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The Viking World: A History in Objects

Bearded Man Mount

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Introduction Anything made or used by human hands can be historical evidence, not just written texts. Objects bear witness to the past in a uniquely tangible way, evoking an immediate sense of the lived experience of those who made, used, modified and discarded them. Physical things are especially illuminating when discussing largely non-literate societies like the Norse-speaking peoples who lived during the so-called Viking Age of the eighth to eleventh centuries, and whose bloodthirsty reputation derives largely from the one-sided accounts written by their more literate European victims.

Inspired by the BBC and British Museum's History of the World in 100 Objects podcast series, this collaborative student research project led by Austin Mason at Carleton College, aims to shed light on the real history that lies behind the rumors and legends, through audio essays exploring and contextualizing 100 carefully curated objects from across the Viking World.

Explore the collection via the map below, visually on the Gallery page or via the Tag Cloud, take a guided tour through specific Thematic Categories, or investigate connections between objects on the Visualizations page.
Bearded Man Mount This Anglo-Saxon made mount, found buried with a group of other artifacts, indicates potential contact between Scandinavian culture prior to the Viking Age, but also is an example of one of the many artifacts that was seized during and buried by vikings in England during the Viking Age.^[1]

The mount is in the shape of a mustached and bearded man wearing a horned helmet. The horns rise above the man’s head coming together forming bird’s heads with curving beaks. The back of the mount is flat except for two attachment fittings (only one has survived intact) and a lump of iron that suggests the mount was at one point attached to some iron object. The mount is made from a heavily mercury-gilded copper alloy with inlaid glass eyes and is in very good condition. It is one of the few artifacts found which have a horned figure in them dating to the early seventh century, but was likely not buried until around the ninth century because some of the other artifacts found with the mount (two coins, three Viking-Age weights, four late eighth to eleventh century dress accessories, and a silver neck ring fragment) were made much later. The mount was found on the East Coast of England in Yorkshire county, near Stamford Bridge. It was found using a metal detector along with ten other finds suggesting that it was viking loot when it was buried.

It was initially used as a mount to a saddle, although the design suggests that it was more elaborate and may have been owned by a wealthier individual. Once taken by vikings it may have retained its initial function, but it is possible that it was repurposed purely as a decorative object or was used as a broach. The motif of a mustached man with a horned helmet appears on other artifacts as well including a helmet discovered at Sutton Hoo, buckles, and die and is considered a Swedish specialty indicating that there was some Norse influence on Anglo-Saxon artisans.^[2] It has been suggested that the motif of the horned man represents the Norse god Odin (the birds forming the horns may be Odin’s two Ravens Huginn and Muninn) who is mentioned in many Norse stories including “Life in Valhal” in the Prose Edda.^[3]

This mount is a prime example of Viking loot taken by Scandinavian raiders in England that shows signed of being repurposed before later being buried. It is possible that the mount was meant to depict Woden, the cognate god worshipped the Anglo-Saxons; however, the location of the find on the eastern coast of England does hint at some form of prior contact with Scandinavian and especially Swedish peoples. This indication of contact is significant because many English sources, including the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles in the year 787 CE act as if viking raiders appeared from nowhere.^[4] The mount represents the potential Swedish influences on the making of the mount, but also suggests that the mount was seized and buried in a later viking raid (or potentially during the Battle of Stamford Bridge) during the ninth or tenth century.