Viking

                     Straps and Trains m the Viking Age: Birka's Female Costume in a New Light Since 1938, when Agnes Geijer presented her theories on female costume in the Viking town of Birka (1), scholars and illustrators have generally worked on the basis of the same elements. The Finnish-Baltic hurstut dress was the model for the reconstruction attempts, and compared with the female figures from the Gotlandic picture-stones and small bronze and silver figures, two main forms of costume reconstruction have resulted (fig. 1). In 1974, Inga Hägg published her doctoral thesis, Kvinnodräkten i Birka, which is a new study of the Birka material seen from the viewpoint of costume history, With this thesis the Birka textiles have in an exemplary manner been made accessible to others for evaluation and possibly new interpretations (2). Fig. 2 shows an attempt at a visual presentation of Inga Hägg's theory, in which the strapped dress, in relation to earlier reconstructions, is completely closed, and two new garments, the tunic and the kaftan, have been added. A common feature of all the reconstructions is the idea of the shift as a long train-like garment. Most scholars, including I. Hägg, (3) have found support of this idea in their interpretation of the contemporary illustrations. Fig. 3 reproduces the best known, and, in this connection, most significant figurative representations. Clearly, all the figures, except for f, bear a train, but the train seems to be formed of different garments. The figures d and g show unbroken lines from the front of the woman and to the back in a train. Only a little triangle of the undergarment remains visible in front. On top of these two garments, a sort of shirt is worn. In fig. e, the lines leading to the back are interrupted in the train with a hanging length of cloth in front. In fig. f, h, and i, the train hangs down from the shoulder area and not from the front of the woman, as for the figures mentioned earlier. The silver figure f clearly shows a shoulder train, in front of which hangs a length of cloth, and an undergarment may be discerned. In fig. h and i, there is a train which, especially in i, is clearly worn on top of another garment with ornamental borders (see fig. 4). In both cases, and seemingly also in c, a garment hangs down in front, but is not as long as the train. Finally, on the front of the gold game-piece, fig. j, there is a hanging garment (4). These examples show that the normal interpretation, with the long trailing shift, can at the most find support in fig. d and e, which are dated to the 8th century. Not one of the figures provides proof for the type of reconstruction showing a strapped gown with an opening in one side. Fig. f clearly shows a rear part which extends higher up the back than a strapped gown would do; the front and the train of fig. h and i vary in length, which invalidates the idea that the two pieces belong together as one garment. It is also worth­while remarking that there seem to be two different types of trains: first, d, e, and g, which are fastened at same place on the woman's breast, and which open in front at the bottom when she walks; second, f,h, and i, which hang freely from the shoulders. These differences from the usual reconstructions provided the impetus to seek other possible reconstructions of the Viking Age strapped gown (5). Inga Hägg's treatise forms the basis for the analysis in connection with a new theory, and certain published finds, from Vernes, Norway, Barshalder, Sweden, and Kjuloholm, Finland, have also been taken into consideration. THE STRAPS The tortoise-shaped fibulae m the women's graves of Birka contain well-preserved fragments of the straps which held up the gown or gowns. As apparent in fig. 5 a-b, the lower straps come from the garments at the wearer's front. In cases where the cloth from the upper edge of the gown has been preserved, it is usually placed within the edge of the fibula. The fragments of straps at the top of the tortoise-shape fibulae usually extend all the way to the edge of the fibula and probably fastened one or more garments at the woman's back. The straps were primarily intended to hold up the garments, but certain straps, which at the bottom extend all the way to the edge of the fibula, or which are of a different material, may be interpreted as bands from which scissors, knives, and keys were hung. Formerly, only two strap combinations were considered, namely: one strap below and above; and two straps below and above. Inga Hägg, who also considers only these two combinations, attributes the uneven number of straps to poor conditions of preservation. Study of all the data from the graves with tortoiseshaped fibulae resulted in the identification of four strap combinations, as shown by fig. 5 b and the diagrams in fig. 6 (6). With this categorization, we can greatly reduce the number of cases of missing straps in…

This week I take you along a trip, in what appears to be in some respect a sort of the 'Antiques Roadshow' as initiated by the Vikings. The Norsemen weren't any different than us in their desire to hold the past. As the Viking Age is desirable mystery to us, the age of Anglo-Saxon England was captivating their minds in their own way.

This is for sure: the Vikings loved antiquities. It can be seen, per example, on the viking merchant weights.

