Viking Names
Sandi
Sandi is either a short form for names in Sand- or an original byname from Old Norse sandr ‘sand’. A single instance of Sandi is recorded as a byname in West Scandinavia. It is also recorded in Sweden. Sandi is also the first element in the place-name Saundby, Nottinghamshire.
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Viking Objects
Repton Stone (1989-59/1165)
The Repton Stone, as it is now known, was found in a pit near the eastern window of the Church of St Wystan, Repton, Derbyshire in 1979. It was originally carved on all four faces, but recognisable detail remains only on two of them. The Repton Stone is a section of a sandstone cross shaft carved on one side with a mounted armed figure (Face A), on the other with a monstrous creature eating the heads of two people (Face B). It was broken Face A: A moustachioed armed figure on horseback with sword and shield raised in the air is carved on this face. The horse is very clearly a stallion. Incised decoration, where the design is scratched into the surface, shows that the rider was depicted wearing armour and carrying a second weapon at his waist, perhaps a seax (knife or dagger). The armour was probably intended to be mail although the carving suggests scale. The mounted man appears to be wearing a diadem, suggesting that he was of high rank. He is wearing a pleated tunic under his armour, and has cross-gartered legs. The reins of the horse are looped over his right arm. Elements of the tack are clearly visible. Face B: This face would have been on the side of the cross. The monstrous creature on this face consists of a snake-like body with the face of a human being. The serpent beast appears to be devouring the heads of the two human figures that embrace in front of it. The serpent may be a representation of the Hellmouth devouring souls. The pit the stone was found in probably dates to the eleventh century or early twelfth century. However, the cross was probably much earlier in date, being broken up close to the time it was deposited in the pit. It is probable that the cross was made before the Viking camp in 873/4 because the monastery that stood on this site before the Vikings was not refounded after the Vikings adopted Christianity. The presence of this cross at the site of a Viking camp shows that Repton was an important place before the Vikings made it their temporary abode. This may have been one reason that the Vikings chose Repton for one of their camps, although its proximity to the River Trent would also have been an important factor. The Vikings used waterways to access the interior of the country, so it is not surprising to find their winter camps beside navigable rivers.
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Viking Names
Foremark
Foremark, in the Repton and Gresley Hundred of Derbyshire, is a Scandinavian compound formed from the Old Norse elements forn ‘old’ and verk ‘work’. Thus, ‘old fortification’. The element verk undoubtedly was used in the Danelaw to describe a military or defensive structure; however, the element does not appear to be found in Scandinavian place-names. The place-name corresponds to the Old English place-name type Aldwark ‘old fortification’. One Aldwark is located in the Wirksworth Hundred of Derbyshire, and is situated near The Street, a Roman road, and Portway. Similarly a short distance east of Wall Hill and Foremark are raised earth formations, which perhaps could be the site of the original fortification. Furthermore, Foremark is very close to a known Great Heathen Army winter camp at Repton. Recent work by Dr Catrine Jarman has raised the possibility that Foremark is somehow related to that site, as outlined in a 2019 television programme, Britain’s Viking Graveyard.
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Viking Objects
Sihtric Caoch Silver Penny (CM.34-2000)
A sword and cross type silver penny of Sihtric Caoch (Sihtric Cáech) minted for the Viking kingdom of Northumbria. Sihtric Caoch was the Scandinavian ruler of Dublin from 917-920 CE and subsequently the ruler of Northumbria from 921-927 CE. It is not certain why he left Ireland. The Irish annals state that it was ‘through the grace of God’ and do not elaborate on the politics behind his departure. After the establishment of the Danelaw, some Viking leaders decided to mint their own coins to solidify their legitimacy in the eyes of the local populace. This created a hybrid economy where some members of the Danelaw used bullion and others used coins. This coin was part of a hoard of twelve coins found at Thurcaston between 1992 and 2000. The coins are Anglo-Saxon, Arabic and Viking issues, and show the diverse and wide-ranging contacts between societies at this time. The hoard was probably deposited c.923-925 CE, approximately five years after Leicester had been retaken by Mercia (c.918 CE). They indicate that a bullion economy was still operating in the Danelaw as late as the 920s. This suggests that the reconquest did not manage to institute Anglo-Saxon practices such as a monetary economy immediately.
