Íslensk víkingaaldarsverð - Viking Age swords from Iceland

Hér byrjar umfjöllun um íslensk víkingaaldarsverð. Mun ég fjalla um víkingaaldarsverð almennt en um leið kynna sérstaklega þau sem sem áhugaverðust eru.

Fá sverð hafa fundist á Íslandi

Aðeins 26 sverð frá víkingaöld hafa varðveist á Íslandi, og jafnvel þetta er ef til vill of mikið sagt þvi að sum af þessum "sverðum" eru aðeins smá leifar. Þannig er til dæmis aðeins knappurinn (klótin  e. pommel) eftir af þremur sverðum, eitt neðra hjalt hefur varðveist og eitt efra hjalt af öðru sverði. Af fjórum sverðum eru aðeins nokkur brot af brandinum (sverðsblaði) eftir. Í samanburði við önnur Norðurlönd er þetta ansi lítið. Í Noregi hafa fundist yfir 2000 sverð, í Svíþjóð nær 800, í Finnland um 400 og í Danmörku eitthvað á milli 50-100, frekar nærri 50 en 100, að sögn sérfræðings Þjóðminjasafns Dana. Lága talan fyrir Danmörku endurspeglar það að kristnin kom þangað fyrr en í önnur Norðurlönd og þá breyttust grefrunarsiðir og ekkert haugfé mátti setja í gröfina. En meirihluti víkingaaldarsverða sem nú þekkist eru kominn frá kumlum frá heiðnum sið. 

Sverðið frá Skaftátungu

Hér á myndinni fyrir neðan er sverðið sem fannst skammt frá bakka Eldvatns í Skaftátungu árið 2017 en gæsaskyttur höfðu rekist á það. Safnnúmer þess er Þjms 2016-73-1. Það er af Petersens gerð Q, eins og fimm önnur íslensk sverð og talin vera frá tíundu öld. 

Sverðið er að öllum líkindum hluti af haugfé jafnvel þó að ekkert kuml hafi fundist, en skammt frá fundarstað sverðsins fannst spjótsoddur, knífur og einhver mannabein. Talið er að þau hafi komið úr sama kumli og sverðið. 

Photo: Ríkisutvarpið.

The sword from Skaftátunga, Þjms 2016-73-1.

The foremost part of the blade, 8,4 cm, had broken off.  The hilt and the part of blade which is fastened to it is 85,1 cm. Together these parts are 93,5 cm, which means that the sword from Skaftátunga is the longest Viking Age sword found in Iceland. Upper guard W 8,4 cm, lower guard W 13,2 cm. Handle length 9,2 cm. Blade B 5,7 cm uppermost. 

The sword was found by friends who were hunting for wild geese near Lake Eldvatn in Skaftátunga in South-Iceland, 63°40'26.3"N 18°25'51.4"W

The sword is obviously from a Viking Age grave, even though no grave was found. But some weeks later the archaeologists who studied the area found a spearhead of unclassifiable type and a knife and some bone fragments of humans.  The grave has most probably been destroyed by the avalanche from the glacier in  2015.

Sundry notes on Viking Age Swords in Iceland

It is a while since Galdrakonan has given herself time to write blogs, but now since I am preparing a lecture on Icelandic Viking Age swords it seems most suitable to start discussing them here.  Earlier I have only written in Icelandic, but hope to be able to find time to discuss the matter also in English, even though in small pieces. Here are some introductory notes.

Only twenty-four Viking Age Swords have been preserved in Iceland. This statement is perhaps too optimistic since many of them are only fragments of a sword. Four of the best-preserved swords are displayed in the National Museum of Iceland in Reykjavik, and in addition to them, too fragments, both of lower guards. 

• SHM-11537 , type V, was found in Hrafnkelsdal in East-Iceland, 
• Þjms 13535/1946-43-1, type O,  found in Kaldárhöfði (-nes) at Úlfljótvatn (lake, not far from Thingvellir national park), 
• Þjms 559/1868-128, type S,  was found in Hafurbjarnastaðir, not far from the site of now Keflavik international airport in the south-west peninsula.
• Þjms 13736/1947-154 from grave nr. 4 at Silastaðir in northern Iceland,  is of type Q. It is displayed in the position it was in the grave when it was found.

The sword from Hrafnkelsdal is an Ulfberht sword. It was sold from the country around 1900 but is now as an eternal loan from the Historical Museum in Stockholm (Statens historiska museum), that is why is marked with SHM, not Þjms (Þjóðminjasafn = National Museum of Iceland) as the other two. It is a stray find, but most probably originally from a grave.

The sword from Kaldárhöfði is a very rare type, O, and the only one of this type found in Iceland. From a man's grave. The person had been buried with all his weapons and other grave goods.

The sword from Hafurbjarnarstaðir is  also an Ulfberht-sword. Also this was a grave with all the weapons and a richly furnished with grave goods.

