Viking Objects
Gold Finger-Ring (BH-59ECD3)
An Anglo-Scandinavian gold finger-ring decorated with a punched a lozenge-shaped pattern of six triangles with central dots, surrounded by a circumferential band of punched rectangles with two dots. The ends of the wires are hooked, showing that they would originally have been twisted together. Rings like this with knotted ends are typically Scandinavian.
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Viking Objects
Copper-Alloy Disc Pendant (NLM-0CA344)
This cast copper-alloy disc pendant has an anthropomorphic design which portrays a facing moustachioed mask. A dark grey coating on front and back may be the degraded remains of a silvered surface. Pendants were a popular dress accessory in Norway and Sweden and sometimes were worn with beads between a pair of oval brooches. 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 Objects
Borre Style Brooch (DENO-805B20)
This copper-alloy brooch is an example of Kershaw’s East Anglian series and is decorated with interlaced Borre-style designs. 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 Objects
Anglo-Scandinavian Mount (NLM-491EBD)
This copper-alloy mount is decorated with an openwork plate interlace ornamentation in possible Borre style.
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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 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 Objects
Dragon’s Head Mount (L.A67.1864.1.0)
This mount from Leicester is in the form of a dragon’s head and is thought to be Scandinavian work. The base of the head is extended, slotted and necked as though for a hinge. There are green stains suggesting that it was attached to an item of copper or bronze. Mounts were generally used to decorate various items such as belts or pouches. In this case, it may have been a fitting for a knife. Mounts were usually attached to items by hammering over the metal studs on the back of the mount.
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Viking Objects
St. Edmund Penny (LEIC-8D0E07)
Between 895 and 915, Scandinavian settlers in East Anglia minted a series of pennies and half pennies with the inscription SCE EADMVND REX (St Edmund the king). These coins appear to have been used widely throughout the Danelaw, and a large number of them were discovered in the Cuerdale Hoard from Lancashire. This coin appears to have been made with a poorly engraved die and features a blundered inscription naming the moneyer. The Portable Antiquities Scheme suggests that the moneyer’s name was Winegar. The inscription reads YVINRE NO.
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Viking Objects
Winchester-Style Strap-End (DENO-C276C4)
This strap-end employs a modified version of the Winchester style of the eleventh century using Scandinavian designs and is classified as a Thomas Class E, Type 1 strap-end. Strap-ends came in various styles and were fairly common throughout the Viking world. They were used to decorate the ends of belts and to stop them getting damaged.
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Viking Objects
Harness Pendant (PUBLIC-1FCD40)
The Ringerike-style openwork decoration on this harness pendant consists of two opposing animals with details made up of relief lines. These pendants were purely decorative elements on the harness and did not have any practical function.
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Viking Objects
Anglo-Scandinavian Strap-End (LEIC-6EDB41)
This example of an Anglo-Scandinavian copper-alloy strap-end is decorated with a possible animal head and very worn Ringerik- style interlace. It has been classed as a variant on Thomas Class G.