Sverre Sigurdsson, King of Norway from 1184 to 1202, is remembered as a ruler of bold decisions and turbulent times. His life was immortalised in the Sverris saga, a rare medieval biography that Sverre himself influenced. One of its gripping moments recounts a speech Sverre delivered in 1186, addressing his followers on the dangers of overdrinking—a timeless warning wrapped in medieval drama.
The saga relates that in 1186, German merchants—known in medieval Norway as Southmen—arrived in Bergen with wine to sell. As the drink flowed, chaos ensued. A drunken man leapt into the King’s sitting room and was killed. A fight broke out when a boy refused to sell wine to a group of Norwegians. Not even the King’s arrival could quell the violence.
One day after Sverre’s arrival, the disorder turned deadly:
Two drunken men happened to quarrel—the one a Gest of the King, the other a House-carle. They were about to use their weapons against each other, when Thorolf Rympil, the leader of the Gests, came out of the drinking-room. He had no weapon, but he took the steel cap from his head and struck the House-carle who, with his hand-axe, returned the blow. Then the fight became general, every man using the weapon he had to hand, all being mad with ale.
King Sverre’s Warning
Recognising the destruction caused by these events, King Sverre convened an assembly in Bergen. His speech, both a rebuke and a call to action, highlighted the ruinous effects of overdrinking:
We desire to thank the Englishmen who have come here, bringing wheat and honey, flour and cloth. We desire to thank those who have brought here linen or flax, wax or caldrons. We desire next to make mention of those who have come from the Orkney, Shetland, the Faeroes, or Iceland; all those who have brought here such things as make this land the richer, and we cannot do without. But there are Germans who have come here in great numbers, with large ships intending to carry away butter and dried fish, of which the exportation much impoverishes the land; and they bring wine instead, which people strive to purchase, both my men, townsmen, and merchants. From that purchase much evil and no good has arisen, for many have lost life through it, and some their limbs; some carry marks of disfigurement to the end of their days; others suffer disgrace, being wounded or beaten. Overdrinking is the cause. To those Southmen I feel much ill-will for their voyage here; and if they would preserve their lives or property, let them depart hence; their business has become harmful to us and to our realm.
The Consequences of Overdrinking
King Sverre then detailed the many consequences of excessive drinking, from personal ruin to spiritual downfall. His warnings included the loss of wealth, memory, and honour, as well as the breakdown of health and morality:
Call to mind what overdrinking means, what it produces, and what it destroys. First, to mention its least evil, whoever takes to overdrinking ceases to make money, and the price of overdrinking is the waste and loss of his wealth, until he who was blessed with wealth becomes poor and wretched and needy, if he does not forsake his ways. As the second evil, overdrinking destroys the memory, and makes a man forget all that he is bound to keep in mind. In the third place, it makes a man lust to do all manner of unrighteous deeds; he is not afraid to lay hands wrongfully on money or women. As a fourth evil, overdrinking incites a man to bear nothing, whether word or deed, but to return far more evil than is deserved; and beyond that, it incites him to find means of slandering the innocent.
Another evil follows overdrinking: a man strains his body to the utmost to endure labour, to keep awake until exhausted, to lose blood in every limb. And he will spill his blood until he is ill, and thus destroy all health. When all wealth, health, and reason, too, are destroyed by overdrinking, it incites a man to destroy what is not yet lost, his soul. It incites him to neglect all right conduct and right ordinances, to lust after sins, to forget God and all that is right, and to remember nothing He has done.
Consider now, you men that overdrink: who will most likely seize the soul when your life and drinking-bouts come to an end at the same time? Call to mind how unlike your conduct is to what it should be, for a calm restraint should accompany all things. Warriors in time of peace should be gentle as lambs, but in war dauntless as lions; merchants and yeomen should go about their business, acquiring wealth justly, yet with toil, taking care of it wisely, and bestowing it with liberality. Those who are lowly should be grateful, and each one serve his master with good-will and according to his ability.
Sverre’s speech, delivered over 800 years ago, reflects a universal truth about the perils of overindulgence. While the circumstances may have changed, his warning remains as relevant as ever—overdrinking harms not only the individual but also the community at large.
An English translation of the Sverris saga, titled The Saga of King Sverri of Norway, was completed by J. Sephton and published in London in 1899.
