Imagine Hrothgar’s mead hall from Beowulf, as if it were a happy place and not at all terrorized by a man-eating troll every night. Serving the best mead the Danes could muster. Hearing the latest gossip and boasts from all over. Meeting new friends and business partners, listening to skalds tell their stories in verse.

Wyrd Leatherworks and Meadery, in Portland, Oregon, is that mead hall for the modern day. Not strictly Norse in its medieval theme (you might hear Lor...