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Viking art, also known commonly as Norse art, is a term widely accepted for the
art Art is a diverse range of cultural activity centered around ''works'' utilizing creative or imaginative talents, which are expected to evoke a worthwhile experience, generally through an expression of emotional power, conceptual ideas, tec ...
of
Scandinavia Scandinavia is a subregion#Europe, subregion of northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. It can sometimes also ...
n
Norsemen The Norsemen (or Northmen) were a cultural group in the Early Middle Ages, originating among speakers of Old Norse in Scandinavia. During the late eighth century, Scandinavians embarked on a Viking expansion, large-scale expansion in all direc ...
and
Viking Vikings were seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway, and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded, and settled throughout parts of Europe.Roesdahl, pp. 9� ...
settlements further afield—particularly in the
British Isles The British Isles are an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean off the north-western coast of continental Europe, consisting of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Inner Hebrides, Inner and Outer Hebr ...
and
Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...
—during the
Viking Age The Viking Age (about ) was the period during the Middle Ages when Norsemen known as Vikings undertook large-scale raiding, colonising, conquest, and trading throughout Europe and reached North America. The Viking Age applies not only to their ...
of the 8th-11th centuries. Viking art has many design elements in common with
Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foot ...
, Germanic, the later Romanesque and Eastern European art, sharing many influences with each of these traditions. Generally speaking, the current knowledge of Viking art relies heavily upon more durable objects of
metal A metal () is a material that, when polished or fractured, shows a lustrous appearance, and conducts electrical resistivity and conductivity, electricity and thermal conductivity, heat relatively well. These properties are all associated wit ...
and
stone In geology, rock (or stone) is any naturally occurring solid mass or aggregate of minerals or mineraloid matter. It is categorized by the minerals included, its Chemical compound, chemical composition, and the way in which it is formed. Rocks ...
;
wood Wood is a structural tissue/material found as xylem in the stems and roots of trees and other woody plants. It is an organic materiala natural composite of cellulosic fibers that are strong in tension and embedded in a matrix of lignin t ...
,
bone A bone is a rigid organ that constitutes part of the skeleton in most vertebrate animals. Bones protect the various other organs of the body, produce red and white blood cells, store minerals, provide structure and support for the body, ...
,
ivory Ivory is a hard, white material from the tusks (traditionally from elephants) and Tooth, teeth of animals, that consists mainly of dentine, one of the physical structures of teeth and tusks. The chemical structure of the teeth and tusks of mamm ...
and
textiles Textile is an Hyponymy and hypernymy, umbrella term that includes various Fiber, fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, Staple (textiles)#Filament fiber, filaments, Thread (yarn), threads, and different types of #Fabric, fabric. ...
are more rarely preserved. The artistic record, therefore, as it has survived to the present day, remains significantly incomplete. Ongoing
archaeological Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...
excavation Excavation may refer to: * Archaeological excavation * Excavation (medicine) * ''Excavation'' (The Haxan Cloak album), 2013 * ''Excavation'' (Ben Monder album), 2000 * ''Excavation'' (novel), a 2000 novel by James Rollins * '' Excavation: A Mem ...
and opportunistic finds, of course, may improve this situation in the future, as indeed they have in the recent past. Viking art is usually divided into a sequence of roughly chronological styles, although outside Scandinavia itself local influences are often strong, and the development of styles can be less clear.


Historical context

The Vikings' regional origins lay in Scandinavia, the northernmost peninsula of continental Europe, while the term 'Viking' likely derived from their own term for coastal raiding—the activity by which many neighboring cultures became acquainted with the inhabitants of the region. Viking raiders attacked wealthy targets on the north-western coasts of Europe from the late 8th until the mid-11th century CE. Pre-Christian traders and sea raiders, the Vikings first enter recorded history with their attack on the Christian monastic community on
Lindisfarne Lindisfarne, also known as Holy Island, is a tidal island off the northeast coast of England, which constitutes the civil parishes in England, civil parish of Holy Island in Northumberland. Holy Island has a recorded history from the 6th centu ...
Island in 793. The Vikings initially employed their
longship Longships, a type of specialised Viking ship, Scandinavian warships, have a long history in Scandinavia, with their existence being archaeologically proven and documented from at least the fourth century BC. Originally invented and used by th ...
s to invade and attack European coasts, harbors and river settlements on a seasonal basis. Subsequently, Viking activities diversified to include trading voyages to the east, west, and south of their Scandinavian homelands, with repeated and regular voyages following river systems east into
Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...
and the
Black Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...
and
Caspian Sea The Caspian Sea is the world's largest inland body of water, described as the List of lakes by area, world's largest lake and usually referred to as a full-fledged sea. An endorheic basin, it lies between Europe and Asia: east of the Caucasus, ...
regions, and west to the coastlines of the
British Isles The British Isles are an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean off the north-western coast of continental Europe, consisting of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Inner Hebrides, Inner and Outer Hebr ...
,
Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...
and
Greenland Greenland is an autonomous territory in the Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark. It is by far the largest geographically of three constituent parts of the kingdom; the other two are metropolitan Denmark and the Faroe Islands. Citizens of Greenlan ...
. Evidence exists for Vikings reaching
Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region of Labrador, having a total size of . As of 2025 the population ...
well before the later voyages of
Christopher Columbus Christopher Columbus (; between 25 August and 31 October 1451 – 20 May 1506) was an Italians, Italian explorer and navigator from the Republic of Genoa who completed Voyages of Christopher Columbus, four Spanish-based voyages across the At ...
came to the
New World The term "New World" is used to describe the majority of lands of Earth's Western Hemisphere, particularly the Americas, and sometimes Oceania."America." ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (). McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: ...
. Trading and merchant activities were accompanied by settlement and colonization in many of these territories.Kleiner, Gardner's Art Through The Ages: The Western Perspective, Volume I, 288.