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The connemara coastline of co. Galrvar, on Ireland's u-est coast, consists of a number of peninsulrrs that are separated br. broad ba1 s or narrouinle'ts ( . In places. rhe coast is fring'ed with san<i-basecl grassrancr, kno*"n as rrtrrchuir, irnd olfshore islands abound, some oln-hich are inhabited. Eramination of a recentlv compiled dirtabase of archaeological finds from Co. Galuar (Gibbons zoo-tr) indicates that the coastal region \ras settled from prehistoric times onlarcls, u'ith a good cleal of \eolithic and Bronze Age mater.iai present. With the adr-ent of Christianitr, small rnonastic sertlements r.r ere founr.lecl throughour this region (Gosling rgg3. Bg-rii), irossiblr on relativelr-unoccupied lancls (Bradler rg88, tr7). There appears to be a relatir.elv lor inciclence of earlrmedier-al stral finds of pre Yiking-Age date lrom the re{ion. other than those associared ri-ith ecclesiastical sites (Gibbons zoo-1). and there is an almosr total absence ofringfbrts that elsethere in the countrv are associatecl rvith earirmedieral settlemenr (_\lcCormick et iri. r996, 84; Gosling r99j, 36--+3). B-r' contrast, there are a number of rnidden sites in r-arious places along the coastline that har-e produced Yiking-Age fincis, in adclition ro others that har-e not vielded anv artelacts but *'hich har-e been ri,rdiocarbon*datecl to the\iiking 3.ge. Such middens occul' ar Evrephort. on omev lsland, arouncl False Bal, Doonlouehan Bar. \lannin Bal-and Ballr conneelv Bar., in the r.icinitr of sl.vne Head and in the Roundstone area-All of the sites share rhe common facror of

Some 40 per cent of Europe is farmed and 47 per cent forested. The future of the majority of Europe's archaeological sites therefore depends on rural land uses that lie outside the spatial planning and development control systems of its various nation states. This volume, produced by the European Association of Archaeologists (EAA) and Europae Archaeologiae Consilium (EAC) Joint Working Group on Farming, Forestry and Rural Land Management, examines the challenges posed by agriculture, forestry and other rural land uses in terms of the long-term conservation of Europe's archaeological sites and the management of its historic landscapes.

This article seeks to explore the significance of weapons in legal rituals mentioned in sources, such as sagas and laws. Similarities in the phrasing of various types of sources give reason to believe that it is possible to determine certain uses of weapons in Viking Age legal rituals. Such rituals, which shared essential features with legal procedure, consisted of sequences of activities involving phrasing, objects, and gestures to mark a transition from one legal status to another, and they could also convey, and act as preservers of, legal meaning. Examples show that oaths were sworn on weapons, and  that they conferred legal validity at the assembly (vápnatak). Old Norse mythology explained and legitimised key values in society, and through it everyday people found a template for how to use weapons in legal rituals. Rituals are however dynamic, and hence the ritual objects may change over time. In the Viking Age weapons were objects laden with meaning, and it was probably the in...

An exposition of the view that the Sceafa or Sceaf (Sheaf) legend, found in Anglo-Saxon chronicles, indicates that the term Viking is derived from the Estonian word vihk, 'sheaf', and the suffix -ing, signifying 'Sheaf's descendants, people, or subjects'.

Throughout history, the Norse people of the Viking Age (commonly referred to as “Vikings”) were known as violent marauders who raided, raped, and pillaged innocent coastal villages throughout Western Europe. While that may be true, they were also an expansive culture that established extensive trade routes, founded a number of cities that still stand today, and explored the North Atlantic further than any other European culture at the time. Few can deny the prowess of the Norse on the seas, but few realize their significant impact on oceanic exploration. The Norse people were accomplished sailors and particularly skilled navigators.

The Viking Age is conventionally seen as a tumultuous time when hordes of fierce warriors from Scandinavia wreaked havoc across the European continent and Norse merchants travelled to distant corners of the world in pursuit of riches. Until recently, archaeologists and textual scholars tended to weave a male-dominated image of this pivotal period in world history, dismissing or substantially downplaying women's roles in Norse society. Today, however, there is ample evidence to suggest that many of the most spectacular achievements of Viking Age Scandinavians would not have been possiblewithout women.

This pioneering and beautifully illustrated monograph provides an in-depth exploration of women's associations with the martial sphere of life in the Viking Age. The motivations and circumstances thatled women to engage in armed conflict or other activities are illuminated and interpreted through an interdisciplinary approach to medieval literature and archaeological evidence from the Viking world. Additional cross-cultural excursions into the lives and legends of female warriors in other past and present cultural milieus - from the Asiatic steppes to the savannas of Africa and European battlefields –lead to a nuanced understanding of the idea of the armed woman and its embodiments in Norse literature, myth and archaeological reality.