Top Image: Initial ‘V’: a monk-cellarer tasting wine from a barrel whilst filling a jug. British Library MS Sloan 2435 f.44v
Sverre Sigurdsson, King of Norway from 1184 to 1202, is remembered as a ruler of bold decisions and turbulent times. His life was immortalised in the Sverris saga, a rare medieval biography that Sverre himself influenced. One of its gripping moments recounts a speech Sverre delivered in 1186, addressing his followers on the dangers of overdrinking—a timeless warning wrapped in medieval drama.
The saga relates that in 1186, German merchants—known in medieval Norway as Southmen—arrived in Bergen with wine to sell. As the drink flowed, chaos ensued. A drunken man leapt into the King’s sitting room and was killed. A fight broke out when a boy refused to sell wine to a group of Norwegians. Not even the King’s arrival could quell the violence.
One day after Sverre’s arrival, the disorder turned deadly:
Two drunken men happened to quarrel—the one a Gest of the King, the other a House-carle. They were about to use their weapons against each other, when Thorolf Rympil, the leader of the Gests, came out of the drinking-room. He had no weapon, but he took the steel cap from his head and struck the House-carle who, with his hand-axe, returned the blow. Then the fight became general, every man using the weapon he had to hand, all being mad with ale.
King Sverre’s Warning
Recognising the destruction caused by these events, King Sverre convened an assembly in Bergen. His speech, both a rebuke and a call to action, highlighted the ruinous effects of overdrinking:
We desire to thank the Englishmen who have come here, bringing wheat and honey, flour and cloth. We desire to thank those who have brought here linen or flax, wax or caldrons. We desire next to make mention of those who have come from the Orkney, Shetland, the Faeroes, or Iceland; all those who have brought here such things as make this land the richer, and we cannot do without. But there are Germans who have come here in great numbers, with large ships intending to carry away butter and dried fish, of which the exportation much impoverishes the land; and they bring wine instead, which people strive to purchase, both my men, townsmen, and merchants. From that purchase much evil and no good has arisen, for many have lost life through it, and some their limbs; some carry marks of disfigurement to the end of their days; others suffer disgrace, being wounded or beaten. Overdrinking is the cause. To those Southmen I feel much ill-will for their voyage here; and if they would preserve their lives or property, let them depart hence; their business has become harmful to us and to our realm.
The Consequences of Overdrinking
King Sverre then detailed the many consequences of excessive drinking, from personal ruin to spiritual downfall. His warnings included the loss of wealth, memory, and honour, as well as the breakdown of health and morality:
Call to mind what overdrinking means, what it produces, and what it destroys. First, to mention its least evil, whoever takes to overdrinking ceases to make money, and the price of overdrinking is the waste and loss of his wealth, until he who was blessed with wealth becomes poor and wretched and needy, if he does not forsake his ways. As the second evil, overdrinking destroys the memory, and makes a man forget all that he is bound to keep in mind. In the third place, it makes a man lust to do all manner of unrighteous deeds; he is not afraid to lay hands wrongfully on money or women. As a fourth evil, overdrinking incites a man to bear nothing, whether word or deed, but to return far more evil than is deserved; and beyond that, it incites him to find means of slandering the innocent.
Another evil follows overdrinking: a man strains his body to the utmost to endure labour, to keep awake until exhausted, to lose blood in every limb. And he will spill his blood until he is ill, and thus destroy all health. When all wealth, health, and reason, too, are destroyed by overdrinking, it incites a man to destroy what is not yet lost, his soul. It incites him to neglect all right conduct and right ordinances, to lust after sins, to forget God and all that is right, and to remember nothing He has done.
Consider now, you men that overdrink: who will most likely seize the soul when your life and drinking-bouts come to an end at the same time? Call to mind how unlike your conduct is to what it should be, for a calm restraint should accompany all things. Warriors in time of peace should be gentle as lambs, but in war dauntless as lions; merchants and yeomen should go about their business, acquiring wealth justly, yet with toil, taking care of it wisely, and bestowing it with liberality. Those who are lowly should be grateful, and each one serve his master with good-will and according to his ability.
Sverre’s speech, delivered over 800 years ago, reflects a universal truth about the perils of overindulgence. While the circumstances may have changed, his warning remains as relevant as ever—overdrinking harms not only the individual but also the community at large.
An English translation of the Sverris saga, titled The Saga of King Sverri of Norway, was completed by J. Sephton and published in London in 1899.
Top Image: Initial ‘V’: a monk-cellarer tasting wine from a barrel whilst filling a jug. British Library MS Sloan 2435 f.44v
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