The Viking World: A History in Objects

Frankish Mount Found in Norfolk

This mount was made in Carolingian style but was found in Britain.[1]  Scholars believe that the Scandinavian raiders would attack one country, usually drawn there by the country or region’s internal conflicts, and exploit the turmoil. Then, when they met difficulties in that land, the Nordic warriors would go elsewhere. This mount supports this line of thinking, suggesting that its owner gained possession of it in France before his (or her) raiding party turned their focus on England where the mount was lost. This would imply that the same groups of viking raiders attacked both France and England. An alternative, but perhaps less likely, possibility is that the mount was simply traded to the English by the French.

Because of its gilding, the mount would have been considered valuable. Gilded Frankish sword mounts, popular in the Carolingian era, were often taken by Norse raiders as loot or spoils and then adapted into brooches or made part of a sword or a horse harness.[2]  This object was then brought by either a viking raider or settler to England, where it may have been lost or discarded. The object’s origins are dated circa 800 ce. to 900 ce. The vast majority of Scandinavian raids on France were within this time frame, as was the reign of the Carolingians, so it is difficult to narrow down the time range for this object any further without scientific dating.

The location in which the mount was found supports the argument that the same groups of Norse raiders were attacking France one year and England another, or simply that some individuals were active on both sides of the English Channel. This additionally supports the idea that the Nordic invaders ran extortion rackets, getting paid to leave or to stop attacking, either in addition to or as an alternative to looting and pillaging. Evidence suggests that the vikings found this method to be successful in France and often returned just to be paid to leave again. The style of this mount and its location being within the Danelaw supports this idea.

The fact that this Carolingian mount was found within the Danelaw is important because it shows that the same Scandinavian groups could have been active in both France and Britian. It lends support to the claim that when the Norse did not raid one place, they were likely off raiding another, rather than staying at home.

The mount itself is made of copper alloy, but its gilding appears to be gold. The decoration is simplistic with multiple curvilinear, wiggly, transverse lines on one side. The opposite side is undecorated. The style appears Carolingian, as the design is very similar to that seen in the Ebbo Codex, with black lines and gold highlights that arose under Louis the Pious.[4] It was is likely a piece of a trefoil mount attached to a Carolingian shield. 

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