This study provides the first evidence for the extraction of lead in the later early medieval period in Lancashire, in the North West of England. Archaeological evidence for human activity in the region during the later medieval period is modest, although the material culture that is known supports the historic accounts of settlement by people of Scandinavian origin, which is reinforced by studies of place names and local dialect. Investigation of two upland sites in the western Pennines, on Anglezarke and Rivington moors, indicates that lead was being extracted in the period c.680-1000 cal.AD, most likely from known veins at Lead Mines Clough. The emergence of extractive activity coincides with contact with the Norse who are known from both historic and archaeological evidence to have been present in Lancashire during the later early medieval period.

KEYWORDS
EARLY MEDIEVAL, LEAD, MINING, MINERAL EXTRACTION, MAGNETIC MEASUREMENT, SATURATION ISOTHERMAL REMANENT MAGNETISATION ASSAY, HEAVY METAL (LEAD) ASSAY, METALLURGY, UPLAND, PEAT, LANCASHIRE, ARCHAEOLOGY, ARCHAEOLOGICAL METHOD, NORSE ARCHAEOLOGY

Lutomiersk is one of the most important early medieval cemeteries in Poland. In the period spanning the late tenth through eleventh centuries AD, over 150 people were buried there with high-status objects, including weapons such as swords, spearheads, axes, and arrowheads, as well as luxurious riding gear. Due to the rich furnishings of the graves and exceptionally vast repertoire of military equipment, for many years this site has been considered to be the final resting place of Rus/Varangian warriors who had come to serve as mercenaries in the retinues of the West Slavic rulers from the Piast dynasty. A fresh look at the evidence provides a new interpretation of this unique cemetery and of the roles the people from Lutomiersk may have played in early medieval Poland.

'This is a superb ancient Viking braided silver bracelet / Oath-ring, dating to the 9th-10th century A.D. It is formed from rods of silver, twisted about each other in a ropework formation, the terminals welded, forming a double spiral decorative element. This type of double spiral can be found on other Viking silver bracelets from Gotland in Sweden see here. This example recovered during dredging work is intact, though parts of the original weld has failed due to the conditions of sediment and machinery, this has been repaired but sadly it is no longer suitable to be worn. This bracelet is a very rare museum grade example, classic Viking workmanship and presence. Such an item would have been a prize piece of jewellery, worn as an 'Oath-Ring', given by a Jarl to brave and worthy subject. The silver likely taken at some stage as booty in raids, used as form of currency in a barter system of exchange. The weight of this bracelet alone would have been the monetary equivalent of at least 42 silver pennies, when 1 penny would have bought you 15 chickens! A wonderful piece of iconic Viking jewellery for the serious collector.' So far for the salesman advertisement ! So.. it got in hands of the serious collector .. A bracelet / arm ring of this braided type I think was a one off chance to aquire for my collection.

This week's blog I address one of the 'key' objects in the Viking Age, the key as a symbol of female status and independancy.

Keys were a symbol of a woman's status in the home and in society. Women would run farms both in the
presence of their husband or while he was away.

Many Viking-age swords bear an inscription on the blade such as VLFBERHT -thought to be a maker's name. It has become evident that some of these were made of crucible steel. In the past much attention has been focused upon one particular type of crucible steel, wootz, and its characteristic surface pattern, indicative of Oriental sword blades of high quality, often called 'Damascus' steel. Crucible steel, however, without any such pattern, was also used for making swords. There is written as well as metallographic evidence of a trade in such steel to western Europe, apparently by the Vikings, and liquid steel was a material familiar to medieval chemists.

During the Viking Age, a number of women’s head adornment accessories were in fashion including scarfs, woven headbands, caps and hoods. In the Norse settlement located at what is now Dublin, Ireland a distinctive hood-styled cap made from a small rectangle folded in half lengthwise and sewn up the back edge was popular. A point at the rear crown of the cap (rather than rounding the rear off to fit to the skull) seems to be unique to Dublin, while similar (rounded) versions have also be found throughout other parts of the British Isles .

