Viking Objects
Copper-Alloy Key (LEIC-931912)
Slide keys such as this example are generally known as ‘Viking keys’ due to similarities in shape with excavated examples. However, its T-shaped projections at the base have no identified parallels but the design could possibly show Anglo-Scandinavian influence. Keys were not only practical items but also symbols of status. Women often carried the keys to the family’s chests of valuables. They also are often buried with keys, representing their authority in the household. See also the blog post on keys in the Viking Age.
Read More
Viking Names
Torksey
Torksey, in the Lawress Wapentake of Lincolnshire, is a difficult name. The second element is Old English eg ‘an island, dry ground in fen, raised land in wet area’, but the first element, though apparently a personal name, is hard to interpret. The most plausible suggestion is that it is the Old English male personal name Turoc. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle for the year 872 records that Her nam se here winter setle. æt Turces ige ‘And it [the Great Heathen Army] took winter-quarters at Torksey in Lindsey, and then the Mercians made peace with the host’. Recent excavations and other archaeological finds at Torksey are helping to build up our understanding of what that here was and what it did during the winter of 872-3.
Read More
Viking Objects
Coin of Aethelred (1989-58/3395)
A silver penny of Aethelred I of Wessex was found in the mass grave at Repton and minted by a moneyer apparently called Liabinc. The location of minting is unknown. Aethelred I was King of Wessex from 865 until his death in 871. Aethelred’s reign coincided with the arrival of the Viking Great Heathen Army in England and he fought them with little success during their invasion of Wessex which began in 870. After his death, he was succeeded by his youngest brother, Alfred the Great, who carried on the war with 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, portraying symbols and statements that gave off a desired message. The Vikings later used the minting of coins to legitimize their own rule.
Read More
Viking Objects
Silver Penny (1914/543-1)
This silver penny of King Aethelstan, who was King of England from 927-939, was minted in Derby by the moneyer Gadierd between 937-939. It is not known where it was found. Moneyers were people who were permitted to mint money on behalf of the king. 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.
Read More
Viking Names
Kilby
Kilby, in the Guthlaxton Hundred of Leicestershire, was probably an Old English compound from Old English cild (cilda genitive plural) ‘a child, a young person, a boy, a son (usually implying noble birth)’ and Old English tun ‘an enclosure; a farmstead; a village; an estate’. The place-name underwent Scandinavianization with the generic tun being replaced with Old Norse by ‘a farmstead, a village’ and the use of an initial Old Norse k for the Old English initial ch.
Read More
Viking Objects
Reproduction Shears
Shears were a common agricultural implement generally used to cut the wool off sheep but could also have been used as scissors in textile production. These are based on a number of originals uncovered during the excavations at Flixborough, Lincolnshire.
Read More
Viking Objects
Decorated Strap-End (WMID-2D6997)
A copper-alloy Thomas Class A Type 1 strap-end with a section at the top which splits into a ‘V’ shape. The strap-end is decorated with what seems to be a stylized face above some interlaced knotwork while the tip features a stylized beast head.
Read More
Viking Objects
Copper-Alloy Tweezers (LEIC-F41656)
A pair of copper-alloy tweezers found in Bassetlaw, Nottinghamshire. These feature a ring-and-dot stamped pattern with a tube at one end to accommodate a suspension loop. They would have been carried suspended from a brooch or belt. Tweezers were common personal items that people would have carried with them. They could be highly decorated.
Read More
Viking Names
Temple Normanton
Temple Normanton, in the Scarsdale Hundred of Derbyshire, takes its name from the Old English ethnonym Norðman ‘Northman, Norwegian’ and the Old English element tun ‘farm, settlement’. There are several places of this name, predominantly in the East Midlands: five in Nottinghamshire, also others in Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire and Rutland, and one in the West Riding of Yorkshire. Previously the prefix was North to distinguish it from South Normanton. The prefix Temple refers to previous ownership by the Templars. Traditionally, the place-name has been interpreted as referring to a settlement of Norwegians (in an area where most of the Scandinavian settlers were Danes). However, the exact implications of such a name are not yet fully understood and are the subject of ongoing work by Dr Jayne Carroll of the Institute for Name-Studies, University of Nottingham.
Read More
Viking Objects
Copper-Alloy Edged Lead Weight (NLM-E6E083)
A lead weight edged with a copper-alloy band. The distinction of weights by embedded objects or other embellishments in various media is a widely recognised feature of some early medieval weights. The object has also been identified as a spindle whorl, though this is less likely. If a weight, it is perhaps an indicator of the Scandinavian bullion economy. Weights are an important form of evidence for Viking Age commerce and the use of standards across the different economic systems within which Vikings were integrated. Many of the weights discovered, particularly ones in Ireland and those of Arabic type, suggest that a standardized system of weights existed in some areas. These standard weights, alongside standard values of silver, are what allowed the bullion economy of Viking occupied areas to function. A bullion economy was a barter economy that relied on the exchange of set amounts of precious metal in various forms, such as arm-rings or coins, for tradable goods, such as food or textiles. Each merchant would have brought their own set of weights and scales to a transaction to make sure that the trade was conducted fairly.
Read More
Viking Objects
Aethelred II Penny (LIN-8887C3)
A cut CRUX-type penny minted by Hundulf of York on behalf of King Aethelred II. While this coin is Anglo-Saxon, the fact that it has been cut may suggest that it was used as a part of a bullion transaction in line with the dual bullion-monetary economy established by the Vikings in England.