Introduction

Within the Old Norse corpus of Marian miracles, there is one miracle telling the story about a mistress in a household who is regularly visited by the king and his men. The mistress is described as the king's great friend. She was not wealthy, but she was pious, and she prayed eagerly to Mary. The mistress usually prepared feasts for the king carefully and well in advance, but in one instance she received the message of the king's arrival at short notice. The mistress knew then that she had enough mungáðt (low-alcohol ale) in the cellar, but only one barrel of mjöðr (mead, a beverage made from honey and water), and she realized that they would run out of beverages and the feast could be a failure. She immediately ran to the Marian church nearby, kneeled in front of the altar, and begged the Holy Mary for her assistance. The miracle implies that Mary must have heard the mistress’ prayers; the level of mead in the barrel remained the same throughout the evening, despite the king and his men drinking wholeheartedly. Mary's intervention ensured the feast was a success.

This miracle is one of many examples of Mary's interventions in the preparations for various feasts, or, more specifically, food and drinks in the Middle Ages. From where does this topos derive?