Farming in Vanaheim and Asgard

Auggie

Mongoose
If these peoples do not farm, how do they make the ale they drink so much of? Also, does this mean they've never tasted bread before?

If this has been asked before, please direct me to the thread and I'll shut up :D
 
Oh, I am sure they do some farming in the southern reaches - or else they raid for it. They have to eat somehow. I don't know much about tundra life, so I will have to look into it.
 
Reindeer spam all around!

There must have been a thrall- or peasant- (träll, bonde?) class to work any fields. The warriors wouldn't bother with it.
 
Well you can grow plants in a tundra as long as they don't have long roots. You would probably see mostly grain and what not. I know that Canada and the Soviet Union produce a lot of wheat, not sure what kind, so I'm sure they had wheat. They are also the biggest producers of barely which is the main ingredient of ale.

I tend to equate the Nordhiemer with Saxons since they are an older germanic/scandinvain culture than the viking culture. Plus I don't think Saxons where as great of seaman as te vikings which the Nordheimer aren't really viking raider types by most accounts.

So Nordhiemers would use thralls/slaves to do the labor. They would also have a good legal system too.
 
I think we have to assume that the snowfields on which the battle in Frost Giant's Daughter is fought represent either the mountains on the Aesir Vanir border, or that the battle was fought in winter. It can't always be like that across the land, or you wouldn't have people never mind beer. The Nordheimers are not nomadic savages; they are barbarians, but they have extensive smithying, goldworking and other abilities, since they fight with steel and wear pretty heavy armour. You are probably looking at Scandanavian climates: cold winters, but farmable in summer. There will be a warrior class of thegns who do most of the fighting, and a farmer class of carls who do most of the farming (aided by thralls, no doubt). These class divides will probably be quite fluid though.
 
Well I assume the Nordheimers must do at least some farming and/or sailing since one of their 3 Racial Skills is either Profession (Farmer) or Profession (Sailor). Of course I can't really see the Aesir being sailors since Asgard as almost no "coast" to speak of, though I suppose the Vanir might have some sailing.

As for farming, if every Nordheimer has a bit of skill in farming (as opposed to sailing) then I guess the division of labor can't be entirely straightforward. Some of the warriors must learn at least a bit about farming I would suppose.

As for having tasted bread or even having access to grain for brewing ale... it is always possible that they gain these commodities through raiding their southern neighbors. I get the feeling that much of the Nordheimer's livelihood is based on their success as raiders of other people's foodstuffs & goods.
 
I'd say that farming is probably minimal in those regions, and that most of their food comes from either hunting or raiding. The Nordheimer are essentially the viking races of Conan's world, and from reading the tales of Bran Mak Morn, the two seem like one and the same people.
 
As for farming, if every Nordheimer has a bit of skill in farming (as opposed to sailing) then I guess the division of labor can't be entirely straightforward. Some of the warriors must learn at least a bit about farming I would suppose.

The difference between "Farming" as in planning what crops you want and organising the workforce, and "Farming" as in actually doing the hard manual work is subtle, but in terms of social class, profound :D

I'd say that farming is probably minimal in those regions, and that most of their food comes from either hunting or raiding

You can't hunt beer or grain. And hunting only cultures tend to follow the herds, which precludes possessing anything heavy, like forges. As for raiding... raiding who? Their southern neighbours are the Cimmerians and the Picts, neither of whom are likely sources for armour and agricultural produce. I suppose the eastern Aesir can raid the Hyperboreans, but they don't exactly seem to be a rich bunch. Anyway, you can't carry off enough barrels of beer to keep two entire nations going... the damn things weigh a tun!

I think Scandanavian style farming in the lowland regions is most likely
 
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