ᛉ Sagnamaðr Stark ᛉ

Kirsten Svendsdatter Finder Guldhornet by Niels Simonsen, 1859. The moment she tripped over the first of the Golden Horns of Gallehus in 1639, initially mistaking it for a tree root. She wrote to King Christian V, who gave it to his son, who used it as a drinking horn once more. 𐘾

An impressive early Anglo Saxon saucer brooch, found in Wylye, Worcestershire, 5-7th Century. These were popular in southern England, worn by women in sets of two at the shoulders. The design consists of two Salin-I style animals pursuing each other; perhaps Woden’s wolves. ᚩ

Germanic S-shaped brooches from Denmark. A theory I heard about these is they represent the serpent as a symbol of renewal, one head in the overworld, emerging like they do in spring, and one in the underworld. Some examples have the jaws clasped around the body, like a snake eating its shed skin. Sometimes raven heads are used, linking this motif with the cult of Odin. 𐘾

Lovely bracteate from Etne, Norway, with entwined animal motifs, and a filigreed animal under the suspension loop. The surreal, ribbon-like forms of the animals blur the lines with animistic, totemic animal spirits, which the amulet may have sought to invoke. 𐘾

A highly rare Viking Age Mammen-style brooch. These have been proposed to depict Gullinkambi, the rooster who lives in Valhøll and wakes the Einherjar every morning. It could also depict a swan, a form assumed by Valkyries and swan-maidens, such as Völundr’s wife. It’s one of eight examples I know of, all from Norfolk, likely made in the same workshop in the 10th Century. The decoration is decidedly Scandinavian, and the square frame may suggest continental influence. 𐘾

“Ever remember, ruler of men, That fortune lies in the hero's life; A nobler man shall never live Beneath the sun than Sigurth shall seem”. ~Grípisspá 53, Bellows Painting: Sigurd Slaying Fafnir by Arthur Rackham, 1901. 𐘾 “Því skal hugga þik, hers oddviti, sú mun gift lagið á grams ævi: Mun-at mætri maðr á mold koma und sólar sjöt, en þú, Sigurðr, þykkir.”

An early Anglo Saxon gilt bronze mount with two bearded faces, likely the divine twins Hengist and Horsa, found in Grimsby, 5-7th Century. 𐘾

A small late Viking Age bronze Urnes-style brooch, found in Denmark, 11th Century. 𐘾

A hoard from Hornbæk, Denmark, with a few interesting bracteates with double-raven halos over the figures. The inscription on the top left could read; “Þung wīha gela(z) asulo ALU”, Heavy holy gold (for/of the) Æsir, followed by the ALU invocation, sacralizing the bracteate. 𐘾

A beautiful early Anglo Saxon raven mount, found in Essex. An Old English kenning for ravens was Wælċēaseġa; slain-choosing one, appearing in the Old English Exodus. ᚩ

“Tyr is the one-handed god,  and the leavings of the wolf, and the ruler of the temple. Mars “director”.” ~Icelandic Rune Poem  As Tacitus did in Germania, this stanza likens Týr to Mars. Like Tiwesdæg, Tuesday was Mars’s sacred day, called Dies Martis in Latin.  Arches dedicated to “Mars Thincsus” were found along Hadrian’s wall; thincsus may derive from Proto-Germanic þingsaz, “of the þing”, making it a Romano-Germanic epithet of Týr, worshipped by Germanic auxiliaries. ᛏ “Týr er einhendr áss  ok ulfs leifar ok hofa hilmir. Mars tiggi”

“Thurs is the torment of women, and the dweller in the rocks, and the husband of Vardh-rúna. Saturn “ruler of the thing”.” ~Icelandic Rune Poem This stanza compares the jötnar, and by extension Ymir, to Saturn, similarly deposed by his son, the king of the Gods. ᚦ “Þurs er kvenna kvöl  ok kletta búi ok varðrúnar verr. Saturnus þengill.”

A remarkably well preserved Celtic sword from the Must Farm village, Cambridgeshire, 1st Century BC-AD, with a bronze triskelion inlay. The blade had been bent back on itself, indicating the sword was deposited as an offering. ࿋

The use of weapons and tools as offerings goes back to the Mesolithic; Western Hunter-Gatherers ritually deposited axe heads into rivers and tree throws. Stone Age axes being uncovered and washing up after storms could easily have been seen as the Gods returning a familiar gift. 𐘾

Amber pendants from a Neolithic burial in Laddenhøj, Denmark, shaped like Neolithic hammer heads and flat axes; the cult of the thunderstone may reach back to the Stone Age, with these axes carrying an association with the Storm Gods, washing up on shore after storms. 𐘾

“Yr is a source of joy and honour to every prince and knight; it looks well on a horse and is a reliable equipment for a journey.” ~Anglo Saxon Rune Poem ᚣ Yr, like its Younger Futhark counterpart, means yew, and by extension, bow. The form of the rune itself somewhat resembles a bow with an arrow. This stanza seems to imply the Anglo Saxons used horse bows, perhaps adopted from the Huns. Painting by Peter Nicolai Arbo, 1886. ᚣ “Yr byþ æþelinga and eorla gehwæs wyn and wyrþmynd, byþ on wicge fæger, fæstlic on færelde, fyrdgeatewa sum.”