By material


Wood and organic materials

Wood was undoubtedly the primary material of choice for Viking artists, being relatively easy to carve, inexpensive, and abundant in northern Europe. The importance of wood as an artistic medium is underscored by chance survivals of wood artistry at the very beginning and end of the Viking period, namely, the Oseberg ship-burial carvings of the early 9th century and the carved decoration of the
Urnes Stave Church Urnes Stave Church () is a 12th-century stave church at Ornes, along the Lustrafjorden in the municipality of Luster in Vestland county, Norway. The church sits on the eastern side of the fjord, directly across the fjord from the village of ...
from the 12th century. As summarised by James Graham-Campbell: "These remarkable survivals allow us to form at least an impression of what we are missing from original corpus of Viking art, although wooden fragments and small-scale carvings in other materials (such as antler, amber, and walrus ivory) provide further hints. The same is inevitably true of the textile arts, although weaving and embroidery were clearly well-developed crafts." Woodworking was used on all sorts of items like ships, furniture, and ceremonial objects.


Stone

With the exception of the Gotlandic picture stones prevalent in Sweden early in the Viking period, stone carving was apparently not practiced elsewhere in Scandinavia until the mid-10th century and the creation of the royal monuments at
Jelling Jelling is a railway town in Denmark with a population of 4,038 (1 January 2025), located in Jelling Parish, approximately 10 km northwest of Vejle. The town lies 105 metres above sea level. Location Jelling is located in Vejle municipality ...
in
Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...
. Subsequently, and likely influenced by the spread of Christianity, the use of carved stone for permanent memorials became more prevalent.


Metal

Beyond the discontinuous artifactual records of wood and stone, the reconstructed history of Viking art to date relies most on the study of decoration of ornamental
metalwork Metalworking is the process of shaping and reshaping metals in order to create useful objects, parts, assemblies, and large scale structures. As a term, it covers a wide and diverse range of processes, skills, and tools for producing objects on e ...
from a great variety of sources. Several types of archaeological context have succeeded in preserving metal objects for present study, while the durability of
precious metal Precious metals are rare, naturally occurring metallic chemical elements of high Value (economics), economic value. Precious metals, particularly the noble metals, are more corrosion resistant and less reactivity (chemistry), chemically reac ...
s, in particular, has preserved much artistic expression and endeavor. Jewelry was worn by both men and women, though of different types. Married women fastened their overdresses near the shoulder with matching pairs of large brooches. Modern scholars often call them "tortoise brooches" because of their domed shape. The shapes and styles of women's paired brooches varied regionally, but many used
openwork In art history, architecture, and related fields, openwork or open-work is any decorative technique that creates holes, piercings, or gaps through a solid material such as metal, wood, stone, pottery, cloth, leather, or ivory. Such techniques ha ...
. Women often strung metal chains or strings of beads between the brooches or suspended ornaments from the bottom of the brooches. Men wore rings on their fingers, arms and necks, and held their cloaks closed with
penannular brooch The Celtic brooch, more properly called the penannular brooch, and its closely related type, the pseudo-penannular brooch, are types of brooch clothes fasteners, often rather large; penannular means formed as an incomplete ring. They are especial ...
es, often with extravagantly long pins. Their weapons were often richly decorated on areas such as sword
hilt The hilt (rarely called a haft or shaft) is the handle of a knife, dagger, sword, or bayonet, consisting of a guard, grip, and pommel. The guard may contain a crossguard or quillons. A tassel or sword knot may be attached to the guard or pomme ...
s. A small number of large and lavish pieces or sets in solid gold have been found, probably belonging to royalty or major figures. Decorated metalwork of an everyday nature is frequently recovered from Viking period
grave A grave is a location where a cadaver, dead body (typically that of a human, although sometimes that of an animal) is burial, buried or interred after a funeral. Graves are usually located in special areas set aside for the purpose of buria ...
s, on account of the widespread practice of making burials accompanied by
grave good Grave goods, in archaeology and anthropology, are items buried along with a corpse, body. They are usually personal possessions, supplies to smooth the deceased's journey into an afterlife, or offerings to gods. Grave goods may be classed by re ...
s. The deceased was dressed in their best clothing and jewelry, and was interred with weapons, tools, and household goods. Items were forged by casting, inlay, and engraving. Less common, but significant nonetheless, are finds of precious metal objects in the form of treasure
hoard A hoard or "wealth deposit" is an archaeological term for a collection of valuable objects or artifacts, sometimes purposely buried in the ground, in which case it is sometimes also known as a cache. This would usually be with the intention of ...
s, many apparently concealed for safe-keeping by owners later unable to recover their contents, although some may have been deposited as offerings to the gods. Recently, given the increasing popularity and legality of metal-detecting, an increasing frequency of single, chance finds of metal objects and ornaments (most probably representing accidental losses) is creating a fast expanding corpus of new material for study. Viking coins fit well into this latter category, but nonetheless form a separate category of Viking period artefact, their design and decoration largely independent of the developing styles characteristic of wider Viking artistic endeavor.


