This month, we are shining the spotlight on our amazing Aged Meads – Urd (1 year aged) and Verdandi (3 year aged).
We look at how, why and wherefores into how they came into being and why we gave them their names. However, these are the last bottles until we move them up at the end of summer. We literally have 12 bottles of Verdandi at the time of sending this newsletter so be quick if you want one! Use the code NORNS24 for £5 off the Products of the Month. The code applies to online orders only. However, you can order to collect from us at the meadery or an event near you.
To celebrate the 7th anniversary of releasing our “Tournament” mead for the Conwy Tournament in June 2017 and also the fact that it is two years since we released the 3 meads that represent the Norns, or Fates – Urd, Verdandi & Skuld – we are presenting these as our Products of the Month.
They embody fate, or Wyrd, and they are the ‘what was’, ‘what is’, and ‘what is to be’. Although they are represented by a Crone (Urd) and a maiden (Verdandi), Skuld is veiled and unknown; the most feared and revered as she holds the future in the book in her hand. What Skuld says, becomes.
The Norns are above the Gods, with both the Aesir and Vanir constantly visiting them and receiving counsel from them.
Die Nornen Urd, Werdanda, Skuld, unter der Welteiche Yggdrasil
The Norns are depicted in this 1882 image by Ludwig Burger (image in Public domain).
In the image, we see the Norns sat upon the roots of Yggdrasil. The Norns constantly pour healing elixir upon it roots, whilst beneath, we have a creature representing Nidhoggr. Nidhoggr spends all his time, eating away at the roots of Yggdrasil in an attempt to bring about Ragnarok. Running around the trunk of The World Tree we have the squirrel Ratatoskr, taking the news that Veðrfölnir has told him, down to Nidhoggr. (Veðrfölnir is portrayed as either an Eagle or a Hawk, we prefer Hawk!)
In this way, we see that the Norns give the counsel to the Gods. The Hawk, sees and hears what is told or foretold by the Norns, to the Gods. The Hawk tells Ratatoskr what he remembers he heard, the squirrel tells Nidhoggr what he thinks he was told. Nidhoggr, displeased with the information he received, continues to chew on the roots in an attempt to cause Yggdrasil to fall and bring about Ragnarok.
This range of Meads started life in 2017, when we created a Mead for the Conwy Tournament. We then used the same Mead as a reward in our Angel Juicer crowdfunder. However, we were left with about 150 litres which didn’t fit within our ranges at that time. So, it got put aside as we continued production. We then repeated the recipe in 2019. This also got left, this time on the Lees (fermentation waste) for a whole 18 months, due to my stint in hospital in 2020. The recipe was repeated again in 2021 as I returned to work after four months recovering. At this time, we realised we had three Meads and, the realisation that there was approximately 2 years between each, brought the idea of a set of three aged meads. The ‘Fates’ had their way and pushed to the forefront – voila! – The Mead Of The Norns was created.
We will continue to produce this range, releasing limited quantities of each batch every two years. By doing so, we will raise the bar of Mead in the UK to its highest level, aging these meads to the ripe old age of 9 years old. As we aren’t quite there yet, we have not given names to the 7 & 9 year old versions, but Ratatoskr and Vedrfolnir are good contenders!