Wassail! A Multilingual and Multivariate History of the Medieval Drink Salutation and its Related Customs

It is often suggested that the “waking up” of fruit trees with a toast of wassail! around the winter solstice is likely to be a very old tradition with pagan roots, and folk histories of wassailing's pre-Christian origins as well as the performative allure of ritualistically shouting a medieval drink salutation have inspired multiple resurgences in modern Britain (and further abroad), most recently at the moment of my writing.1 Scholarly attention, however, has not quite matched perennial folk enthusiasm, and the origins and medieval contexts for wassail! remain largely unelaborated, as a wintertime custom, but also when it comes to the now defunct and uniquely medieval use of wassail! as a less specially occasional, more general drink salutation (that is, not just for wintertime festivities). Likewise, while social drinking is frequently associated with the Middle Ages in popular representations and often mentioned in academic discussions (usually as a brief aside to treatments of food), there has yet to be much real consideration of what the words and customs were (that is, how medieval social drinking worked, pragmatically speaking); and, as wassailing is the most frequent social drinking custom to appear in medieval English sources, a full discussion of its origins and contexts of use offers insights into a significant area of medieval culture, in addition to revealing ways in which that culture relates to modern folk traditions.Consideration of wassail!’s linguistic origins and subsequent development have for the most part been limited to brief etymological footnotes, tucked away in editions of medieval texts containing examples of the form, where it is variously suggested to derive from an Old English general salutation wes þu hal (literally “be you whole!” in the sense of “in good health”) and/or a proposed but unattested Anglo-Norse cognate *ves heill. The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) entry for “wassail, n.” suggests that “it seems probable that this that is, drink-specific use arose among the Danish-speaking inhabitants of England . . . But neither in Old English nor in Old Norse, nor indeed in any Germanic language, has any trace been found of the use as drinking formulas, of the phrases represented by wassail and drinkhail.”2 Furthermore and in conjunction with the OED, all previous, more extended studies of medieval wassailing culture have taken Geoffrey of Monmouth's twelfth-century use of wassail! and drinkhail! as their first occurences and subsequently as a point of departure for discussing wassail!’s literary-cultural significance and ostensible Englishness in post-Conquest (con)texts.3In this study I will highlight OE examples that predate the previously stated first occurences by hundreds of years, firmly placing wassailing in a pre-Conquest context. Furthermore, whereas it has always been assumed that references to wassailing in French texts derive from an English borrowing, I will more thoroughly consider the Old Norse and French-language sources to argue for an etymologically distinct, pragmatically analogous Old Norse form (*wær sæl “be happy” >> warseil!) that appears to have been borrowed into the Neustrian (later Norman) French dialect due to contact with in the and the of and subsequent contact with wassailing in to the linguistic and while also of wassail! as English uniquely of It also significance to the and customs of social drinking as of medieval and into of and social how and in what contexts of use the OE wes þu hal and into the drink salutation to what the English form to contact and in Old Norse as well as and what were the likely in wassail!’s to wintertime folk at the of the Middle to I will previously in Old English Old Norse Old French and of wassail! to a of in but I will what sources at of this also relates to often as a to wassail! in English is the form, which has always the in social drinking and also in of the wassail! is mentioned drinkhail! but not a study of in and drinking as an area of for my is from the of that is, the study of as it (and in contexts of the I will be the more linguistic form of a drink whereas also as well as I will be in to and and my discussion also from and and social for the first of my study is which is a to in that the of for But whereas the in to >> as a in modern the in pragmatically as and be with you >> >> the of in contexts be with in contexts in which its is not much as a but to a which more as the form in a often in a from the be with you and wassail! wes þu will be to the first of this study in for a of linguistic and that wes þu an that as a to the drink salutation wassail! in the OE of the form seems to have with contact with Old and in with that I will also consider the contact that to in which in into with English wassailing the of The of this study relates to the contexts and of wassail! of as represented in post-Conquest the of its use and to wintertime by the of the will in the medieval but more with the of a of OE examples of wassail! in discussions of the drink salutation is in part to the of for as a of OE But while it appear in any more contexts of OE there is a in the of a of now in have been in but to in with the there from by to with of departure to from England around The is now in where and . . . in a that is to the in the have been by the of but and of what more it is to as much as . and drinkhail! that were not and . were is for that will be as in as is when it comes to The in conjunction with of which a associated with the of the as in the of by as the in the to OE drink not be as a of the part of the (and for a drink The at the of the as a the part of the with to the of Furthermore, there an in the this