Viking art

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.

I denne artikkelen diskuterer jeg en bestemt gjenstandsgruppe fra vikingtid, nemlig gjenstander som avbilder kvinner som holder et drikkebeger. Disse er vanligvis tolket som valkyrjer. Jeg mener denne tolkningen er for smal, og at disse avbildningene trolig har hatt flere betydningslag. Jeg mener en konnotasjon må ha vært knyttet til herskerinners sosiale funksjoner i drikkeritualer.

Ancient pictures are not random products -they were created for conveying messages! This is especially true in the oral culture of the Viking Age. Here, pictures often occur as Animal Art. The focal point of my work is a special kind of female dress adornment, characterized by a very dramatic design. These 'baroque' shaped brooches are best likened to interactive sculptures that change shape as the viewer changes perspective. They are often cluttered with puzzle pictures, i.e. ambiguous compositions containing many motifs. But due to the limitations of our visual system, our perception oscillates between alternative readings. Within Viking Age studies, puzzle pictures have not yet received wider attention: First, the structure of Animal Art is not consistent with our modern expectations of 'meaningful' visual art. Second, archaeology has traditionally taken a skeptical view on iconographic approaches. It was only recently that we became aware of the possibility that Animal Art might be more than a mere dating resource. -But as research funds are finite, the theoretical turn within our discipline also caused a discontinuity in Scandinavian brooch research. Furthermore, the early postprocessualists approached pictures with a preconceived idea of symbolism that blurred their vision for the polysemic potential of Animal Art. In fact, depending on the individual beholder, the same composition might either work as décor, symbol, narrative, or as multimodal text. In conclusion, much remains to be done in order to do justice to 'baroque' shaped brooches.

Viking Age. Apparantly having had functionated as some kind of stopper, to my knowledge, there isn't a second example known, regarding this type of object. Stylisticallywise the decoration can be addressed as of Hiberno-Norse origin, the Norse-Gaelic. In Ireland, Scotland-including the Hebrids and the Isle of Man-from the 9th to the 12th centuries onwards a hybrid culture of people were living with a Gaelic background besides Norse immigrants-viking, or otherwise. These immigrants settled in these areas and adopted (partly) the culture of the Geal and intermingled via marriage. In-what we now call in hindsight-the Viking Age, these people distinguished themselves in their art outings on artefacts and in behaviour. They were very determined.

Viking Age pictures seldom appear as self-sufficient monuments. More often, they survive as Animal Art on utility goods. The role of the caster gives important clues towards the conditions of ornamental production, as well as the meaning of Animal Art. Did some motifs work as pictograms in the context of Viking Age orality, or do they represent mere nonsense?

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.

In 1950 a collection of finds from Hedeby harbour were published by an amateur in a regional periodical. They have not received much scholarly attention since. Out of the assemblage, only a penannular brooch came as a loan into the collections of the museum at Schloss Gottorf and entered the scientific debate.

One of the finds illustrated in the 1950 article is a small conical bronze boss with an hexagonal basis. The search for comparisons leads into the Rus’ and to Gnёzdovo on the Upper Dnepr. The artefact is part of a small but distinct Eastern and Oriental find horizon in Hedeby that survived in its High Medieval successor,
the town of Schleswig.

A short paper on a looted piece of a Viking-period ship vane (the right half of an animal figure in Ringerike-style) allegedly found in Ukraine in the spring of 2015. A strikingly similar piece, said to have been part of a German collection since the 1990's, was sold on auction later in the same year in England. Pictures of the two pieces are here compared and it is concluded that they are most probably identical.
The current location of the actual piece is unknown to the author.

In the year 795 AD, a band of seagoing Norsemen had the idea of crossing the North Sea's well and ca. 300 km in straight line - to explore the previously unknown new land. This visit had serious consequences for several of the Irish monasteries located on the fleet's itinerary north and southwest of Scotland and further southward along the Irish west coast.

