For its part, the silver brooch is of a type known as a "ball-type thistle brooch". The recently found gold bracelet reinforces this theory. These finds suggest that there may have been some gold working workshop on the island during the Viking Age and that some particularly wealthy people may have lived there. On the Isle of Man, three gold bracelets and a complete gold ingot from that period have been discovered to date. It has been estimated that gold was ten times the price of silver and that this bracelet could have been worth 900 silver coins.Įarly discoveries of Viking gold bracelets on the island include one that is part of the Ballaquayle Treasure (late 10th century), discovered in the town of Douglas in the 1890s, which features a much simpler design. Silver was by far the most common metal for trading and flaunting wealth. Gold jewelry was not very common during the Viking Age. The gold bracelet, undoubtedly the star piece of the hoard, is made of three braided gold rods, with both ends merging into a flat diamond-shaped band that has been decorated with a patterned design. Some amateur metal detectorists discovered on the Isle of Man in the Irish Sea a valuable treasure of gold and silver that was buried in the mid-10th century and found an impressive collection of Viking-era artifacts consisting of a gold bracelet, a massive silver brooch, a silver bangle and other pieces of jewelry, which were buried around 950 AD. A treasure may linger in the earth for centuries if a Viking died in battle or forgot where it was concealed. The term "hoard" refers to an accumulation of buried treasure. Many Viking decorations contained animal imagery, particularly snakes in their twisted forms.Īs there were no banks during Viking times, most people kept their possessions in a hidden location. The Vikings adopted jewelry styles from the countries they visited and adapted them to their own. To secure their shawls, men wore a single brooch on their right shoulder, while women wore one on either shoulder. The less wealthy used bronze, pewter, or the bones of the animals they ate for dinner, while the wealthy used valuable metal and gold. To symbolize their rank, they wore rings, brooches, bracelets, and necklaces. Jewelry was popular with both men and women. Viking jewelry was finely crafted from a variety of materials, including gold and simple animal bones. When making purchases, they literally broke off pieces of the jewelry they were wearing as payment. In fact, they had a name for this: hack silver. If a piece was more valuable than what they were trying to buy, they would break it down into smaller pieces. Mostly they used silver and bronze and kept gold jewelry for the elite. The Vikings made sure that their jewelry was largely made of precious metals - although they also used beads, rocks and stones. It represented the full circle of life, death and rebirth, and it was seen as the center of the cosmos and the connection between the Nine Worlds. The Tree of Life - known as Yggdrasil - came in a close second. The Vikings held his hammer as a kind of religious amulet. Thor was known as the god of thunder and his hammer had the power of lightning. Vikings also loved pendants, the most popular of which was seemingly Mjölnir - or what you may know better as Thor's hammer. Here at Viking Store you will find several pieces of Viking Jewelry in the collection with these special meanings.īecause jewelry was often used as a symbol of wealth, the more beautiful the piece, the richer seemed the person wearing it. Vikings could often be found wearing neck rings, necklaces and bracelets. Warriors even used jewelry to decorate their weapons. Men, on the other hand, wore brooches that were less detailed, necklaces, and especially rings. Women loved to use brooches to hold their clothing together, and their pieces were often quite ornate and fashionable. The pieces they made ranged from simple and understated to extravagant and striking. Just as we wear jewelry today, Vikings wore jewelry as accessories and adornments on their clothing. They were incredibly skilled metalworkers and woodworkers. Viking jewelry often has a distinctive design with references to animals, gods and sacred attributes.Īlthough history may not talk about it much, the Norse people were not just skilled fighters. Viking Jewelry is jewelry with symbolism associated with the ancient Viking peoples.
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