Eating Horsemeat - Pagan?

[misterjinglejay]

Just found this:

Taken from Ramblings of a Historical Nature

People living in Anglo-Saxon England were turned off the idea of eating horses once they became Christian as they believed it was ‘pagan’ food, argues a new research paper. Christianity was reintroduced to England at the end of the 6th century and for around 200 years pagan and Christian practices co-existed. However, at the end of the 8th century, a taboo around horsemeat developed due to attempts to standardise Christian beliefs and practices, suggests the paper. It argues that the Romans had viewed the eating of horse flesh as ‘pagan’ and this view was incorporated into the early teachings of the Catholic Church.

Author of the research paper, Kristopher Poole, who completed his PhD at the University of Nottingham, suggests that horses had religious significance as they featured in pre-Christian religions and were linked with various gods in north-west Europe throughout this time, including Odin and Freyr. In Anglo-Saxon belief systems, horses were mythical warrior figures, legendary leaders of the invasion of southern England. These half-man, half-horse figures were believed to be descended from Odin/Woden and claimed to be the ancestors of Anglo-Saxon royal dynasties.

‘Eating horsemeat was rare and this could have made the slaughter and consumption of horses a highly significant act,’ says Poole. ‘Whilst many ‘pagan’ beliefs became integrated into Christian practices in England, the possible veneration and eating of horse seems to have been too much of a challenge to Christian perspectives.’

Being pagan myself, I think MJ had better watch out!

 

[eahotson]

My little dog says there is nothing wrong with a decent bit of horse meat and its a much better use of them than pratting about on their backs!!!! But then again, she says, humans are rather stupid.

 

[Dogrose]

They eat a lot of horse in Iceland and that was the last European country to become Christian, might be true!

 

[fatpiggy]

Horses have always been associated with the upper echelons of society. Mediaeval peasants didn't plough their fields with horses, they used steers which were duly killed and eaten when they reached the end of their working lives. Only the bigwigs had horses, hence iron age and earlier burials of regional kings are often associated with horse skeletons and their families could afford to slaughter them in order to add them to the grave goods. The only aspect of Christianity influencing things that I can think of might be not eating donkeys since Christ rode to his doom on the back of one. Doesn't stop the Med countries making them into salami these days though.

 

[Shysmum]

Pagan/ Wiccan goddess Epona / Rhiannon would have something to say about it, I am pretty sure of that

 

[MerrySherryRider]

Horse Meat was always the food of the poor, eaten in times of hunger. It doesn't have the same quality as beef.

The papacy did ban their missionaries from eating horse meat in the 8th century because it was associated with pagan rituals.

IHowever, if you look at the countries today where horse meat is eaten, they are largely but not exclusively, Catholic countries, although, with increasing prosperity, since the French Revolution, eating horse in France is on the decline.

 

[Oberon]

I suspect the consumption of horse came from Norman and Germanic influence originally.

Bearing in mind Paganism was the fundamental religion prior to Christianity colonising the world as a form of social control - dictating what we ate was merely an extension of that control.