Paganes und Christliches in der Vierbeinerikonographie der schwedischen Runensteine Einführung Der überwiegende Teil der skandinavischen Runensteine der Wikingerzeit stammt aus dem heutigen Schweden. Es handelt sich um etwa 2500 Denkmäler, von denen ungefähr die Hälfte aus der Landschaft Uppland stammt. 1 Diese wikingische Form der Totenmemoria ist ein Phänomen des ausgehenden 10. und insbesondere des 11. Jahrhunderts -einer Zeit des religiösen und politischen Wandels. 2 Mit seiner Taufe im Jahre 1009 herrscht Olof Skötkonung als erster christlicher König über Süd-und Mittelschweden. Mit seinem Bestreben, eine königliche Zentralmacht zu etablieren, geht auch die Christianisierung der Bevölkerung einher. Im Jahr 1014 wird unter Olof Skötkonung in Skara das erste schwedische Bistum gegründet. Auch werden zu jener Zeit in Sigtuna die ersten schwedischen Münzen geprägt, die neben dem Brustbild des Königs das Kreuzzeichen aufweisen. Die frühe christliche Elite des Landes gedenkt ihrer Toten, praktiziert und verbreitet ihren Glauben und bekundet ihren Status, ihre politische und religiöse Zugehörigkeit mit Hilfe von Runensteinen. 3 Gleichwohl existiert zur selben Zeit eine einflussreiche heidnische Opposition in Mittelschweden. Ihr Mittelpunkt ist ein zentrales Heiligtum in Alt-Uppsala, ein Heidentempel, in dem laut Adam von Bremen die Götter Thor, Wodan und Fricco verehrt und sowohl Tier-als auch Menschenopfer dargebracht werden. Erst im Laufe des 12. Jahrhunderts werden

vor3. Einen kritischen Uberblick liefert Lena Thunmark-Nyl6n in ihrem einschlägigen \ü7erk über die \Wikingerzeit Gotlandsa. Bedauerlichervreise sind die Ergebnisse der Grabungen von 1998 bis 2003 fast ausschließlich der Lokalpresse sowie den meist knappen Berichten zu entnehmen, die auf der Internetseite des Projektes (Fröjel Discovery Programme) zur Verfügung gestellt werdens. Jüngst ist in der Zeitschrift'Godändskt Arkiv' ein kleiner Beittag von Ny Björn Gustafsson und Anders Söderberg über die Silberwerkstatt von Fröiel erschienen6. Die Bildsteinhälften befanden sich in Grab 15 des nördlichen Gräberfeldes. Es handelt sich um eine Nord-Süd-odentierte Körperbestattung mit Steinpackung. Unter der Steinpackung wurde die obere Hälfte des Bildsteins aufrecht stehend hinter dem Kopf des Toten angetroffen. Die untere Hälfte der Kalksteinplatte war umgesrürzt und lag mit der Schauseite auf den Füßen des Be statteten. Ursprünglich haben jedoch beide Teile aufrecht mit der Bildfläche nach innen gerichtet gestanden und als Giebelplatten das Kopfbzur. Fußende der Grabkonstruktion markiert. Zusammengesetzt hat der Stein eine Höhe von etsra 145 cm und trägt die für Gotlands späteren Bildsteine typische Schlüsselloch-oder Pilzform. Die maximale Breite im'Wurzelbereich' beträgt rund 90 cm. Der Bildstein ist Sune Lindqvists Gruppe C zuzuweisen, die üblicherweise in das achteT, neuerdings aber in das achte bis zehnteJahrhundert datiert wird8. !(/as das Skelett anbetrifft, so ließ die osteologische Untersuchung auf eine adulte männliche Person schließen. Grabbeigaben waren nicht vothanden. Die Bestattung lässt sich in das zehnteJahrhundert datieren.

I write this blog deliberately in English, enabling everone around the world reading it, as English is a common language. Im am (very) sure I'm not making myself popular raising the subject, but it has to be dome (again) and I will explain why. Sometimes, as a collector, in this case of genuine artefacts from the Viking Age, one encounters the most beautiful objects on the net, for sale.

Satz und Bildbearbeitung: Jürgen Schüller, matthias Bolte Bibliografische information der Deutschen nationalbibliothek. Die Deutsche nationalbibliothek verzeichnet diese Publikation in der Deutschen nationalbibliografie; detaillierte bibliografische Daten sind im internet über <http://dnb.d-nb.de> abrufbar. Alle rechte, auch die des auszugsweisen nachdrucks, insbesondere für Vervielfältigungen, der Einspeisung und Verarbeitung in elektronischen Systemen sowie der photomechanischen Wiedergabe und Übersetzung vorbehalten www.wachholtz-verlag.de Wachholtz Verlag, neumünster 2013 front matter illustration: after l. Sjösvärd/m. Vretemark/H. gustavson, A Vendel warrior from Vallentuna. in: J. P. lamm/ H.-Å nordström (eds.), Vendel Period Studies. transactions of the Boat-grave symposium Stockholm 1981 (Stockholm 1983) 133-150, fig. 5.

