Magic Mead and Hamburgers- A Comparison Between Feasting in Anglo-Saxon England and in Donald Trump’s White House
It has happened to us all. Whilst getting ready for a dinner
party, you go to the cupboard to grab the drinks/nibbles/party hats. However, “shock-horror”,
you don’t have them in. This crisis recently faced Donald “god has it really
only been two years” Trump.
Yesterday Trump hosted the Clemson Tigers, the winners of the national college
football championship, for dinner. However, due to the US government shutdown the
White House is currently lacking catering staff. Not wanting to let the American
Football players go hungry, the Donald came up with an idea. Rather than going
into the kitchen himself, he ordered them 300 burgers, alongside pizzas and
chips. That’s right. The US president has taken ideas on governance from the ‘Steamed
Hams’ scene in the Simpsons (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4lnZr022M8).
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| "What if I were to purchase fast food and disguise it as my own cooking. Hohohoho! Delightfully devilish Donald!" |
Though Trump seemed very proud of his creativity, which
ultimately amounted to getting in a takeaway, the use of unorthodox methods to
ensure that the attendees at a feast don’t go hungry is not unique to him. The Life of St. Dunstan, a late
tenth-century narrative that described the titular Saint’s life, claimed an English noble woman called Æthelflæd
faced a similar problem at one of her feasts. She was related to King Æthelstan
of the English (924-39) and consequently often entertained him and his men. Prior to this particular feast, some of the King’s overseers
came to her home to check she had made the appropriate arrangements. Though on the
whole they were happy they did point out one issue: ‘You have all you need to
entertain the King, if your mead doesn’t run out’ ....
 |
| I wonder where this is going …. |
Before long King Æthelstan arrived with a great company of men.
Though things got off to a good start, with the customary prayers and mass,
things began to go wrong when they all sat down to eat. The author, an unknown
writer referred to simply as B, tells
us that after one round the overseers’ prophecy had come true and that all the mead
containers were dry. Thankfully for Æthelflæd, because she had previously prayed
for a good feast, God produced more mead for her. Therefore, ‘though the
waiters went on pouring out drinks all day from horns, goblets, and other
vessels, large and small, as is the custom at royal banquets’, they never ran
out of mead.
 |
| "Whose round is it Dave?" "God’s I think?" |
Whilst saints’ lives contain elements of fiction, they
always feature examples based on real practice too. Their purpose was to get
their subject canonised (made a saint). Therefore, they are a bit like a CV:
slightly bending the truth to demonstrate that the subject is worthy of the
job/sainthood. Consequently, writers like B
were tempted to add in miraculous elements as proof of sanctity/God’s work-
hence refilling mead. However, despite these features, these are political
texts that aim to convince readers that the events described did actually
happen. To do this there must be elements of reality. Whilst we may dismiss the
refilling mead, the concepts and practicalities surrounding Æthelflæd’s feast
likely reflect real Anglo-Saxon beliefs and behaviours.
Feasts are about showing unity and agreement. Sociologists
and anthropologists have noted that the sharing of food is a demonstrative act
that is used in many cultures to establish and maintain bonds between the
feasters. Inviting someone to eat with you, offering them food, and in turn
their decision to accept it, are bonding acts that signal to the outside world
that you are on the same page. To put this in terms of “everyday rituals”, think
about the politics that surround the decision to invite, or not invite, a family
member to Christmas dinner.
 |
| Example of ritualised feasting: colourised |
Anglo-Saxons used large feasts as a way to prove universal support
for political decisions. Several Anglo-Saxon saints’ lives describe how
following a coronation it was customary for the king to feast with all the
leading men of his new realm. Thus, these feasts bonded the nobles with their
new king and showed they supported his succession.
Æthelflæd’s feast suggests that Anglo-Saxons also feared the
consequence of a bad feast. The implication of the source is that if she runs
out of mead the feast’s intended outcome, a good relationship between her and
king, will not be achieved. Rather, failure to provide enough mead would open up questions about how much she actually liked the king, suggesting disunity.
Thus, because feasts are so thoroughly connected with proving unity, any
element that disproves this can completely undermine the ritual: the magic disappears.
To return to Christmas dinner, think how an event designed to suggest good
relations between family members quickly turns into an example of family
division whenever a controversial topic is brought up.
 |
| What sort of topic would cause that you ask? I haven’t a clue .... |
Getting back to Trump, he faced similar issues to Æthelflæd
when he made his decision to order in McDonalds for the football players. Like
her, he knew there were expectations placed on him as a host that he needed to
meet. Like her behaviour, Trump’s was about more than simply food and drink.
Division between Trump and the Democrats over the Federal
budget has caused the US government shutdown. Trump wants $5.7 billion in the
budget for his border wall, which the Democrats, who control the House of
Representatives, are refusing to approve.
Trump has not backed down yet, recently reaching out with an
Oval Office address to the nation to garner public support. His feast with the
footballers was another part of his approach. Feeding the players was a visible
ritual that demonstrated a connection between Trump and a group that can be
described as the ‘non-political class’. Despite the shutdown seemingly
isolating him, a successful feast suggests that he still has a relationship
with the US public.
Perhaps, having mirrored one part of Æthelflæd’s approach he
should utilise another one of her tactics: prayer.
It's now over a year old, and to know that so many people have taken an interest in my research is very humbling.
Best,
J
Bibliography
B, Vita S. Dunstani,
in The Early Lives of St. Dunstan,
eds. by Michael Winterbottom and Michael Lapidge (Oxford: Clarendon Press,
2012), pp. 1-110.
Barrow, Julia, ‘Demonstrative behaviour and political
communication in later Anglo-Saxon England’, Anglo-Saxon England, 36 (2007), pp. 127-150.
Byrhtferth of Ramsey, Vita
S. Oswaldi, in Byrhtferth of Ramsey, ed. and trans by Michael Lapidge
(Oxford, 2009), pp. 1-204.
Kjaer, Lars and Watson, A.J., ‘Feasts and gifts: sharing
food in the middle ages’, Journal of
Medieval History, 37 (2011), pp. 1-5.
Roach, Levi, ‘Hosting the king: hospitality and the royal iter in tenth-century England’, Journal of Medieval History, 37 (2011),
pp. 34-46.
Skinner invites Chalmers on steamed hams’, Youtube, 2 December 2010: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4lnZr022M8
. Accessed 15/01/19.
‘Trump wall; President addresses nation on border ‘crisis’ ‘,
BBC, 9 January 2019: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-46805568
. Accessed 15/01/19.
‘Trump orders '300 burgers' to White House amid shutdown’, BBC, 15 January 2019: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-46873386
. Accessed 15/01/19.
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