Norse Key
In today’s world, men and women alike carry keys that unlock all manner of items and places. Interestingly, so did the men and especially the women of the Viking Age. The particular key featured here was found in Ellesø Skovsø and is owned by the National Museum of Denmark. It was made in the Viking Age out of bronze.1 A design decorates the front of the key that has gripping hands reminiscent of the Borre style of Norse art. This would date the key to around the early ninth to late tenth centuries.2 While we know where it was retrieved, we don’t know where exactly it was originally buried, making it difficult to ascertain the purpose of the key.
While other similar keys have been found, they are not always excavated from sites in one particular place or with one particular group of people. One common theory is that women carried keys as a sign of their status as the woman of the household. However, some researchers disagree citing the slim number of keys that have actually been found in women’s graves compared to all the keys found.1
If the keys did not symbolize a woman’s position, they would at least have shown that a person carrying one was fairly well off. The keys are generally made of metal and may have been a sign of some form of wealth. Conversely, if they were a symbol of a woman’s status, the key provides insights into the role of women in the household. Contrary to the common perception of Norse women as meek and unworthy of mention, women in Viking Age society were responsible for the household, the farming, and the production of goods-such as weavings- for use or trade.2 This key would have been a symbol of that important role.
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