11 Mythological Figures Associated With Beer

Beer is one of the world's oldest drinks, a delicious byproduct of the grains that built civilization itself. Brewers in ancient Mesopotamia are believed to have begun fermenting grains as early as 10,000 years ago; for that reason, beer is associated with many ancient myths, particularly stories that involve agricultural deities and gods of the harvest. Beer is frequently mentioned in the world's first ancient epic, the "Epic of Gilgamesh," and it has often been offered up by generous divine beings in national myths from across the world.

In Northern and Western Europe in particular, beer-drinking culture was once pervasive, playing a pleasurable part in the lives of ancient warriors, drunken monks, and ordinary peasants alike. Unsurprisingly many magical stories have been attached to the drink's potent effects, and beer appears as a sort of divine potion in both Celtic and Norse mythology. Those who love beer know that it is a blessing — and this luscious liquid has often been associated with miracle workers, stories of great reward, and heroes of old.

Sucellus is one of many Gaulish deities who survived into the Roman Period. He was a god of the underworld and could usually be seen wearing a wolfskin and holding what looks like a hammer. According to Max Nelson's "The Barbarian's Beverage," he has also been identified as a god of beer.

Succellus can often be found carrying a drinking vessel called an olla, and barrels appear to have been part of his iconography. Scholars seem to agree on the fact that the Gauls invented barrels and pioneered the art of barrel making. And, according to "The History of Food," by beer was the reason for the invention. As a deity of Gaul's pantheon, it stands to reason Sucellus' barrels were of the beer variety. 

To keep the dead satiated, beer was the drink of the underworld. But Sucellus didn't just serve the dead, he was also father of mankind — and his barrels of brew were also an elixir for the living, bringing about that high life, as it were. So it's no surprise Succellus' association with beer has continued into the present — today the North Sound Brewing company has produced its very own Sucellus beer in the god's honor; the label is replete with an image of the deity, carrying his signature keg.

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For the characters of the world's oldest epic poem, the "Epic of Gilgamesh," beer was both a soothing draught and a symbol of civilization itself. Written in ancient Sumer approximately 4,000 years ago, the story concerns the travails of the King of Uruk, Gilgamesh, and his wild-man companion Enkidu.

Civilization and the wild are key themes in the epic, and some of the story concerns Gilgamesh's quest to tame his friend, the hairy savage Enkidu, who is not initially fit to walk the streets of Uruk with early man's urbane agriculturists. Ultimately, Enkidu's spirit is calmed by the fairer sex (a priestess named Shamat), and by the two greatest fruits of early agricultural society: bread and beer. In tablet II of the "Epic of Gilgamesh," Enkidu is plied with seven jugs of beer in an effort to clean him up to look more human. 

Beer is used as a motif for a second time in the story when Gilgamesh is lost in a philosophical quagmire at the edge of the world. While there, he meets the mysterious Siduri, a beer goddess who runs a tavern on the edge of the ocean. The wise beer-giving deity advises Gilgamesh to get back to enjoying his life (and presumably his beer), rather than chasing immortality on his fruitless quest.

King Gambrinus is the legendary inventor of beer from Northern Europe whose image has been used to decorate breweries around the world. Beer Advocate magazine asserts that he may even be based on a real person — a 13th-century duke named Jan Primus, whose family controlled Brabant and Flanders in the Middle Ages. While the beer-guzzling duke obviously did not actually invent beer, he was heavily involved with the local brewer's gild and had a reputation for heavy drinking. Craft Beer & Brewing magazine on the other hand argues Gambrinus may also be based on Jean sans Peur, the man responsible for adding hops to beer. Meanwhile, the Germans have often claimed Gambrinus for themselves, asserting he was a member of the ancient German Gambrivnii tribe, or possibly one of 12 mythical kings from ancient Germany (via Restore the King).

Whoever he originally was, King Gambrinus became an entirely mythical figure associated with many silly beer legends. According to one story, Gambrinus learned to brew beer from the devil himself, while the Bavarian text, the "Annales Bajorum," claims Gambrinus was taught to make it by the Egyptian goddess Isis.

Those looking to celebrate the king of beer will find there are more than a few 19th-century songs and poems about him, including James Henry's "Beerdrinker's Song."

John Barleycorn is a hero from British folklore who represents the living embodiment of the harvest and the beer and whiskey the harvest creates. He is the subject of many folk songs, from Elizabethan times up to the 19th century. It is thought that his origins may stretch back even further than this and that his story may have arisen from some sort of pre-Christian spirit or deity associated with agriculture.

According to legend, John Barleycorn is subject to the cycles of nature and is usually in some kind of danger and eventually dies. Humans are typically not kind to John Barleycorn, despite the gifts he bestows on them. In the classic text "The Arraigning and Indicting of Sir John Barleycorn," the author laments: "His name is Sir John Barleycorn/who makes both beer and bread/What would do all that now are born/if Barleycorn was dead?"

Despite his troubles, this anthropomorphic heap of barley is nonetheless capable of a kind of beery immortality. In the version of the song created by Robert Burns, the poet tells us of John Barleycorn's death at the hands of literal grim reapers — but he goes on to celebrate his glorious afterlife as some form of alcoholic drink: "They wasted o'er a scorching flame/the marrow of his bones/but a miller us'd him worst of all/for he crush'd him between two stones/And they hae taen his very hero blood/and drank it round and round/and still the more and more they drank/their joy did more abound" (via Learn Religions).

In ancient Sumer beer was so loved that the ancients included Ninkasi, the goddess of beer, in their pantheon of gods. Beer in general was a very important drink to the various cultures of ancient Mesopotamia, although the substance they drank wouldn't be recognized as beer today due to its lumpy consistency — the brew often had bread floating in the mix and had to be drunk with a straw.

Sumerian priestesses of Ninkasi doubled as brewers, and beer was closely associated with divinity, appearing in many early myths as a drink of the gods. We know a little bit about the goddess herself thanks to a hymn dedicated to her from around 1800 B.C.E. that celebrates her beery magic. It's not only a song of praise, but it also gives detailed brewing instructions, which have aided archaeologists wishing to discover the drinking habits of the ancients. The poem describes the mixing of bread (bappir) into the drink: "You are the one who handles the dough [and] with a big shovel/Mixing in a pit, the bappir with sweet aromatics ..." (via World History Encyclopedia). According to Beer Advocate magazine, using the poem as a guide, a brewer from the Anchor Brewing Company actually managed to recreate the beer with the help of university lecturer, Soloman Katz, in the 1990s.