suggests a of which relates to a discussion the significance of in the of But discussing contact first consider the OE wes þu hal from which wassail! OE hal is cognate with well as and and its sense is the in more that to of and to the Dictionary of Old English in OE be hal of in the sense of from but also in the sense of in in the in to of an a that also with hal in wes þu hal be as “be with a of of the of examples from the OE phrases with a hal with most the form of the with as in the of (that is, as less with as in the OE of which þu be from with the of that is, þu in a as well as in OE to the a of in of from a of the with the form, wes þu wes in contexts more likely to of OE that is, in OE texts not from where the is in in the examples from and the is in wes þu hal hal wes þu in but there examples of the more general salutation with the have in and it is likely that in the OE the have been more often in for drink and be you and be you The have been in the more also for of to and/or in point seems consider that the þu often in conjunction with a and/or that wassail! from a form in OE that is, wes hal >> as the form from as a more general to an drink salutation in an of of the Furthermore, that there in OE a wes þu hal wes this the contexts in which wassail! social in I will to this as the of the form relates to Anglo-Norse the form of wes þu hal in of and the of the Germanic in is suggested by cognate found in Germanic of the Middle Old for in the that also a of drinking in the the is by with The is also found in Old but most in the at a in the OE which to a with wes þu to in good the of in the of with for the use of is in that the OE likely to pre-Christian in the OE and the in of the texts which the of The of to a pagan and appears to be the as the with wes þu in the of in OE the hal wes þu hal have been by and is suggested when the at a pagan in the in of the in the in the OE when the you with this in is also the that the in the the of the that is mentioned in conjunction with and and medieval English that have been with to be with of of from the in The is of a and the pre-Christian is likely to have more a form of from fruit trees that but also part of that the of the It also be that the of in this is by a you be that is by and and pragmatically to the hal wes þu at the pagan in the in the as it in its is in its to wassailing of and the performative of hal wes a much study of an pagan tradition is into a suggests that English custom of wassailing . . . well be very old it is not the OE as and this of is, I likely to have been the from which The will have in as when to a when and drink in the the of the as a for and social drinking in Germanic culture, it is that with of the of social drinking in an English as well as drink The is of a and the of to what as but my is that the of in to a significant of the and of OE at a of the while the of social drinking and have culture, in an by the the my that not of customs in OE and words in the as of in the of a of the drinking in the first a to as be in the drinking drink to the a to and the of the the in and this it is that custom that drink be the of drinking at the the drink represented as in the drinking is the and with a the first to and with . . . this my . . . in good of with the as as I the drink in any Germanic is with a while words which suggests that a drink salutation by but due to the not the form its pragmatically contexts for wes þu hal not have but due to the and significance of in medieval English culture, there be that this have frequently in conjunction with of as in the as well as with first words the at þu to which with to to the drinking and a is for the and to in an is by the as be that the of wes þu hal is as all in OE while it is in the and as an OE the full in OE texts as and and it seems likely that its use for in a social and/or have to in less not be as a drink salutation but it is to of that is, wes þu hal is the first a drinking well The of the of salutation to the linguistic point that will have to the of wes þu hal to wassail! when this in contexts where drink of the as well as of wes þu hal >> wassail! as a drink salutation to by the post-Conquest is from examples of wassail! that not as and the as a in the which suggests of a the is in a twelfth-century of in but in in of and in the of and and in the of also from the salutation in that to this and wes þu wes þu is not the OE is when the wassail! just mentioned in the of of sources for to the of “be you in the the for in to þu and þu and the that is, and and of wassail! is also in the of for as a in in from and in drink from it is that while post-Conquest sources the and significance of wassail! as a drink of it “be of from the in of form and is to be in as also with be with you >> wassail! been by the of the Middle English it have been in contexts of social drinking the that point in a likely for its the a that have drinking and with all of were at and there be that there have been of drink to that have a drink have been and likely as were the which have of in contexts of social as in the that also in and as and and a of more medieval English and Anglo-Norse to in a Furthermore, linguistic of Norse it is that of at in the which in have a of that is, not just for but also more drinking of is of for as in the development of I in of >> in Britain have a to in as a of found of and the of English and Norse The significance of Norse a for the and cognate with in the sense of but also by of in in a of a full be to a for to pagan is also in OE sources that have been for their and the twelfth-century relates an in which the is to a by a where with drink and my will were to in their with of seems that is also an in sources all the drinking by medieval drink in medieval sources and there phrases wassail! nor there any in