Forms of Art


Beads

Beads were a significant part of Viking society for a multitude of reasons. They were a form of art commonly made out of glass but also from different types of metals and, more rarely, natural materials such as amber, carnelian, rock crystal, etc. These were used to create pendants and/or beads for Vikings. Typically, beads were globular and monochrome; however, the rarer beads were kaleidoscopic and had unique patterns. Beads from the
Viking age The Viking Age (about ) was the period during the Middle Ages when Norsemen known as Vikings undertook large-scale raiding, colonising, conquest, and trading throughout Europe and reached North America. The Viking Age applies not only to their ...
have been found primarily within Viking burial sites like
Birka Birka (''Birca'' in medieval sources), on the island of Björkö, Ekerö, Björkö (lit. "Birch Island") in present-day Sweden, was an important Viking Age trading center which handled goods from Scandinavia as well as many parts of Continent ...
and also in known Viking settlement locations and trading towns like
Hedeby Hedeby (, Old Norse: ''Heiðabýr'', German: ''Haithabu'') was an important Danish Viking Age (8th to the 11th centuries) trading settlement near the southern end of the Jutland Peninsula, now in the Schleswig-Flensburg district of Schleswig ...
. Beads during this era were costly items, so if used for individual purposes, they were an indicator of wealth and high social status; The role of beads in burial sites indicated their cultural significance and value within the Viking Society. Beads were also a huge drive for trade; The Norse used them as portable wealth and leverage for economic determinism. While Scandivania’s beads were an attraction and gave wealth to early Viking establishments, over time and through widespread trade routes from
Viking expansion Viking expansion was the historical movement which led Norsemen, Norse explorers, traders and warriors, the latter known in modern scholarship as Vikings, to sail most of the North Atlantic, reaching south as far as North Africa and east as fa ...
, Eastern beads became more popular. However, beads were still used as a form of currency and a symbol of wealth. Beads were an incentive for trade further establishing Viking settlement and were a huge part of Viking art and culture.


Textiles

While often less preserved reveal a sophisticated tradition of weaving and embroidery, with silk and wool often adorned with elaborate patterns.


Other sources

A non-visual source of information for Viking art lies in
skaldic verse A skald, or skáld (Old Norse: ; , meaning "poet"), is one of the often named poets who composed skaldic poetry, one of the two kinds of Old Norse poetry in alliterative verse, the other being Eddic poetry. Skaldic poems were traditionally compo ...
, the complex form of oral poetry composed during the Viking Age and passed on until written down centuries later. Several verses speak of painted forms of decoration that have but rarely survived on wood and stone. The 9th-century skald poet
Bragi Boddason Bragi Boddason, known as Bragi the Old (Old Norse language, Old Norse: ''Bragi hinn gamli'') was a Norwegian skald active in the first half of the 9th century in poetry, 9th century, the earliest known skald from whom verses have survived. Portio ...
, for example, cites four apparently unrelated scenes painted on a shield. One of these scenes depicted the god
Thor Thor (from ) is a prominent list of thunder gods, god in Germanic paganism. In Norse mythology, he is a hammer-wielding æsir, god associated with lightning, thunder, storms, sacred trees and groves in Germanic paganism and mythology, sacred g ...
's fishing expedition, which motif is also referenced in a 10th-century poem by Úlfr Uggason describing the paintings in a newly constructed hall in Iceland.