PEER REVIEWED
Three-dimensional (3D) laser scanning provides archaeologists with non-destructive analytical tools that can be applied to a variety of questions and artefact types. In this work we explore the utility of 3D modelling as an ‘autopsy’ tool for Viking Age artefacts with complex morphologies. Highly ornate Viking Age brooches from Scandinavia and Russia were digitized with a portable 3D laser scanner, and the resulting 3D models were used in three case studies of artefact reconstruction, tool mark analysis, and motif documentation. The results revealed both strengths and limitations of the laser scanner. 3D-modeling proved to be very well suited for artefact reconstruction, and was also useful for analyses of applied ornament. Because of the resolution limits of the employed laser scanner, the tool mark analysis gave mixed results. Our combined ‘artefact autopsy’ revealed that two circular brooches in the famous Gnyozdovo hoard, Russia, should be regarded as locally made reconstructions of an elder brooch type, once imported from Scandinavia. Furthermore, an iconographic analysis of a grandiose baroque-shaped brooch from Yelets, Russia, identified an anthropomorphic figure with a bird-like body, possibly linking the object to the princely House of Rurik. Overall, 3D-model-based analysis appears to be useful for answering traditional questions in Viking Age artefact studies, and may also inspire novel methodological approaches.

This paper describes the a new methodology for the identification of puzzle pictures, demonstrated with a newly discovered Viking baroque shaped brooch from Vestervang, Denmark. The discussion begins with the mechanisms of image perception and ends in an interpretative perspective on the possible link between the pictorial language of the silver caster and the figurative language of contemporary skalds.

A prática das religiosidades dos povos vikings é um campo obscuro na historiografia brasileira. A esmagadora superioridade de produções esotéricas ofusca e confunde os interessados em conhecer mais sobre esse aspecto cultural. Esta pesquisa busca, através de análises dos monumentos de pedra da Escandinávia, debater e levantar questões acerca das religiosidades do norte da Europa Medieval, como a pluralidade de cultos, relação com a morte e o pós-morte e a cristianização. Atentaremos também para os aspectos sociais, artísticos e geográficos das produções destes monumentos para que a análise não seja incompleta, uma vez que não podemos considerar a fonte fora de seu contexto de criação. Utilizaremos estudos de pesquisadores consagrados da Escandinavística Nacional e Internacional, como Johnni Langer, Birgit Sawyer, Hilda Davidson entre outros. Com isso pretendemos compreender como a religiosidade se apresenta em tais monumentos, além de entender um pouco mais do sistema religioso nórdico.
Palavras-chaves: Religiosidades – Monumentos – Escandinávia

The paper focuses on four crosier fragments, which represent the total survival from the Early Christian period, and which have not all been published together before. The paper is a by-product of the author's PhD thesis which, in reassessing the dates and contexts of a number of Irish artefacts, forced a general reassessment of the metalwork as a whole. The crosiers are closely related to those of pre-Norman Ireland, and demonstrate close contact between the craftsmen of Scotland and the northern half of Ireland. Indeed, the crosier ofSt Fillan and the cast drop from Hoddom point to the possible settling in Scotland of Irish craftsmen. However, the evidence also suggests that the Scottish tradition lagged approximately 50 years behind the Irish and it seems that, if Irish craftsmen indeed settled in Scotland, they continued to work in the manner current at their departure. The crosiers are treated in categories according to their structure and decoration, before being related to Irish examples. Their special interest lies in their coincidence with a stage of development badly represented in Ireland, and their consequent importance in relation to the tradition as a whole. The appendix lists lost Scottish crosiers, which are separately located and mapped, and gives a chronological list of references for each.

Аннотация Статья посвящена подробному анализу стилистических и композиционных особенностей орнамента «бруса с драконами»-деревянной находки из археологической коллекции Древнего Новгорода. Происхождение изобразительного мотива новгородского предмета изучается в контексте развития искусства эпохи викингов, распространенного на территории Британских островов того же времени, в частности, о. Мэн. Изучение произведения новгородского прикладного искусства XI в. позволило проследить развитие домонгольского искусства Древней Руси в контексте искусства эпохи викингов. Ключевые слова: искусство Древней Руси, искусство эпохи викингов, декоративно-прикладное искусство, теория орнамента

Drinking horn finals from the early medieval period are extremely rare. Let aside, those having an outspoken viking (or hybrid Anglo-)Scandinavian style as the example here published. This bronze example had been found near Lincoln in Lincolnshire, England. The, complete, example seemingly having a simple form of decoration and casting, but, and here one recognizes the distinguished, and what it sets it apart from everything else, viking art, once again, zooming in, taking a closer look. The details are of an astonishing quality-and if I might say: force. Looking at the end of the final where one sees an animal face, a slight rotation of it unravels the intimate perspective looking at a wolves head.