modern any Germanic for that The entry for “wassail, n.” to an that is analogous to OE wes þu hal by of of for the The not a for this form, but an from a and for this in as the of examples with from the where as a drink in when offers to and also when offers the to in and the of the examples of the that I of in conjunction with drink in But whereas of (that is, with not in OE and all multiple in the in suggests that with a and the were in the of in wes hal in OE have been to consider that the cognate in the Old of the likely to have been to the OE form in more modern a the form, for the that yet to in the have been the subsequent in the form in the the most likely of contact a in OE further as a drink salutation in a in which the and in wes þu hal >> wassail by the in with also to for the from which wassail is that is, the that in the the of from whereas OE texts also have hal wes The of the in further in that of OE wes the cognate but also as in in and the OE in (and Old English hal whereas Old Norse have a there of hal in the that indeed any of a but Old Norse is in texts as as well as and the of of the wes hal seems there in a the more full and the form in as contact with is likely to have been more and linguistic likely to have to the of it also have been more by of with wes in also argue that Norse is to the of wassailing words in French I will as sæl >> previously the English and French have been the that the derive from with the linguistic of the French a not found in English as in as and which be to English wes not the form of the in The suggested by is an that has been by of and suggests an from a *ves and to with of *ves seems to be the that the French form cognate with the English whereas a more consider the sæl form as borrowed into the Neustrian dialect that into contact with in the and the by from sources is the salutation in sæl you and my from of modern has in the in also a form with the it have been to with the it in but as not and is not a in most likely have this as the the of a for the in French suggests the the for the in of the as well as French that often etymological in Germanic (that is, the Norse suggested by The not in most medieval French however, it in due to of contact with the be by the of this in Old with the for further the that it borrowed into French is the of of of the most with were their with and their by the that were at of and to and at to (and drinking to not in that the to drinking at this point suggests that the and custom been in the of for a from the and in the which of the and the and with the in this contact have been to the of not to with the of with to of at the by of and that social drinking (and drinking that to the of their Furthermore, with drinking customs is in sources, not the which as a to warseil!) and also in but texts from French of is a of to as the which of in The is a to the of a which also also as the of and of which the drinking mentioned by and of English of wassail! as in of The also seems to that an drink salutation and not just a for for it that the of to all at the that drinking to is as to what for drinking to but that the derive from of contact is further suggested by the that sources not any for drinkhail! as the it is English while the of the the that is more in good with for there is of England the English in their be there an in the of the however, there of the as in the of where and in of more at in where as of (and it is the of the English to drink to in sources be due to that is, the and the by the of the French have as cognate with English it be that in pre-Conquest England as also by of contact with Old in the in the the it seems likely that French a form of in from by the in of drink and their customs will have a part in in Geoffrey of Monmouth's popular in the as of of the into the the of of the inspired by in the but in the drink is mentioned the use of any that the that the wes þu hal yet to have been pragmatically as a drink salutation in Geoffrey the form when the first in Britain and the with a full of But as not English to that you and you with a of this wassail! is in in French in and in a English by a wassailing in which offers drink to wassailing in the has previously been taken as the and consideration of examples as texts with the of Britain has been the for the to suggests that the of wassail! in texts by as Geoffrey of and to their their to drinking by with customs and words that in the that of the that have been as be in of the but were likely to have found in this custom which the more a wassailing and to drink and with the is analogous with the in as by but how Geoffrey to wassail! at a of and linguistic which be more consider that likely to have been a of the and well have sense that the custom a of contact in that and have to their this the of a form and custom by less English have been a that Geoffrey in an to an that be to of of how the the words as of to with Englishness and/or the English language, wassailing and it is significant to discussion that all texts of wassail! at the of their that it has been the “it that the custom first to in this to is of the custom of and to this of The sense that and in English is also when an English drinking that the of the of in when in that there a with and with a of the of significance also in of the in the where that the first with wassail! and that the drinkhail! and their is, as with The of also and but whereas that all for the is that the first is by the and the is full is for the to with the for is, when and it suggested by the where it at drinking and from drink it to that the custom is of any of with seems to wassailing more in It also seems significant that a of in an of what is drinking that is, which a the for wes þu hal in OE texts the of the this more general in with my to with the of