The Viking World: A History in ObjectsMain MenuGallery viewA galleryTag Cloudtag cloud pageThemesA path of thematic categoriesAuthor IndexExplore the collection by authorWorks CitedReferencesAdam Bigelow3afa9c7ecebf516bba6609664b1b12f79c54bf77Caitlin Donahue61b7e986e7c71d400e5c803912ed83c0cf65252fCaroline Harvey1783f21a5882b5b4d3d0b6c174d058052a5ff7eaEdward Hershewee701ef220480b51ca728fc9c719bc094cf813655Martin Hoffmana1fd203afd9a84ee8db567e188cf6ed1d269386eTyler Hruby23493f763b312110686cfafc62578fd0ab5f3833Brittany N. Johnsonc1c1763339f8fa953e3c907c6bb8a3bad0c28b2cCarlos Lua Pineda0a28cc23b0aa00b4f24a9e205aeb57fbdb07ff01Moira McConnell710633400590ea38533ea3412c01fc5056288180Clara McCurdy9aec76477d0b55f9c685c47330d6786ec98182e1Elise McIlhaneyef48481634ff342c8b43c9d56f678b2d3562fb69Cameron Meikle669a5682bfbfd603130a26e25628f24eb07e6295Alexander Christopher Newkirk019c2f5b38c043507251d1789e2fdf47e61c3b7fBenja Reilly816c23aa0d444213fb2d1ef33555a15617e08228Oliver Statenc625ae8c3926f5e1a4268bc91d6a6f4cdb1e7fb6Liam Sullivanaa3a1dccb90c7fe4646b61c4af594abbb0c5574aRead Wilder31bf4715220144a665996f2e6cae80a1a8611eadAliza Yazdanicd49f227d88c72331226ddf574bf56c37308cd10Austin Masonf6137011c68eb792c6e14634815583b15e707dea
Bronze Belt Buckle
12017-05-17T19:17:42-07:00Caitlin Donahue61b7e986e7c71d400e5c803912ed83c0cf65252f164562An intricately decorated bronze belt buckleplain2017-05-17T19:28:38-07:00Pettersson, Elisabet. Föremål 450948. SHM 7640. Still image, December 15, 2006. 450948. Historiska Museet. http://mis.historiska.se/mis/sok/fid.asp?fid=450948&g=1.800-1100450948CC BY57.4798073,18.3179489BronzeHistoriska MuseetAtlingbo Parish, GotlandvikingatidCaitlin Donahue61b7e986e7c71d400e5c803912ed83c0cf65252f
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12017-05-24T10:09:20-07:00Austin Masonf6137011c68eb792c6e14634815583b15e707deaMap ViewAustin Mason2An interactive map of all the objects in the collectiongoogle_maps2017-05-24T11:39:30-07:00Austin Masonf6137011c68eb792c6e14634815583b15e707dea
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12017-05-21T21:50:05-07:00Bronze Belt Buckle4object pageplain2017-09-19T19:07:12-07:00This belt buckle, from Altlingo parish in Källgårds, Gotland, is a relatively unique style for norse buckles. Despite it’s unique style, it, and belt buckles are commonly found in graves and can tell us quite a bit about norse clothing during the viking age.[1] Norse men generally wore belts, and these could vary from simple belts with buckles very similar to those seen on belts today, to more intricate pieces of art.[2] For example, in these two passages from Njal’s Saga, we see descriptions of ‘silver belts’ that we can imagine as fashionable crafted pieces of art, worth giving as gifts and treasures: “Mord gave a large gold buckle to Skarphedin and a silver belt to Kari, as well as good gifts to Grim and Helgi,”[3] and “Kari gave Gudmund a gold brooch and Thorgeir gave him a silver belt, both excellent treasures.”[4] This particular belt buckle is made of bronze, and sports a relatively simple knotwork design. It is probable, given the lack of finds of similar style, that this buckle could originate from outside Scandinavia. In the viking age, many items of different styles were brought back to the norse lands, either through trading or raiding. For instance, it was not uncommon for Frankish metalwork to be brought back to scandinavia and repurposed into belt buckles or brooches.[5]
The belts that men wore served more purpose than just holding up clothing. Since norse clothing during the viking age didn’t include pockets, belts were also a means of storage. Not only could a man hang his sword or axe from his belt, he could also hold many small useful items, such as a small purse and knife.[6] In the purse, someone could carry anything from a comb, to coins and gaming pieces.[7] In this example from Njal’s Saga, we can see one such example of a purse hung from a belt: : “Flosi then took a purse of money from his belt and said he wanted give it to him.”[8]
Belt buckles are something we can often overlook as unimportant. Looking back upon history though, most clothing is organic and will fade over time. Metal findings, such as belt buckles, give us a good insight into what clothes during the viking age were actually like, as the metal they are made from tends to last longer than any leather or cloth.