We come from the land of the ice and snow,
From the midnight sun where the hot springs blow.
Hammer of the gods will drive our ships to new land,
To fight the horde, sing and cry: Valhalla, I am coming!
- Led Zeppelin, "Immigrant Song"
So…somewhere between my sister marrying a Norwegian, and my general interest in historic recreationism of all kinds, I have ended up with something of a fixation on Viking history, in particular jewellery, weaponry, architecture, and the mythology that underpins it all.
In 2001 I visited my sister in Oslo, where she was working at the time. I arrived in the depths of winter, early January, and the temperature did not rise above minus 10°C the whole week I was there. It was, as Nicola explained, “too cold to snow”... so cold that every blade of grass, every tiny piece of litter left on the pavement, and every granite sculpture in Frognerparken was encrusted in a thick and crunchy layer of frost - even at midday. In 2005, my first year at TAFE studying Jewellery and Object Design, we were given an assignment to spend one semester researching a culture or time period of our choice. We were asked to choose one object (jewellery, weapon, piece of furniture, implement) and present our theory as to why it was designed in this particular style, who might have used this object, and what we can infer about their wealth, status, lifestyle, culture and so forth.
With relish, I skimmed over Ancient Greece and 1950’s America, and staked a claim on the Vikings! I spent an entire day in the Sydney University Library, poring through books about Viking history, mythology, and trade; found images of huge silver penannular brooches, engraved sword hilts, carved drinking vessels, and elaborate belt buckles, discovered in hoards all over Scandinavia, Scotland, Ireland, and The Faroe Islands.
I was taken not only with the beauty of each object, but by the fact that the Vikings used silver jewellery as a portable currency – in fact they traded widely with all parts of Europe, the Middle East, Russia, and throughout the Mediterranean. Some Viking artifacts have even been discovered in India, presumably transported along the Silk Road. The Vikings’ main exports included fur, timber and whale meat; for these they traded fresh food, spices, precious gems, and the silver which they so loved.
By Viking law, it was required that a husband would provide his wife with a specific number of silver bracelets or rings per year of marriage – this was not mere vanity, but actually an insurance policy in case the husband was killed in war or drowned at sea. Wearing one’s wealth was not only a status symbol, but also a safe way to store one’s riches whilst travelling, not to mention providing convenient access to funds whilst conducting a business transaction. For if there is one thing that the Vikings should be known for, aside from being great warriors, it for being savvy traders and bold explorers (the Vikings actually discovered the Americas several hundred years before Christopher Columbus, but were brutally chased off by the Native American Indians).
In recent weeks, my exploration of tribal and folk music has led me, one way or another, to Scandinavian folk metal – Hedningarna, Korpiklaani, Finntroll, and the like. Listening to these bands, I hear sounds which I had previously associated with Irish music – melodies and distinctive chord progressions played with the fiddle and the uilleann pipes. Suddenly I realise that this music goes back way past the Christian Irish, creators of the incredibly beautiful Book of Kells, and actually came from ancient Nordic tradition.
For the Viking tribes set out around 700AD to claim new lands and more productive farmland, conquering and settling many parts of the British isles, Ireland, Greenland, and Iceland. If you go to York in the north of England, you will find that the original name of the city was Jorvik, and that deep in the bowels of Yorkminster, beneath the Roman ruins under the Christian Cathedral, you eventually get down to evidence of an early Viking settlement about 5 metres below the current street level of the city. 1500 years of history, all stacked up like layers in cake!
One of the most interesting finds that suggests the Vikings were engaged in a somewhat organized township in Jorvik (York) is evidence of hearths and clay moulds that were used to create jewellery. Much of the everyday Viking jewellery (such as brooches and belt buckles) was made using the technique of casting – heating metal to its melting point and then pouring it into a mould. This way, one design could be recreated many times over, and also allowed for outdated or broken objects to be re-used to make something new.
In recent years I have found great satisfaction is attending medieval history festivals such as Abbey Festival in Queensland, and the Winterfest Medieval Fair in Sydney. I am fascinated to see demonstrations involving artisans hunched over hand-pumped bellows casting pewter objects in hand-made clay moulds – a production technique involving no electricity or power tools, or modern conveniences such as LPG torches to heat the metal. It seems like such an earthy, organic way to work – fire, clay, metal – pure elements.
At Winterfest last weekend, I got chatting to a Viking lady who told me of an Australian jeweller who traveled to Sweden and was fortunate enough to be given permission to take plaster casts of some original Viking artifacts. As a result, he is now regarded as producing the most accurate replicas of these particular Viking brooches in the world, and has even been commissioned by the Swedish government to make a series of solid gold brooches for the Swedish Heads of State.
So that sounds like a pretty good gig if you ask me…maybe if I travel to Tromsø (north of the Arctic Circle) and ask nicely at the Viking Museum…?
Theme song for today: Korpiklaani - Wooden Pints
Images:
TOP: The Jelling Cup, Denmark 10th C.
CENTRE: Pair of silver and gold brooches, worn high on the chest to secure clothing.
BOTTOM: Stone carving.
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