contexts in the of also be that medieval were likely to have been drinking texts were any the part of there be that more a have been in as a of a pre-Conquest by of a but also quite in to a the of as with a of sense of the wassail! found in the the which a drinking that with drink of the and to is and with wassail! in the how the of a and of how to use have been of have been at twelfth-century is further in of first the by of of containing multiple examples of wassail and the words to The first comes in a where it is not to you But in a to the the of a drinking a the the be examples more to and the social of medieval how be in of the and of drink a with as it not a But more the to which wassail! as as English and/or be that as were to an when drink as also suggested in the of where the of an of revealing when the English origins this from the to with in the that a of the a from an by wassail! while with have English but to it for have been to a less but more in the also less in wassailing what to in where have been by an drinking to to the suggests not to wassail! is by social the of the of but also that the their wassail! be drinkhail! the But a be to with the that from a have been with the wassail! by of and be to it to social but with wassail! from a of English be at a for the the drinkhail! that not in the to wassail! in this its of the and the for the to as the which more relates to the of this as well as to and in contexts of social with all of the that not be to as social and it is likely that wassailing of its linguistic at with the culture of and its of which be the of for of the drink a the of but the performative by words when the toast is and when wassail! the and of the how much drink in that is, more is Furthermore, texts wassailing in multiple and is in as in where in the for the of wassail! from their drinking of wassailing in is in the of the which always as in in the of the when the of a the English at it is not the as English but the of also have been from a for the in that in it not contexts of as in the of the as were English and the of in the that English drinking culture an in the and of as were by English the by the in which English in as and with good but with a for and of for wassailing is a drinking associated with the of The at Oxford in a in with which is of the of drinking in The this is to from the however, has that the has been and it have been that that of the with and to texts in and not wassail! in The that the is the more the which its of is the discussion in wassail!’s in that not the culture, but it is likely from in a of England have linguistic and well into the Middle The is also in its of social with the of which have for wassailing as an that by the of not of the were But this of the as a of to the of a of It is also that the is English in its drinking while when the by the to a of I a of and a while I also have to with the that of the of the the of wassail by the words and by the words in the of the by and the social the less to the and of texts and have to a frequently as to social drinking a whereas wassail! as the and it as with that the of Englishness of from English and “in wassail the first entry of Englishness into the of a more inspired moment to with the of that have been by the of is of the were by medieval and appear in of the the that of the of and/or to wassail! have been the of in wassailing whereas frequently as of drinking in more as at as of their in medieval of also in and wassailing to an found in a of the much in the to with the into the as a with a and the of the with this containing is from an English that suggests have . . . not much for as for and more the the of texts seems to a . . . of and their and to in the in in much wassail! as an drink salutation in English is to but in the English and the of drink the of the Middle Ages have the in wassailing an of the an with a were likely in of its and contexts of but of is the study in that for more of wassail! in the Middle The examples of wassail! represented as a drink is, not to the of all from the examples as in modern as in of the when a drinking and how [that is, a and an in this that when to an the wassail and that the use of to seems significant medieval examples that with to the and is wassail! mentioned in any of the and texts English which often the of drink at the while its more general into it is also that wassail! in more of social drinking that also were in the medieval in the and wassailing around The tradition of wassailing fruit trees that into the seems to have been a tradition that have been to and less likely to be in sources the modern the and drink salutation in form in of England for a in the first in the OE and the in the it seems probable that the of wintertime wassailing by medieval culture to and inspired by the old in folk of the examples of wassailing is from the of where of and of the and and in of the in England is from a which with I to you all not The to in the have been a of wassail at a is first in for the of the of in where the of the is with of in the Middle Ages as of the of when have been more and of an for in what be as and Furthermore, there were wintertime folk with pagan roots, to with and of and which have to the for wassailing at that of less of wassail! to have more general social and in the medieval of as well as its to what for has much to the and of medieval social drinking and its and significance for and in Norse, and French contact the of the Middle however, there likely to have been an of in with an wassail! and the more contexts around in a to a of good a that at of there a sense that in the where to a to a a sense to the of associated with an of have in and from the of the in But any of be at when the salutation associated with wassail and of wassail! were in and as to be in in