This is a study of settlement and society in the parish of Torosay on the Inner Hebridean island of Mull, through the earliest known settlement-names of two of its medieval districts: Forsa and Moloros. The earliest settlement-names, 35 in total, were coined in two languages: Gaelic and Old Norse (hereafter abbreviated to ON). The settlement-toponymy provides irrefutable evidence that ON-speakers settled locally and named their settlements in ON. In subsequent centuries, long after ON ceased to be spoken locally, these ON settlement-names were perpetuated by local Gaelic-speakers. Many of these ON settlement-names are still used locally and are recorded on modern maps; others have fallen out of use. The same can be said of the earliest settlement-names of Gaelic origin. New etymological analysis of the earliest known forms of these settlement-names, considered alongside local pronunciation where available, forms the basis of this thesis. Much of this analysis challenges previous research. A number of the settlement-names have not hitherto been located or been subject to etymological analysis, no previous study having comprehensively engaged with their earliest forms. The earliest known forms are recorded in fiscal evaluation dating to the final decade of the 15th century and, as such, the settlement-names provide a window on the Late Medieval period. The settlement-names also provide an invaluable insight into settlement and society in the Norse period; i.e. the period in which ON was spoken locally. Norse is employed here as both an adjective, as in the Norse period, and a noun, in reference to speakers of ON. Thus, application is broadly to what is now Scandinavia and contemporary inhabitants thereof, as opposed to the more typical modern application of Norse to Norway and its inhabitants. Individual place-name elements employed in ON settlement-names provide an insight into how the local landscape was perceived and utilised agriculturally by these immigrant ON-speakers. In some cases, proposed personal names identify individuals associated with specific settlements. At least one ON settlement-name is likely to provide evidence of the religion of those who coined the name. Syntactic analysis of the Gaelic settlement-names highlights the possibility that some were coined in the Early Medieval period. It also identifies names which are perhaps unlikely to have been coined before the early 10th century. Loan-words borrowed in both directions, i.e. from Gaelic to ON and from ON to Gaelic, are identified and these reveal something of the chronology of individual settlement-names, in addition to providing evidence for language contact. The distribution of ON settlement-names and the fiscal status of settlements bearing ON names can also reveal something of the status of immigrant ON-speakers and the status of local Gaelic-speaking communities. The date of the earliest known forms probably post-dates the period in which these ON names were coined by around six centuries and this clearly allows for significant displacement of settlement-toponymy. However, settlement-names of ON origin apply to both settlements of principal and of relatively low fiscal status and the implication is that there was a significant amount of continuity in settlement-toponymy up to the date of the earliest known fiscal sources. The dearth of contemporary textual sources for the Early Medieval and Norse periods and of local archaeology relating to these periods identifies these settlement-names as invaluable sources of information for contemporary settlement, society and language in the districts of Forsa and Moloros. Part One Chapter 1 sets the research in context in providing geographical, geological, topographical, tenurial, ecclesiastical and fiscal information for the two districts. Chapter 2 comprises a review of previous studies on local settlement-toponymy. Chapter 3 identifies the sources which provide the earliest known forms and outlines the employed methodology. Chapter 4 provides an historical framework and engages with Norse toponymy furth of Mull across Britain and Ireland. Chapter 5 presents discursive analysis addressing the predominant research questions. Chapter 6 presents conclusions. Part Two The place-name survey presents raw spatial data and etymological analysis, where not included in chapter 5, for each of the 35 settlement-names.

Scandinavian amuletS in viking age Poland collectio archaeologica reSSovienSiS tomuS XXXiii collegium editorum Sylwester czopek, michał Parczewski, andrzej Pelisiak, Zbigniew Pianowski, andrzej rozwałka, aleksander Sytnyk, marcin Wołoszyn iSBn 978-83-7667-197-0 Wydawca / Publisher oficyna Wydawnicza "Zimowit" sp. z o.o 35-604 rzeszów, ul. Zimowit 6/5

The paper presents the archaeological evidence for early Viking fortresses in Ireland. The Irish referred to these sites by the term Longphort (plural Longphuirt). In the 9th and 10th centuries the term was used exclusively to describe fortresses which were engaged in raiding and trading activities and which protected Viking fleets. Thirteen sites are discussed in detail including the Longphort phase of Dublin and the newly discovered site of Linn Duachaill, Annagassan, Co. Louth.

A gold object has appeared in Sweden which may provide new information about the Danish Viking king Harald Bluetooth, dead around 986. The gold object is a plaque with text and a cross symbol. Is this a contemporary memorial plaque for the dead king? In that case it is a unique and sensational object. Harald Bluetooth conquered Denmark and introduced Christianity as the state religion in the country. He was mortally wounded in a battle against his son Sweyn Forkbeard and fled to Wolin in northern Poland where he died. The gold object was encountered during excavation work in the medieval church ruins just outside Wolin in the village Wiejkowo.

