Viking Objects
Edward the Elder Penny (CM.615-1998)
A Horizontal type (HC1) silver penny of Edward the Elder (874-924), son of Alfred the Great, and minted by a moneyer called Beornwald. 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, approximately five years after Leicester had been retaken by Mercia (c.918). They indicate that a bullion economy was still operating in the Danelaw as late as the 920s. This suggests that the reconquest did not immediately manage to institute Anglo-Saxon practices such as a monetary economy.
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Viking Objects
Coin of Burghred of Mercia (1989-58/3650)
A silver penny of Burghred of Mercia, found in the mass grave at Repton, minted by the moneyer Dudwine. Dudwine may be the same moneyer who was minting coins for Alfred the Great at a later date. Burghred was king of Mercia from 852-874 CE. He was driven out of Mercia by the Vikings during their march from Lindsey to Repton in 874 after they sacked Tamworth. Burghred fled to Rome, where he eventually died, and was replaced by Ceowulf II who was loyal to the Vikings. Minting coins was a way of controlling the means of exchange within a kingdom and which created a more easily administered standardized system of trade. Moreover, the coins themselves were often used as propaganda, portaying symbols and statements that gave off a desired message. The Vikings later used the minting of coins to legitimize their own rule.
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Viking Objects
Suspension Loop (1985/225-1)
This copper-alloy suspension loop was found in Mound 1 at Heath Wood, Ingleby and was probably part of a sword belt. The loop is wide enough for a doubled strap to pass through, so it may have been used to suspend the scabbard from the belt. It has been suggested that this one was probably Anglo-Saxon in origin, because this style is not known from Scandinavia, but that did not stop a Viking acquiring it and being buried with it.
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Viking Objects
Coin of Alfred the Great (1989-58/3386)
A silver penny of Alfred the Great, found in the mass grave at Repton, was minted by a moneyer called Tidhelm in London. Alfred was King of Wessex from 871 to 899 and spent most of his reign fighting off Viking invasions. He won a decisive victory at the Battle of Edington in 878 which resulted in a peace with the Vikings and the creation of the Danelaw. Minting coins was a way of controlling the means of exchange within a kingdom and which created a more easily administered standardized system of trade. Moreover, the coins themselves were often used as propaganda, portraying symbols and statements that gave off a desired message. The Vikings later used the minting of coins to legitimize their own rule.
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Viking Objects
Silver Ingot (2010-195)
Ingots of this size and shape were used as a convenient way to store and carry silver in the Viking Age. They might be cut up into pieces (hacksilver) to be used as bullion for payments, or be processed into jewellery. Analysis of silver ingots from this period shows that many were made from silver mined in the Middle East. This silver was probably originally used to mint Arabic dirhams (a type of coin) but was melted down by the Vikings to make it more easily portable.
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Viking Objects
Folding Arm Pivot Fragment (NLM-6A2893)
Scales were a common commerical tool and would have been an important part of any exchange whether using a monetary system or a bullion system, such as the one that existed in Viking-occupied areas of England.
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Blog Post
Brooches, Pendants and Pins: Scandinavian Dress Accessories in England
Nowadays it is common to see people wearing various accoutrements such as earrings, necklaces, pendants, or rings. The Viking Age was no different and Scandinavian fashion, both female and male, commonly featured the use of dress accessories which served a practical purpose of fastening clothing but also as a way to display wealth and status. Below is a brief discussion on the use and place of Scandinavian brooches, pendants and pins in England. Copper alloy Jelling brooch from Melton, Leicestershire. (c) Portable Antiquities Scheme, CC BY-SA 2.0 Brooches were a typical part of female dress. Scandinavian brooches came in a variety of sizes and shapes which included disc, trefoil, lozenge, equal-armed, and oval shapes. The different brooch types served a variety of functions in Scandinavian female dress with oval brooches typically being used as shoulder clasps for apron-type dresses and the rest being used to secure an outer garment to an inner shift. Anglo-Saxon brooches do not match this diversity of form with large disc brooches being typical of ninth-century dress styles with smaller ones becoming more popular in the later ninth and tenth centuries. However, since disc brooches were used by both Anglo-Saxon and Scandinavian women they are distinguished by their morphology. Scandinavian brooches were typically domed with a hollow back while Anglo-Saxon brooches were usually flat. Moreover, Anglo-Saxon brooches were worn singly without accompanying accessories. (c) North Lincolnshire Museum, CC BY-SA 4.0 With some exceptions, pendants were generally worn by women as an accessory to Scandinavian dress. Pendants were a popular dress accessory in Norway and Sweden and sometimes were worn with beads between a pair of oval brooches. However, in England, pendants did not have the same popularity among Anglo-Saxon inhabitants. An unique style of pendant the existence of which was likely influenced by crucifixes worn by Christian individuals was the Thor’s Hammer pendant. These may have been worn to show devotion to the god Thor, or to secure the god’s protection, although there is little evidence to support this interpretation. Pendants like this have been found made of lead, copper alloy, silver and gold, showing that many different strata of society could have worn them. A copper-alloy ring-headed pin from Withern with Stain, Lincolnshire. (c) Portable Antiquities Scheme, CC BY-SA 4.0 Pins were another form of popular dress accessory, though tending to be more practical , and mostly used for fastening cloaks. Once such pin, the ringed pin, was a form of dress fastener which developed as a result of contact between artisans in the Celtic West and sub-Roman Britain. The type became very popular in Ireland, being ultimately adopted by the Hiberno-Norse during the Viking period. In form it comprised a pin with a ring inserted through a looped, perforated or pierced head. Another style of pin has a solid head, round or cuboid, with ring-and-dot pattern ornamentation. These were common in Ireland and the western British Isles, and spread further afield under Viking influence. Kershaw, Jane F. Viking Identities: Scandinavian jewellery in England. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013), p. 20-25
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Viking Designs
Drawing of a Brooch with Backwards-Facing Beast
Drawing of a disc brooch found at South Ferriby, Lincolnshire with a backwards-facing beast motif. For more information on Scandinavian jewellery in England check out our blog: Brooches, Pendants and Pins: Scandinavian Dress Accessories in England.
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Viking Names
Brooksby
Brooksby, in the East Goscote Hundred of Leicestershire, is a difficult name. The first element is likely the Old Norse male personal name Brok which was originally a byname derived from Old Norse brók ‘breeches’. Alternatively it has been suggested that the first element is Old English broc ‘a brook, a stream (used of a stream with a muddy bed and a visible sediment load)’. This brook may refer to the River Wreake or more likely a small stream which rises near Brooksby. The first element could also be the Old Danish cognate brok ‘bog, marsh’ which is found in place-names in Denmark. However, these elements do not otherwise show a genitival structure whereas the personal name does. The second element of the name is Old Norse by ‘a farmstead, a village’.
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Viking Names
Kirby Bellars
Kirby Bellars, in the Framland Hundred of Leicestershire, comes from the Old Norse elements kirkja ‘church’ and by ‘farm, settlement’. The affix Bellars is derived from the personal surname Beler. Hamo Beler held the manor in 1166 and it remained in the family as late as 1361.
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Viking Names
Sileby
Sileby, in the East Goscote Hundred of Leicestershire, comes from the Old Norse male personal name Sigulfr and the Old Norse element by ‘a farmstead, a village’.