Hafurbjarnarstaðir is the only sword of S type that has been found in Iceland, but there is another sword which is probably an S type, Þjms 2/1863-3 found in Baldursheimur in northern Iceland, but since it is only fragmentary – the pommel is missing, we cannot be absolutely sure. In the condition the sword from Baldursheimur is now there is nothing to tell us about its splendid history, but we have drawings that were done at the time the sword was found (in 1863), and they are pretty good. There is also a very good description written by the then director of the museum in Reykjavik. The grave where the sword was found was richly furnished with grave goods, but about that perhaps later.

Another fragment of type S was found in south-western part, inland, Þjms 8844. It is only a pommel, found in Keldur in Rangárvallasýsla. In my opinion is would rather be of type R, but considering, as Androshchuk has pointed out (Viking Swords, 2014), S and R should be considered as on type, it really does not matter which letter we use for this single pommel. Neither of the two last-mentioned is displayed, but can be seen if ordered in advance via internet. They are stored in the museum storage in Hafnarfjörður town. 

One interesting fragment is displayed in the museum. It is a lower guard of a sword type L, Þjms 29.10.1947, found in Knafahólar in Rangárvallasýsla. No other sword of type L has been found in Iceland. This piece is very well preserved. A photo of it is here below. Beneath it there are photos of the sword from Hafurbjarnarstaðir, a contemporary drawing by Arngrímur Gíslason of the lower guard of the sword from Baldursheimur and a photo taken in last July by Galdrakonan herself of the pommel from the Keldur. The photos of the lower guard from Keldur og the one of the sword from Hafurbjarnarstaðir are at the courtesy of the National Museum of Iceland. NB. As the sword from Hafurbjarnastaðir is now, the colours are not as bright and the silver wire is dark, but the shape is the same.

Knafahólar

Hafurbjarnarstaðir

Baldursheimur

 Keldur

Medieval wood carving from Iceland

Valþjóðstaðarhurð, the door from the Church in Valthjódstadir, is one of the finest pieces of Icelandic wood carving - and one of the oldest samplest that we have from the Middle Ages. It is  dated approximately 1200.

Since there is ample information about the motifs and the carving of the door, both on the internet and in handbooks on medieval wood carving, I only publish here a couple of details. The door is now exhibited in the National Museum of Iceland.

Olustvere and traditional Icelandic wood carving

In July (2017)I took part in an international Craft Camp arranged by Viljandi kultuurakadeemia in Olustvere mois, Estonia. There were participants from 17 different countries, many of them with Estonian ancestry. We were 15 altogether from Iceland. We could choose between a variety of workshops, and I chose plaiting, dyeing with plants and wood carving.

Now, when back at home, I feel so empowered and full of ideas that I do not know from which end to begin.  Meanwhile I shall publish here some photos of pieces of traditional Icelandic wood carving, exhibited in the National Museum. The first one is a chair from about 1500. In front there are roundels with zodiac signs in them and the name in Latin and in runic inscription. 

There are three chairs of the similar type in the museum and they are supposed to have belonged to the Grund estate in northern Iceland. The one depicted here is thought to have been the chair of Thórunn, daughter of Jón Arason, the last Catholic bishop of Iceland, who was beheaded in 1550 by the reformists.

I have been interested in these chairs a long time and even considered of making something similar myself, a kind of modern version, and draw a design for it.  Now I only have to find time for realizing this dream!

Wood Carving in Morocco

Wood carving is perhaps one of the oldest types of handicrafts.  Everywhere in the world we can see beautiful pieces of carving. On my travels in the Near East and Middle Asian countries I have often seen master pieces that have been created with only one knife, or not more than 1-3 knives.  The workshops are often small or the carvers just sit on a stool in front of a small shop.  Sometimes they do not even have a table.

The Arabs love colours and many times the carvings are beautifully painted with natural colours, especially if they are used as panels.

Moroccan Arts and Crafts

During the past Easter holidays (March 2016) we travelled around Morocco and got acquainted with Moroccan handicrafts.

The old capital Fez is known for its hand-painted ceramics and the blue (cobalt) colour of it.  The young men - yes, it was without exception males - sat in the very rudimental workshops, some forming discs and vases, others painting them with natural colours. Our guide put an extra emphasis on the fact that hand-made is always more valuable than a factory-made product. We were told that the full-scale study in ceramics takes ten years.

Simple things about weaving looms

Simple things about weaving looms


I learned the basic things of weaving for more than thirty years ago, but have not practised it enough to master the art. Since I now have more time, I decided to start everything from the beginning.
Youtube is a treasure chest of ideas.  There I found a very good video from the Norwegian Handicraft Association (Norges husflidslag) and another, quite similar (but not as good) from the Swedish one (Hemslöjd).  From Finland I ordered two booklets, both from Mallikerta,which were very good, but they would not have sufficed, if I had not had previous knowledge and experience of weaving. But they added to my previous knowledge and helped me to understand better how to set up my new contramarch.  Somehow it seems that those who know how to do things, cannot imagine what problems simple things can rise for a novice. But it is the simple things that are the most important and the ones that we want to get an answer for!