This article presents a study of a group of wooden objects of pre-Mongolian Novgorod applied art in the context of the influence of Viking Age art. The main focus is on the development of Novgorod applied art as a lateral branch of Viking Age art. The result of this process was the appearance of so-called “hybrid objects” created under the influence of Scandinavian animal styles, but in isolation from the original artistic tradition. The study is based on the analysis of stylistic features of a group of wooden objects from an archaeological collection of Ancient Novgorod. This group includes objects of everyday life, such as utensils, furniture fragments, decorative details, etc. Complex stylistic analysis is the main method of the study. Through it, it is possible to clearly identify the main stylistic features, as well as to determine the range of artistic objects which were created under the influence of Scandinavian art.

Replica so called 'kubbstol' (original in Swedish National Museum). Reading all kind of sorts of books about Viking Age artefacts, recently I dived into the world of so called miniature objects. Few publications had been dedicated on this kind of objects. Bo Jensen's Viking Age amulets in Scandinavia and Western Europe and Leszek Gardela's Scandinavian amulets in Viking Age Poland the two best known.

On over 130 Swedish rune-stones of the Viking period, a depiction of a quadruped appears beside the memorial inscription. The wild animal is a lion or a wolf that is sometimes bound.Sigmund Oehrlassociates the motif with the binding of the wolf Fenrir and the banishment of the Hellhound by Christ and evaluates it against the background of the expectation of the end of the world and the strategy of missions. For the first time this volume collects, describes and compares pictorial and written sources which illuminate old Germanic conceptions of the binding of animals.

Auf etwa 130 schwedischen Runensteinen der Wikingerzeit taucht neben der Gedenkinschrift ein stilisierter Vierfüßler auf. "Das große Tier" ist meist als christlich-aristokratisches Herrschaftszeichen, als Löwe, Drache oder Greif angesprochen worden. Impressionistische Deutungsvorschläge und differierende Herkunftstheorien prägen die Forschungsgeschichte. Im vorliegenden Band wird das Material erstmals vollständig gesammelt und unter Anwendung des panofskyschen Dreistufenmodells gedeutet. Eine vor-ikonografische Beschreibung der anatomischen Merkmale und Bildkontexte ermöglicht die sichere Bestimmung des Vierbeiners als Raubtier, das in variierenden Graden der Stilisierung, Ausführlichkeit und Qualität in Erscheinung tritt. Vor dem Hintergrund christlich-kontinentaler und -insularer Bildkonventionen wird auf den Runensteinen eine bislang unerkannte Fesselungs- und Bannungsikonografie erschließbar. Auf Grundlage zahlreicher Schrift- und Bildzeugnisse kann der gebannte Runenstein-Vierbeiner sowohl christlich- als auch vorchristlich-mythologischen Vorstellungen - Fenriswolf und Höllenhund - zugeordnet werden. Die Darstellung des gebannten Endzeitdämons korrespondiert mit den zentralen eschatologischen Anliegen der christlichen Runensteine. Christlich-pagane Analogien konnten gezielt funktionalisiert und in den Dienst der Mission gestellt werden. Zudem scheinen die Dämonenbilder im Sinne eines Analogiebildzaubers wirken und gemäß des Exorzismusberichtes des Matthäusevangeliums ihresgleichen abwehren zu sollen: "Satanas Satanam eicit."

Os povos vikings são famosos por sua belicosidade no mundo inteiro. Muitas vezes representados como "bárbaros" nos cinemas, quadrinhos, jogos e literatura, os vikings carregam uma imagem difícil de se associar com a produção artística. Surpreendentemente, os vikings tiveram a arte como um traço bastante forte em sua cultura, abrangendo um amplo leque de materiais e estando presente em todos os espaços da vida viking. Seus diversos estilos, motivos e materiais estão diretamente ligados com os objetivos e o contexto histórico de sua produção, sendo uma alternativa agregadora para os estudos da sociedade viking. Temos como objetivo deste trabalho, apresentar as formas clássicas de divisão dos estilos artísticos da Era Viking (período geralmente compreendido entre 793 e 1066), utilizando-as para analisar os monumentos megalíticos produzidos na Escandinávia quanto as questões políticas, religiosas e históricas do seu povo. Esperamos com este trabalho, trazer ao alcance dos interessados em cultura viking, a oportunidade de conhecer, através de ricas imagens e diálogos com a história, um pouco do vasto campo cultural dessa sociedade que intriga o mundo cristão desde o Século VIII, contribuindo para a desconstrução do estereótipo de selvageria bárbara e para a construção de uma nova imagem dos povos do norte da Europa, com toda a beleza que lhe fora esquecida e que tanto vem fascinando pesquisadores no mundo inteiro.

