Commonly kneaded with reindeer blood and pierced in the center, Viking bread sounds like a recipe that orcs in a Tolkien novel might have conjured up.

However, the bread did the job of filling hungry stomachs during the harsh Scandinavian winters and traveled well thanks to the Vikings' unlikely storage method.

Think crudely misshapen discs and doughnuts strung through the middle with a twig, twine, or wooden dowel, these flatbreads hung from a clothesline or pole in Scandinavian homes.

This storage method dried the bread out, making it possible to keep it for a long time, and was thought to last through several stages of a person's life.

The food-storage-on-a-stick method also discouraged both pests and pets — Vikings had cats to keep vermin away — from making dinner out of the bread.