Sign in or register
for additional privileges

The Viking World

A History in 100 Objects

Austin Mason, Hannah Curtiss, Liza Davis, Jane Kelly, Kerim Omer Kadir Celik, Adante Ratzlaff, Leah Sacks, Kai Matsubara-Rall, Quinn Radich, Madeline Cosgriff, John Kennelly, Claire Jensen, Alperen Turkol, Jordan Cahn, Peter Hanes, Sarah Wang, Nick Carlsen, Ari Bakke, Phineas Callahan, Lauren Azuma, Justin Berchiolli, Rowan Matney, Ben Pletta, John Scott, Nick Cohen, Sophie Bokor, Authors
Adante Ratzlaff, page 2 of 4

Other paths that intersect here:
 
 

You appear to be using an older verion of Internet Explorer. For the best experience please upgrade your IE version or switch to a another web browser.

Brooch in the Urnes Style from Kiaby, Skåne, Sweden

This item is a relic from the eleventh century CE, when Scandinavian art was at a crossroads between traditional Pagan and imported Christian styles.1  The Urnes style, the term for this artistic bridge, seems to be as entwined with Christianity as its common figures - usually gracile animals battling snakes or woven between slender plants - are with each other. In addition to evoking the Christian concept of a battle between good and evil (seen in the combat between mammals and serpents),2 the Urnes style and its English and Irish variants appear on ecclesiastical goods including the Urnes church in Norway.3  What's more, the brooch and its like appear in different contexts than their early-Viking-Age predecessors, because the contemporary shift to burials without grave goods means that there is a shortage of female remains wearing brooches from this period. Even so, it is surmised that these pieces of jewelry were worn differently than the paired brooches for strap-dresses; rather, a single brooch may have been used to hold on an outer garment.4
Although the Scandinavian Urnes style was closely related to styles found at the same time in Great Britain, it nonetheless had a number of unique identifiers that were lacking - to detrimental effect, in some cases - in its counterparts. In not too much time, though, this would change: in the twelfth century, Western European craftsmanship was gradually homogenized under one style that echoed the power and influence of the Roman Catholic Church.5  Thus this item and ones like it should be respected as remnants of the twilight period of the Viking Age and the distinctive culture that defined it.
Comment on this page
 

Discussion of "Brooch in the Urnes Style from Kiaby, Skåne, Sweden"

Add your voice to this discussion.

Checking your signed in status ...

Previous page on path Adante Ratzlaff, page 2 of 4 Next page on path


Related:  Pin with ChainGullög’s RunestoneIron NeckletBurial SwordBorre Style PendantCopper Alloy Mount for a StirrupNorse KeyBirka CrucifixIron SeaxBrass RingPicture StoneSilver ArmletKiaby BroochHelmet from Grave I at Vendel, SwedenFinnish Bronze HoardTerminal for an Open Ring BroochRunestone Morby UpplandIron Spearhead with Silver EmbellishmentsTwo Volva StaffsHoard Find from Vester VedstedClench BoltScale and Weights from the HebridesSilver Figure of FreyaRing with Inscription "To Allah"ThemeThe New ValkyrieTimeDress Pin in BronzeRök RunestoneBow Brooch in Copper and GarnetMammen AxeA Mold for Religious AmuletsStamford Mint Silver CoinMaterialsRune stone Sö 108Gold ArmringHemdrup StickSilver BraceletTreatise on Astronomy with Picture of Dragon Headed BoatChess Pieces from the Isle of LewisUppland Runestone 613Reins Guide in the Borre StyleCup from the Halton Moor HoardJelling StonePenny From the Reign of Anlaf GuthfrithssonBox-Shaped BroochThe Birka GirlSkuldelev Ship 2 - The Great LongshipFuneral of Emperor Leo V, 820 CE.Silver Neck RingDEMO: Circular Bracteate PendantRanvaig's CasketDecorated Sword PommelGlass Game PiecesDrinking Horn / TerminalThe Silver Penny of Sven EstridsenTjängvide Image StoneAntler DuckSilver Penny from the Reign of Cnut the Great Minted in Bath, EnglandSuontaka SwordSilver Penny of CnutRhenish Glass BeakerLocationPattern-Welded Sword