Origins and background

A continuous artistic tradition common to most of north-western Europe and developing from the 4th century CE formed the foundations on which Viking Age art and decoration were built: from that period onwards, the output of Scandinavian artists was broadly focused on varieties of convoluted animal ornamentation used to decorate a wide variety of objects. The art historian Bernhard Salin was the first to systematise Germanic animal ornament, dividing it into three styles (I, II, and III). The latter two were subsequently subdivided by Arwidsson into three further styles: Style C, flourishing during the 7th century and into the 8th century, before being largely replaced (especially in southern Scandinavia) by Style D. Styles C and D provided the inspiration for the initial expression of animal ornament within the Viking Age, Style E, commonly known as the Oseberg / Broa Style. Both Styles D and E developed within a broad Scandinavian context which, although in keeping with north-western European animal ornamentation generally, exhibited little influence from beyond Scandinavia .


Scholarship

Although preliminary formulations were made in the late 19th century, the history of Viking art first achieved maturity in the early 20th century with the detailed publication of the ornate wood carvings discovered in 1904 as part of the Oserberg ship-burial by the Norwegian archaeologist Haakon Shetelig. Importantly, it was the English archaeologist
David M. Wilson Sir David Mackenzie Wilson, FBA (born 30 October 1931) is a British archaeologist, art historian, and museum curator, specialising in Anglo-Saxon art and the Viking Age. From 1977 until 1992 he served as the director of the British Museum, whe ...
, working with his Danish colleague Ole Klindt-Jensen to produce the 1966 survey work ''Viking Art'', who created foundations for the systematic characterization of the field still employed today, together with a developed chronological framework. David Wilson continued to produce mostly English-language studies on Viking art in subsequent years, joined over recent decades by the Norwegian art-historian
Signe Horn Fuglesang Signe Horn Fuglesang (born 1938) is a Norwegian art historian and professor emerita at the University of Oslo, best known for her published research and writings on Viking art. She is a fellow of the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters The ...
with her own series of important publications. Together these scholars have combined authority with accessibility to promote the increasing understanding of Viking art as a cultural expression.


Styles

The art of the
Viking Age The Viking Age (about ) was the period during the Middle Ages when Norsemen known as Vikings undertook large-scale raiding, colonising, conquest, and trading throughout Europe and reached North America. The Viking Age applies not only to their ...
is organized into a loose sequence of stylistic phases which, despite the significant overlap in style and chronology, may be defined and distinguished on account both of formal design elements and of recurring compositions and motifs: * Oseberg Style * Borre Style * Jellinge Style * Mammen Style * Ringerike Style * Urnes Style Unsurprisingly, these stylistic phases appear in their purest form in Scandinavia itself; elsewhere in the Viking world, notable admixtures from external cultures and influences frequently appear. In the British Isles, for example, art historians identify distinct, 'Insular' versions of Scandinavian motifs, often directly alongside 'pure' Viking decoration.


Oseberg Style

The Oseberg Style characterises the initial phase in what has been considered Viking art. The Oseberg Style takes its name from the Oseberg Ship grave, a well-preserved and highly decorated
longship Longships, a type of specialised Viking ship, Scandinavian warships, have a long history in Scandinavia, with their existence being archaeologically proven and documented from at least the fourth century BC. Originally invented and used by th ...
discovered in a large burial mound at the Oseberg farm near
Tønsberg Tønsberg (), historically Tunsberg, is a List of towns and cities in Norway, city in Tønsberg Municipality in Vestfold county, Norway. It is located about south-southwest of the capital city of Oslo on the western coast of the Oslofjord near ...
in
Vestfold Vestfold () is a county and a current electoral district in Norway. Located on the western shore of the Oslofjord, it borders Buskerud and Telemark counties. The county administration is located in Tønsberg, Norway's oldest city, and the larg ...
,
Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...
, which also contained a number of other richly decorated wooden objects. Currently located at the Viking Ship Museum,
Bygdøy Bygdøy or Bygdø is a peninsula situated on the western side of Oslo, Norway. Administratively, Bygdøy is part of the borough of Frogner. It historically was part of Aker Municipality and became part of Oslo in 1948. Bygdøy is a popular recr ...
, and over 70 feet long, the Oseberg Ship held the remains of two women and many precious objects that were probably removed by robbers early before it was found. The Oseberg ship itself is decorated with a more traditional style of animal interlace that does not feature the gripping beast motif. However, five carved wooden animal-head posts were found in the ship, and the one known as the ''Carolingian animal-head post'' is decorated with gripping beasts, as are other grave goods from the ship. The Carolingian head represents a snarling beast, possibly a wolf, with surface ornamentation in the form of interwoven animals that twist and turn as they are gripping and snapping. Image:Carolingian animal-head post.jpg, Detail of the Carolingian animal-head post from the Oseberg ship burial, showing the gripping beast motif. Image:Osebergskipet-Detail.jpg, Detail from the Oseberg ship Image:Oseberg bow detail.JPG, Oseberg bow detail