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Viking Objects
St Alkmund’s Hogback Grave Marker (1996-60-5)
A stone hogback grave marker from St Alkmund’s Church, Derby. The site of St Alkmund’s Church is thought to have been on one of the oldest Christian sites in the area. Excavations on the site have shown that the church was in existence before the ninth century and that the presence of the Great Army in the ninth century seems to have led to a period of neglect and decay, before it was restored following the reconquest of the Danelaw in the tenth century or early eleventh century. Only about half of this hogback grave cover survives. It has the typical bear at the gable end, although the carving is damaged, and an interlaced serpent design within the panels on the side. It is typical of this type of grave cover which is found throughout northern England and into Scotland. They occur in Viking-dominated areas of the country, and appear to be an Anglo-Scandinavian tradition combining elements of pre-Christian and Christian iconography.
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Viking Names
Brentingby
Brentingby, in the Framland Hundred of Leicestershire, is a difficult place-name that presents several problems. It is potentially an Anglo-Scandinavian hybrid from the Old English male personal name Branting or Brenting combined with Old Norse by ‘a farmland, a village’. Alternatively the name could be ‘the by of Brant’s people’ with the Old English –ingas ‘people of’ place-name forming element. However, an Old English folk-name combined with Old Norse by is unusual. Another suggestion is that an early Old English place-name Branting/Brenting, from Old English brant ‘steep’ and the place-name forming suffix –ing, was later compounded with Old Norse by thus ‘the farmstead, village at Branting (‘the steep place’)’. Brentingby stands on a steep slope above the flood-plain of the River Eye.
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Viking Objects
Bone Spindle Whorl (LIN-9D24C2)
Fibres were spun into thread using a drop-spindle of which the whorls were made of bone, ceramic, lead, or stone and acted as flywheels during spinning. Other bone and ceramic spindle whorls with decorative circumference grooves are known from Anglo-Saxon sites elsewhere in areas such as West Stow, Suffolk.
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Viking Objects
Ring-headed Pin (1981/166-2568)
This copper alloy ring-headed pin was used for fastening cloaks and discovered during excavations at Full Street, Derby. Pins like this were common in Ireland and the western British Isles, and spread further afield under Viking influence.
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Viking Objects
Sword Pommel (LEIC-9158C3)
The pommel is probably a late development of Petersen’s type X which encompases transitional to medieval forms. Copper-alloy pommels with this basic shape are rare but not unknown in Viking Age Europe with a reasonably close example from Lough Derg, County Tipperary, in the National Museum of Ireland. The symmetrical Ringerike-style engraving is very similar to decoration commonly found on stirrup-strap mounts of the eleventh century.
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Viking Objects
Iron Buckle (1985/225-8)
An iron buckle found in Mound 6 at Heath Wood, Ingleby, Derbyshire. It is one of two iron buckles found in this burial mound together with a small number of bronze fragments and iron nails. This buckle has parallels in Scandinavia.
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Viking Names
Croxton Kerrial
The first element of Croxton Kerrial, in the Framland Hundred of Leicestershire, likely comes from the Old Danish male personal name Krōk (Old Norse Krókr), originally a byname meaning ‘crooked-back’, possibly ‘crooked-dealer’ related to Old Norse krókr ‘hook’. Alternatively the first element could be Old English crōc ‘a crook’, which relates to a location situated in a nook or bend of land. The second element is Old English tun ‘an enclosure; a farmstead; a village; an estate’. The land was granted to granted to Bertramus de Cryoll in 1239 thus the affix Kerrial. This name can be compared to South Croxton also in Leicestershire.