Official site of session: https://tagdeva.wordpress.com/sessions/Abstract: In the Early Middle Ages (the period from 6th to 12th century) animals accompanied human societies. Birds started every day with a choir of their songs, big mammals were hunted (or bred) for meat and skins, and dogs were kept for protection. Several animal species held important roles during the various pre-Christian rituals, and after the conversion some of them become symbols linked to Christian religion.

The Rejection of Zoomorphic Elements as One of the Important Characteristics of the Borre Style
Development in the Applied Art of Old Russia (by wooden finds from Novgorod the Great)

The article deals with the development of Borre style outside of Scandinavian countries. The Borre ring-chain and
gripping beasts were the most widespread elements of Scandinavian territories, whilst ribbon plates and scale ornament
were popular outside of it. This process is more characteristic for the Baltic area and on the British Isles. Another region of
this art dissemination was the territory of northwest Rus’. The article focuses on the analysis of carved wooden objects from
the archaeological collection from Novgorod the Great. This makes it possible to present the development of Borre style in
the art of the Ancient Rus’. The result is an analysis and attribution of decoration, which allows to attribute some motives to
the category of images created under the influence of the Viking Age art and to trace the development and preservation of
artistic traditions from the 10 th to 13 th centuries.

В статье рассматривается развитие стиля борре за пределами Скандинавии. Если для территории Скандинавии
характерными элементами этого стиля являются скрученные в кольцо цепочки зверей («Borre ring-chain»), фигуры хва-
тающих зверей («gripping beasts»), а также изображение распластанного животного, то за ее пределами наиболее
распространенными элементами данного направления искусства являются не зооморфные мотивы, а его второй ком-
понент — разнообразные цепочки и чешуйчатый декор. Это явление наиболее характерно для побережья Балтийского
моря и Британских островов. Еще одним регионом, имеющим сходные художественные процессы, является территория
северо-запада Руси. Основное внимание в статье уделяется стилистическому анализу декора ряда деревянных резных
предметов археологической коллекции Великого Новгорода. Это дает возможность представить развитие стиля борре
на Руси. Результатом работы является атрибуция происхождения декора, что позволяет отнести ряд изобразительных
мотивов в категорию образов, созданных под влиянием искусства эпохи викингов, а также проследить развитие и со-
хранение изобразительной традиции с X по XIII вв.

The article is devoted to study of Art`s Early Medieval Scandinavia XI-XII centuries. This process is concerning with
transitional from Late Viking Art to early Romanesque. The main focus is on the group of Norwegian wood carving
portals. The system of portals decorum is the result of artistic interaction between late pagan art and art of Christianity.
This process reflected in wooden portals of Norwegian stave churches and others monuments of Scandinavian
wooden, stone sculptures and objects of applied art.

Works of art that belong to the so called ‘Transitional style’ display a combination
of Scandinavian Viking ornaments and European Romanesque stylistic elements.
Many of these transitional monuments (the end of 11th – the first half of 12th century)
give us an opportunity to trace the development of art from the Viking epoch
to the Romanesque. Transition style is a result of the migration of Romanesque
images and stylistic elements into the art of Scandinavian countries. This process
was conditioned by the christianization of Scandinavia during the 11th–12th centuries.
In this article we suggest to look afresh at a few examples of Norwegian wooden
carving portals of medieval stave churches and other examples of monumental
wooden and stone decorated carvings such as capitals, fonts, liturgical furnishing
and metal works from Norway, Sweden and Denmark. The iconographic method
applied to all those images enabled us to discern the main features of Scandinavain
‘Transitional style’.

Naast rijzig geboomte is her vooral heel veel steen in allerlei varieteiten dar de ruimtelijke sfeer van her Domplein in Utrecht domineert. Beeldbepalend op dit centrale stukje Nederland zijn de Domtoren, de Domkerk van Sint Maarten met de belendende pandhof, her monument voor de doden uit de Tweede Wereldoorlog door Corinne Franzen-Heslenfeld, her standbeeld van Jan van Nassau door J. Th. Stracke, en hetAcademiegebouw van de universiteit. Een monumentaal beeldhouwwerk uit de vroege Middeleeuwen dar hier al sinds 1936 staat, valt war minder op.