Broa style

The Broa style, named after a bridle-mount found at Broa, Halla parish, Gotland, is sometimes included with the Oseberg style, and sometimes held as its own. Image:Broa bridle (HST DIG56307).jpg, Photograph of the Broa bridle taken by Ola Myrin for the Swedish Historiska museet exhibit "The Viking World". Image:Broa bridle (HST DIG56309).jpg, Right side relative to the horse. Image:Broa bridle (HST DIG49898).jpg, Detail of left side. Image:Broa bridle (HST DIG56311).jpg, Detail of mounts hanging from the bit.


Borre Style

The Borre Style embraces a range of geometric interlace / knot patterns and zoomorphic (single animal) motifs, first recognised in a group of gilt-bronze harness mounts recovered from a ship grave in
Borre mound cemetery Borre mound cemetery (Norwegian: ''Borrehaugene'' from the ''Old Norse'' words ''borró'' and ''haugr'' meaning mound) forms part of the Borre National Park at Horten in Vestfold, Norway. It is home to seven large and 21 smaller burial mounds ...
near the village of Borre,
Vestfold Vestfold () is a county and a current electoral district in Norway. Located on the western shore of the Oslofjord, it borders Buskerud and Telemark counties. The county administration is located in Tønsberg, Norway's oldest city, and the larg ...
,
Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...
, and from which the name of the style derives. Borre Style prevailed in Scandinavia from the late 9th through to the late 10th century, a timeframe supported by dendrochronological data supplied from sites with characteristically Borre Style artifacts Found in Brooches The 'gripping-beast' with a ribbon-shaped body continues as a characteristic of this and earlier styles. As with geometric patterning in this phase, the visual thrust of the Borre Style results from the filling of available space: ribbon animal plaits are tightly interlaced and animal bodies are arranged to create tight, closed compositions. As a result, any background is markedly absent – a characteristic of the Borre Style that contrasts strongly with the more open and fluid compositions that prevailed in the overlapping Jellinge Style. A more particular diagnostic feature of Borre Style lies in a symmetrical, double-contoured 'ring-chain' (or 'ring-braid'), whose composition consists of interlaced circles separated by transverse bars and a
lozenge Lozenge or losange may refer to: * Lozenge (shape), a type of rhombus *Throat lozenge A throat lozenge (also known as a cough drop, sore throat sweet, troche, cachou, pastille or cough sweet) is a small, typically medicated tablet intended to ...
overlay. The Borre ring-chain occasionally terminates with an animal head in high relief, as seen on strap fittings from Borre and Gokstad. The ridges of designs in metalwork are often nicked to imitate the filigree wire employed in the finest pieces of craftsmanship.


Jellinge Style

The Jellinge Style is a phase of
Scandinavia Scandinavia is a subregion#Europe, subregion of northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. It can sometimes also ...
n animal art during the late 10th century.The article ''jellingestil'' in ''
Nationalencyklopedin (; "The National Encyclopedia" in English), abbreviated NE, is a comprehensive contemporary Swedish-language encyclopedia with several hundred thousand articles. It is available both online and via a printed version. History The project was ...
'' (1993).
Bridging the earlier Borre style with the later Mammen style. The style is characterized by markedly ribbon -like stylized animal motifs and often band-shaped bodies of animals. It was originally applied to a complex of objects in
Jelling Jelling is a railway town in Denmark with a population of 4,038 (1 January 2025), located in Jelling Parish, approximately 10 km northwest of Vejle. The town lies 105 metres above sea level. Location Jelling is located in Vejle municipality ...
,
Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...
, such as Gorm's Cup (by King Gorm,) and
Harald Bluetooth Harald "Bluetooth" Gormsson (; , died c. 985/86) was a king of Denmark and Norway. The son of King Gorm the Old and Thyra Dannebod, Harald ruled as king of Denmark from c. 958 – c. 986, introduced Christianization of Denmark, Christianity to D ...
's great runestone, but more recently the style is included in the Mammen style. Image:Skaill-jelling.gif Image:Varby-jelling.gif Image:Decoratiepatroon van reliekenhoorn (Scandinavië, 10e eeuw), Schatkamer OLV-basiliek, Maastricht.JPG


