people that Russia is named after.
 
A 6th century statue of the Buddha manufactured in Kashmir on the India/Pakistan border was found in a Viking grave near Stockholm.

I'm sure if they had access to Buddha statue than they also had access to herb or hash from traders moving stuff across from Asia

The vikings traveled deep inland on rivers into eastern europe, founding Moscow and actually are the Rus people that Russia is named after.

Yes, that is all true. The name Rus comes from the area north of Stockholm called Roslagen and means something alobg the lines of rowing
 

troutman

Seed Whore
I know Vikings like Goat Titty Beer. :biggrin:


vikingbeerfromgoat%20via%20C%20Bahm.jpg
 

therevverend

Well-known member
Veteran
The answer is no the Vikings didn't smoke anything. Smoking tech was a New World thing (and maybe, possibly, an African thing) brought back to Europe by the Spanish along with tobacco.
Of course the Vikings came in contact with the Inuit but eskimos don't grow tobacco.
The Vikings grew and used cannabis for textiles. To waterproof and fix holes in their ships, to make rope and clothing.
Did the Vikings use cannabis for shamanistic purposes or to get high? There isn't any direct evidence. But they had settled in Britain by 1000 CE where the local peasants were baking mind-altering bread. 'Poppies, hemp, and darnel were scavanged, dried, and ground up to produce a medieval hash brownie known as 'crazy bread.'' (Cannabis: Evolution and Ethnobotany by Robert C. Clarke and Mark D. Merlin)
Maybe Viking farmers made a similar product but it would have been made from hemp not psychoactive drug cannabis. There isn't evidence they were manufacturing or trading in Hashish or that drug cannabis use was an important part of their culture.
 
W

Water-

There may not be evidence that they were trading or using it but they certainly were in contact with cultures that used it.
I'd be highly surprised if there was never a viking age Scandinavian that did not try it at some point.



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volga_trade_route

The Volga trade route was established by the Varangians (Vikings) who settled in Northwestern Russia in the early 9th century. About 10 km (6 mi) south of the Volkhov River entry into Lake Ladoga, they established a settlement called Ladoga (Old Norse: Aldeigjuborg).[1] Archaeological evidence suggests Rus trading activities along the Volga trade route as early as the end of the 8th century. The earliest and the richest finds of Arabic coins in Europe were discovered on the territory of present-day Russia, particularly along the Volga, at Timerevo in the district of Yaroslavl. A hoard of coins found at Petergof, near Saint Petersburg, contains twenty coins with graffiti in Arabic, Turkic (probably Khazar) runic, Greek, and Old Norse runic, the latter accounting for more than half of the total. These coins include Sassanid, Arab, and Arabo-Sassanid dirhams, the latest of them dated to 804-805.[2] Having examined major finds of Arabic coins in Eastern Europe, Valentin Yanin conclusively demonstrated that the earliest monetary system of early Russia was based on the early type of dirham minted in Africa.[3]
 
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