Viking Names
Gunness
Gunness, in the Manley Wapentake of Lincolnshire, is an Old Norse compound from the male personal name Gunni and nes ‘a ness, a headland, a promontory’. The name is topographically appropriate as it is located on a marked promontory on the River Trent. The same personal name also occurs in Gunby and Gunthorpe, Lincolnshire.
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Viking Names
Winthorpe
Winthorpe, in the Newark Wapentake of Nottinghamshire, comes from either the Old English make personal name Wigmund or its Scandinavian equivalent Vígmundr and Old Norse þorp ‘a secondary settlement, a dependent outlying farmstead or hamlet’.
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Viking Names
Ragnhild
The female name Ragnhildr is very common throughout the Scandinavian world, including several parts of Britain and Ireland, up to modern times. There is a suggestion that it was restricted to royalty and aristocrats in the Viking Age and then spread to other social groups. It may be the first element of the Lincolnshire place-name Raventhorpe, although in fact the earliest forms suggest the male name Ragnaldr, and more recent publications prefer this interpretation.
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Viking Names
Ulfljot
The Old Norse female personal name Úlfljót is comprised of the element Úlf– ‘wolf’ and the element -ljót which is also attested as the simplex female personal name Ljót. Although Úlfljót is not otherwise attested, the masculine equivalent Úlfljótr is recorded in Iceland and possibly Yorkshire. John Hines has suggested that the female name is inscribed in runes on the Saltfleetby spindle whorl found at Saltfleetby St Clement, Lincolnshire, which he has translated as ‘Óðinn and Heimdallr and Þalfa, they are helping you, Úlfljót…’.
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Viking Objects
Die Stamp (NLM-690F57)
This cast copper-alloy die was used in the process of making filigree pendants of the Hiddensee-Rügen type, more specifically, to create pressed silver or gold sheet appliqués, which were applied to a pendant back-plate and used as a base for filigree and granulation work. The ring in the centre creates a closed ring-knot motif related to the Scandinavian Borre style. The Hiddensee-Rügen style is named after the gold jewellery hoard discovered in the late nineteenth century on the island of Hiddensee, off the Baltic coast of Germany. The Swinhope die is one of a small group of recorded objects used in the production of Hiddensee-style cruciform pendants. No finished pendants of the type represented by the Swinhope die are known, either from England or Scandinavia.
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Viking Objects
Copper-Alloy Finger-Ring (NLM-D4A8C9)
A copper-alloy cast finger-ring featuring circular punched ring and dot decoration. Ring and dot was a decorative technique used at various periods from the later Iron Age onwards, but which enjoyed a Viking Age revival.
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Viking Names
Bilsthorpe
Bilsthorpe, in the Bassetlaw Wapentake of Nottinghamshire, comes from the Old Norse male personal name Bildr and Old Norse þorp ‘a secondary settlement, a dependent outlying farmstead or hamlet’.
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Viking Objects
Strap-End (NLM-E77782)
This copper-alloy strap-end fragment is classified as a Thomas Class B5 type and is decorated with wavy bilateral ornamentation which may show Carolingian influences. 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
Spherical Lead-Alloy Weight (DENO-650DB1)
This is a cast lead-alloy weight with a copper alloy Anglo-Saxon pin embedded in the centre. The base features a flattened copper alloy circular area that may be the worn remains of another embedded object. This piece demonstrates Anglo-Scandinavian reuse and repurposing of Anglo-Saxon metalwork. It has also been suggested that this item was a gaming piece although it does not resemble other known gaming pieces. 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 tradeable 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.
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Viking Objects
Lead Thor’s Hammer Pendant (CM_569_2010)
A lead Thor’s hammer pendant with a trapezoidal head and pierced base. 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. 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
Pendant (LEIC-C58A13)
This copper-alloy pendant depicts an individual holding a shield and a sword. Similar designs have been seen in pendants from southern Scandinavia which are generally identified as valkyries, though they could represent other mythological figures. The closest parallel in England is an example from Wickham Market, Suffolk. .