Mammen Style

The Mammen Style takes its name from its type object, an axe recovered from a wealthy male burial marked a mound (Bjerringhø) at Mammen, in
Jutland Jutland (; , ''Jyske Halvø'' or ''Cimbriske Halvø''; , ''Kimbrische Halbinsel'' or ''Jütische Halbinsel'') is a peninsula of Northern Europe that forms the continental portion of Denmark and part of northern Germany (Schleswig-Holstein). It ...
, Denmark (on the basis of dendrochronology, the wood used in construction of the grave chamber was felled in winter 970–971). Richly decorated on both sides with inlaid silver designs, the iron axe was probably a ceremonial parade weapon that was the property of a man of princely status, his burial clothes bearing elaborate embroidery and trimmed with silk and fur. On one face, the Mammen axe features a large bird with pelleted body, crest, circular eye, and upright head and beak with lappet. A large shell-spiral marks the bird's hip, from which point its thinly elongated wings emerge: the right wing interlaces with the bird's neck, while the left wing interlaces with its body and tail. The outer wing edge displays a semi-circular nick typical of Mammen Style design. The tail is rendered as a triple tendril, the particular treatment of which on the Mammen axe – with open, hook-like ends – forming a characteristic of the Mammen Style as a whole. Complicating the design is the bird's head-lappet, interlacing twice with neck and right wing, whilst also sprouting tendrils along the blade edge. At the top, near the haft, the Mammen axe features an interlaced knot on one side, a triangular human mask (with large nose, moustache and spiral beard) on the other; the latter would prove a favoured Mammen Style motif carried over from earlier styles. On the other side, the Mammen axe bears a spreading foliate (leaf) design, emanating from spirals at the base with thin, 'pelleted' tendrils spreading and intertwining across the axe head towards the haft.


Ringerike Style

The Ringerike Style receives its name from the Ringerike district north of
Oslo Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022 ...
, Norway, where the local reddish
sandstone Sandstone is a Clastic rock#Sedimentary clastic rocks, clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of grain size, sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate mineral, silicate grains, Cementation (geology), cemented together by another mineral. Sand ...
was widely employed for carving stones with designs of the style.Only one stone carved in this style, however, has been found in Ringerike itself, at Tanberg, cf. Fugelesang 1980:pl.38. The type object most commonly used to define the period is a high
carved stone Stone carving is an activity where pieces of rough natural Rock (geology), stone are shaped by the controlled removal of stone. Owing to the permanence of the material, stone work has survived which was created during our prehistory or past tim ...
from Vang in
Oppland Oppland is a former county in Norway which existed from 1781 until its dissolution on 1 January 2020. The old Oppland county bordered the counties of Trøndelag, Møre og Romsdal, Sogn og Fjordane, Buskerud, Akershus, Oslo and Hedmark. The ...
. Apart from a runic memorial inscription on its right edge, the main field of the Vang Stone is filled with a balanced
tendril In botany, a tendril is a specialized Plant stem, stem, leaf or Petiole (botany), petiole with a thread-like shape used by climbing plants for support and attachment, as well as cellular invasion by parasitic plants such as ''Cuscuta''. There ar ...
ornament springing from two shell spirals at the base: the main stems cross twice to terminate in lobed tendrils. At the crossing, further tendrils spring from loops and pear-shaped motifs appear from the tendril centres on the upper loop. Although axial in conception, a basic asymmetry arises in the deposition of the tendrils. Surmounting the tendril pattern appears a large striding animal in double-contoured rendering with spiral hips and a lip lappet. Comparing the Vang Stone animal design with the related animal from the Mammen axe-head, the latter lacks the axiality seen in the Vang Stone and its tendrils are far less disciplined: the Mammen scroll is wavy, while the Vang scroll appears taut and evenly curved, these features marking a key difference between Mammen and Ringerike ornament. The inter-relationship between the two styles is obvious, however, when comparing the Vang Stone animal with that found on the Jelling Stone. With regard to metalwork, Ringerike Style is best seen in two copper-gilt
weather-vane A wind vane, weather vane, or weathercock is an instrument used for showing the direction of the wind. It is typically used as an architectural ornament to the highest point of a building. The word ''vane'' comes from the Old English word , me ...
s, from Källunge, Gotland and from Söderala, Hälsingland (the
Söderala vane The Söderala vane () is a weather vane dating from the Viking Age, richly ornamented and made of gilt bronze. It derives its name from in Söderala, Sweden, where it was used as a weather vane during the 18th century. It was most probably origi ...
), both in Sweden. The former displays one face two axially-constructed loops in the form of snakes, which in turn sprout symmetrically-placed tendrils. The snake heads, as well as the animal and snake on the reverse, find more florid treatment than on the Vang Stone: all have lip lappets, the snakes bear pigtails, while all animals have a pear-shaped eye with the point directed towards the snout – a diagnostic feature of Ringerike Style. The Ringerike Style evolved out of the earlier
Mammen Style Viking art, also known commonly as Norse art, is a term widely accepted for the art of Scandinavian Norsemen and Viking settlements further afield—particularly in the British Isles and Iceland—during the Viking Age of the 8th-11th centuries ...
. It received its name from a group of
runestone A runestone is typically a raised stone with a runic alphabet, runic inscription, but the term can also be applied to inscriptions on boulders and on bedrock. The tradition of erecting runestones as a memorial to dead men began in the 4th centur ...
s with animal and plant motifs in the Ringerike district north of
Oslo Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022 ...
. The most common motifs are lions, birds, band-shaped animals and spirals.Moss (2014), p. 44 Some elements appear for the first time in Scandinavian art, such as different types of crosses, palmettes and pretzel-shaped nooses that tie together two motifs. Most of the motifs have counterparts in
Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons, in some contexts simply called Saxons or the English, were a Cultural identity, cultural group who spoke Old English and inhabited much of what is now England and south-eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. They traced t ...
, Insular and
Ottonian art Ottonian art is a style (visual arts), style in Pre-Romanesque art, pre-romanesque German art, covering also some works from the Low Countries, northern Italy and eastern France. It was named by the art historian Hubert Janitschek after the Ottoni ...
. File:Ringerike St Paul runetone.jpg, English Runic Inscription 2 Image:Ög 111.jpg, The runestone Ög 111 with a cross in Ringerike style File:Sö280 Strängnäs.jpg, Runestone Sö 280 at
Strängnäs Cathedral Strängnäs Cathedral () is a Lutheran cathedral church in Strängnäs, Sweden, since the Protestant Reformation the seat of the Church of Sweden Diocese of Strängnäs. Architecture Construction of the cathedral began in about 1260 with inaug ...
File:U 1146, Gillberga.JPG, Runestone U 1146 in Gillberga, Uppland


