A trencher (from

Old French Old French (, , ; ) was the language spoken in most of the northern half of France approximately between the late 8th -4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk of the beginnings of French, that is, when it wa ...

''trancher'' 'to cut') is a type of tableware, commonly used in medieval cuisine. A trencher was originally a flat round of (usually staling, stale) bread used as a Plate (dishware), plate, upon which the food could be placed to eat. At the end of the meal, the trencher could be eaten with sauce, but could also be given as

alms Alms (, ) are money, food, or other material goods donated to people living in poverty. Providing alms is often considered an act of Charity (practice), charity. The act of providing alms is called almsgiving. Etymology The word ''alms'' come ...

to the poor. Later the trencher evolved into a small plate of metal or wood, typically circular and completely flat, without the lip or raised edge of a plate. Trenchers of this type are still used, typically for serving food that does not involve liquid; for example, the cheeseboard.

In language

An individual salt dish or squat open salt cellar placed near a trencher was called a "trencher salt". A "trencherman" is a person devoted to eating and drinking, often to excess; one with a hearty appetite, a

gourmand A gourmand is a person who takes great pleasure and interest in consuming particularly good food and drink. ''Gourmand'' originally referred to a person who was "a glutton for food and drink", a person who eats and drinks excessively. Etymolo ...

. A secondary use, generally archaic, is one who frequents another's table, in essence a pilferer of another's food. A "trencher-fed pack" is a pack of foxhounds or harriers in which the hounds are kept individually by hunt members and only assembled as a pack to hunt. Usually, a pack of hounds are maintained together as a pack in kennels.

Literature

In Virgil's ''

Aeneid The ''Aeneid'' ( ; or ) is a Latin Epic poetry, epic poem that tells the legendary story of Aeneas, a Troy, Trojan who fled the Trojan War#Sack of Troy, fall of Troy and travelled to Italy, where he became the ancestor of the Ancient Rome ...

'', trenchers are the object of a

prophecy In religion, mythology, and fiction, a prophecy is a message that has been communicated to a person (typically called a ''prophet'') by a supernatural entity. Prophecies are a feature of many cultures and belief systems and usually contain di ...

. In bk. 3,

Aeneas In Greco-Roman mythology, Aeneas ( , ; from ) was a Troy, Trojan hero, the son of the Trojan prince Anchises and the Greek goddess Aphrodite (equivalent to the Roman Venus (mythology), Venus). His father was a first cousin of King Priam of Troy ...

recounts to

Dido Dido ( ; , ), also known as Elissa ( , ), was the legendary founder and first queen of the Phoenician city-state of Carthage (located in Tunisia), in 814 BC. In most accounts, she was the queen of the Phoenician city-state of Tyre (located ...

how after a battle between the Trojans and the Harpies, Calaeno, chief of the

Furies The Erinyes ( ; , ), also known as the Eumenides (, the "Gracious ones"), are chthonic goddesses of vengeance in ancient Greek religion and mythology. A formulaic oath in the ''Iliad'' invokes them as "the Erinyes, that under earth take v ...

, prophesied to him (claiming to have the knowledge from Apollo) that he would finally arrive in Italy, but

Never shall you build your promised city Until the injury you did us by this slaughter Has brought you to a hunger so cruel That you gnaw your very tables.

The prophecy is fulfilled in bk. 7, when the Trojans eat the trenchers after a frugal feast. Aeneas' son

Ascanius Ascanius (; Ancient Greek: Ἀσκάνιος) was a Kings of Alba Longa , legendary king of Alba Longa (traditional reign: 1176 BC to 1138 BC) and the son of the Troy, Trojan hero Aeneas and of Creusa of Troy, Creusa, daughter of Priam. He is a ...

jokes that they are so hungry they would have eaten the tables, at which point Aeneas realises that the prophecy has been fulfilled. However, he reattributes the prophecy to his deceased father, Anchises:

I now can tell you, my father Anchises Revealed these secrets to me for he said: "When you have sailed, son, to an unknown shore And, short of food, are driven to eat your tables, Then, weary though you are, hope you are home

This episode is alluded to in

Allen Tate John Orley Allen Tate (November 19, 1899 – February 9, 1979), known professionally as Allen Tate, was an American poet, essayist, social commentator, and poet laureate from 1943 to 1944. Among his best known works are the poems " Ode to th ...

's poem "The Mediterranean", although Tate calls them "plates". ''The Middle Ages, Everyday Life in Medieval Europe'' by Jeffrey L. Singman (Sterling publishers) offers the following observation: "The place setting also included a trencher, a round slice of bread from the bottom or the top of an old loaf, having a hard crust and serving as a plate. After the meal, the sauce-soaked trenchers were probably distributed to servants or the poor. Food was served on platters, commonly one platter to two diners, from which they transferred it to their trenchers."

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

used the term in at least eleven of his plays. The term appears frequently throughout George R.R. Martin's ''

A Song of Ice and Fire ''A Song of Ice and Fire'' is a series of high fantasy novels by the American author George R. R. Martin. Martin began writing the first volume, ''A Game of Thrones'', in 1991, and published it in 1996. Martin, who originally envisioned the ser ...

'' series, such as this excerpt from '' A Dance with Dragons'': "The beer was brown, the bread black, the stew a creamy white. She served it in a trencher hollowed out of a stale loaf."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Trencher (Tableware) Tableware Breads Medieval cuisine

In language

Literature

See also

References