essdorn

[Marcus Mummius]

Salve,

I'm wondering how this eating tool (used as a fork) is called in English:



I know it's called essdorn in German.

Does anyone know when it first appeared? Did the Celts use it? The Romans?

Kind regards,

[Carlton Bach]

These things are variously referred to as skewers or eating spikes in English. UNfortunately, all evidence points to them being a modern misinterpretation of various finds stemnming from the reenactment scene. Modern Europeans are not used to eating with their hands and therefore often look for an implement to replace the fork (which we all *know* was not used despite showing up in an eleventh-century manuscript those finds are most likely roasting skewers on which food was served, not eating implements, and the ratio of spit to eyelet is considerably greater.

The other inspirations are the small steel skewers included in hunting knife sets and the (wooden) skewers used in medieval Europe to eat loseyns/lagana/lasagna. UNfortubnately, the fpormer is most likely a 'Swiss Army' style tool while the second is clearly a specialised implement. The most closely related Roman eating tool is the pointy-ended spoon designed for eating snails which needed to be picked out of their shells, again a specialised tool. I am no expert on Celtic archaeology, but I would be very surprised to see these originate there. Certainly the surviving descriptions of Celtic table manners include nothing of the kind, biut the (to Greco-Romans rather intriguing) use of small eating knives.