Urnes Style

The Urnes Style was the last phase of
Scandinavia Scandinavia is a subregion#Europe, subregion of northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. It can sometimes also ...
n animal art during the second half of the 11th century and in the early 12th century.The article ''urnesstil'' in ''
Nationalencyklopedin (; "The National Encyclopedia" in English), abbreviated NE, is a comprehensive contemporary Swedish-language encyclopedia with several hundred thousand articles. It is available both online and via a printed version. History The project was ...
'' (1996).
The Urnes Style is named after the northern gate of the
Urnes stave church Urnes Stave Church () is a 12th-century stave church at Ornes, along the Lustrafjorden in the municipality of Luster in Vestland county, Norway. The church sits on the eastern side of the fjord, directly across the fjord from the village of ...
in
Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...
, but most objects in the style are
runestone A runestone is typically a raised stone with a runic alphabet, runic inscription, but the term can also be applied to inscriptions on boulders and on bedrock. The tradition of erecting runestones as a memorial to dead men began in the 4th centur ...
s in
Uppland Uppland is a historical province or ' on the eastern coast of Sweden, just north of Stockholm, the capital. It borders Södermanland, Västmanland and Gästrikland. It is also bounded by lake Mälaren and the Baltic Sea. The name literally ...
,
Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...
, which is why some scholars prefer to call it the ''
Runestone style :''The term "runestone style" in the singular may refer to the Urnes style.'' The style or design of runestones varied during the Viking Age. The early runestones were simple in design, but towards the end of the runestone era they became increas ...
''. The style is characterized by slim and stylised animals that are interwoven into tight patterns. The animals heads are seen in profile, they have slender almond-shaped eyes and there are upwardly curled appendages on the noses and the necks.