This paper is being written mainly as a genealogy, but it does also contain much valuable information as to just why such genealogies exist and/or can be reconstructed with the right knowledge of ancient texts. It is also more evidence of the existence of a royal oligarchy which had many branches, so as to cover many geographic locations and peoples. Because we find that the Viking leaders were of ancient royal ancestry, as the rest of those who were in power and either royal or of papal families, we can better understand just why they were able to do what they did and get away with it. They were, doing publicly, what their royal ancestors had been doing (and what other royals of their time were also doing) in secret (See my work on Royal Supremacy).[I] In terms of the Viking history as it was left to us, as 'Vikings', their " history " as Viking raiders began with the attack on Lindisfarne monastery in 793 CE/AD, and ended with the Battle of Stamford Bridge in 1066 CE/AD, when the Vikings were battling the English army, and the English army had successfully repelled them. Another thing to note, is that the Vikings are credited with various things, particularly, the discovery of America. However, there is evidence that their relatives and ancestors had already known of and visited America. And that explains just how it is that they knew where it was and how to get to it, and back. Though I have not yet written much about it (see my paper 'What Claudius Ptolemy Knew'), I have been meaning to write more about ancient world travel and the evidence that there is for it.[II] There are still a lot of people who do not want to even consider that ancient people had traveled around the world.

This paper is a critical review of the Norwegian Viking Olav Haraldsson and his entire Vitae. The true value of the sources is analysed and evaluated, as well as compared to Snorri's narrative from the 13th century whose credibility is verified. The entire legend seems to be a canonical construction - a hagiography - whose purpose was to exalt Olav to a saint. The author of the hagiography of Olav has deliberately adopted the entire course of Thorkil the High's activities in England and subsequently, added Olav’s name instead (of Thorkil’s) to giving him full status as a hero.
Denne artikel er en kritisk granskning af den norske viking Olav Haraldsson og hele hans vitae. Kildernes sandhedsværdi analyseres og vurderes samt sammenholdes med Snorris narrative fra 1200-tallet, hvis troværdighed efterprøves.  Hele legenden virker som en kirkelig konstruktion - en helgenbeskrivelse, hvis formål var at ophøje Olav til helgen, hvor forfatteren af Olavs hagiografi bevidst har adopteret Thorkil den Højes aktiviteter i England og indsat Olavs navn i stedet - for dermed at give ham heltestatus.

A brief look at the origins of the Huldufólk and Álfar of Iceland, along with a parsing out of statistical data on national belief, and an overview of how these beliefs manifest themselves in modern Icelandic culture. Three hypothesis as to why these beliefs persist into present day will be offered.

This paper is a critical review of the early Norse kings of York. The true value of all sources is analysed and evaluated, as well as compared to the hagiography and legend of the 'Historia de Sancta Cuthberta' whose credibility is verified.

The article is a part of the "Les Collections Numismatiques de la Fondation Calvet", annual list of Publications 2018.

The article deals with the seal of Byzantine interpreter Sphen (Spheni), who made translation for Anglo-Saxons. He was patrician. He had a Scandinavian name «Sveinn». We date this seal the last quarter of the eleventh century, or less likely the beginning of the twelfth century.  He was either a native of England, or Scandinavian. It is this cadre of professional interpreters could fixate phonetically accurate Scandinavian and Slavic names in the lists of names in Russian treaty with Byzantium in X century.

In zoor, Donr.rchadh O Corriir.r coll;rborated rvitl.r Jol.rn Sheehan and Steflen Srummann Hansen in reappraising excavatiot.ts conducted bl'M.J. O'Kellv on Beginish Island, Co. Kerry.' The study confirmed the Hiberno-Scandir-ravian character of rhe settlement, first propo.sed b,"-John Bradley,'and concluded that Beginish was a way-station facilitating rnaritime trade bef"veen Cork and Lir.r.rerick, u'irh the inhahitanrs;1so engaging in farming and fishing. Two unexcavared, adjoining, rectangular houses (6 and 7), with u4iich may be associated a soapstone vessel, a rotary whetstone, a bone cylinder and a brouze ringed pin, were identifled as representing a ter.rth-centurv phase of Viking occupation. An excavated house, w'irh a sunken floo5 ramped entrancc and corbelled dry-stone u.all, roofed originally with tirnbers covered with thatch or sods .ra), rvas identified a.s a Hiberno-Sc:rndit-ravian hor-rse of the late eleventh or earlv nvelfth centuries; there u.as a rur-ric inrcriprion on one of its enttarce lintels. Finds from this house included an ivory crucitbn.r.r-headed pin, a bronze disc-headed pin and part of a comb. To demonstrate t.he wider conrexr of the Beginish sertlement, evidence was plesented shor'ving Viking actiyitv along the coast irom Connemara to Vrexford. The Presellt rvork a.ims to build on this important paper bv drar,vir-rg attenrion to furtl-rer archaeological evidence for Viking preserlce and acrivitv alor-rg Ireland's Arlantic coast.