Early Urnes Style

The early style has received a dating which is mainly based on runestone U 343, runestone U 344 and a silver bowl from c. 1050, which was found at Lilla Valla. The early version of this style on runestones comprises
England Runestones The England runestones ( Swedish: ''Englandsstenarna'') are a group of about 30 runestones in Scandinavia which refer to Viking Age voyages to England. They constitute one of the largest groups of runestones that mention voyages to other countrie ...
referring to the
Danegeld Danegeld (; "Danish tax", literally "Dane yield" or tribute) was a tax raised to pay tribute or Protection racket, protection money to the Viking raiders to save a land from being ravaged. It was called the ''geld'' or ''gafol'' in eleventh-c ...
and
Canute the Great Cnut ( ; ; – 12 November 1035), also known as Canute and with the epithet the Great, was King of England from 1016, King of Denmark from 1018, and King of Norway from 1028 until his death in 1035. The three kingdoms united under Cnut's rul ...
and works by
Åsmund Kåresson Åsmund Kåresson was a Viking Age runemaster who flourished during the first half of the 11th century in Uppland and Gästrikland, Sweden. The early Urnes style is represented in his art. pp. 197, 208–09. Work Most early medieval Scandinavians ...
.Fuglesang, S.H. ''Swedish runestones of the eleventh century: ornament and dating'', Runeninschriften als Quellen interdisziplinärer Forschung (K.Düwel ed.). Göttingen 1998, pp. 197–218. p. 206


Mid-Urnes Style

The mid-Urnes Style has received a relatively firm dating based on its appearance on coins issued by
Harald Hardrada Harald Sigurdsson (; – 25 September 1066), also known as Harald III of Norway and given the epithet ''Hardrada'' in the sagas, was List of Norwegian monarchs, King of Norway from 1046 to 1066. He unsuccessfully claimed the Monarchy of Denma ...
(1047–1066) and by
Olav Kyrre Olaf III or Olaf Haraldsson (Old Norse: ''Óláfr Haraldsson'', Norwegian: ''Olav Haraldsson''; – 22 September 1093), known as Olaf the Peaceful (Old Norse: ''Óláfr kyrri'', Norwegian: ''Olav Kyrre''), was King of Norway from 1067 until hi ...
(1080–1090). Two wood carvings from
Oslo Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022 ...
have been dated to c. 1050–1100 and the Hørning plank is dated by
dendrochronology Dendrochronology (or tree-ring dating) is the scientific method of chronological dating, dating tree rings (also called growth rings) to the exact year they were formed in a tree. As well as dating them, this can give data for dendroclimatology, ...
to c. 1060–1070. There is, however, evidence suggesting that the mid-Urnes style was developed before 1050 in the manner it is represented by the
runemaster A runemaster or runecarver is a specialist in making runestones. Description More than 100 names of runemasters are known from Viking Age Sweden with most of them from 11th-century eastern Svealand.The article ''Runristare'' in ''Nationalencyklo ...
s Fot and Balli.


Late Urnes Style

The mid-Urnes Style would stay popular side by side with the late Urnes style of the
runemaster A runemaster or runecarver is a specialist in making runestones. Description More than 100 names of runemasters are known from Viking Age Sweden with most of them from 11th-century eastern Svealand.The article ''Runristare'' in ''Nationalencyklo ...
Öpir Öpir or ''Öper'' (Old Norse: ''Øpiʀ''/''Œpir'', meaning "shouter") was a runemaster who flourished during the late 11th century and early 12th century in Uppland, Sweden.The article ''Öpir'' in ''Nationalencyklopedin'' (1996). He was the m ...
. He is famous for a style in which the animals are extremely thin and make circular patterns in open compositions. This style was not unique to Öpir and Sweden, but it also appears on a plank from Bølstad and on a chair from
Trondheim Trondheim ( , , ; ), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros, and Trondhjem (), is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2022, it had a population of 212,660. Trondheim is the third most populous municipality in Norway, and is ...
,
Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...
. The
Jarlabanke Runestones The Jarlabanke Runestones () is the name of about 20 runestones written in Old Norse with the Younger Futhark rune script in the 11th century, in Uppland, Sweden. They were ordered by what appears to have been a Germanic chieftain, chieftain ...
show traits both from this late style and from the mid-Urnes style of Fot and Balli, and it was the Fot-Balli type that would mix with the
Romanesque style Romanesque architecture is an architectural style of medieval Europe that was predominant in the 11th and 12th centuries. The style eventually developed into the Gothic style with the shape of the arches providing a simple distinction: the Ro ...
in the 12th century.Fuglesang, S.H. ''Swedish runestones of the eleventh century: ornament and dating'', Runeninschriften als Quellen interdisziplinärer Forschung (K.Düwel ed.). Göttingen 1998, pp. 197–218. p. 207


Urnes-Romanesque Style

The Urnes-Romanesque Style does not appear on runestones which suggests that the tradition of making runestones had died out when the mixed style made its appearance since it is well represented in
Gotland Gotland (; ; ''Gutland'' in Gutnish), also historically spelled Gottland or Gothland (), is Sweden's largest island. It is also a Provinces of Sweden, province/Counties of Sweden, county (Swedish län), Municipalities of Sweden, municipality, a ...
and on the Swedish mainland. The Urnes-Romanesque Style can be dated independently of style thanks to representations from
Oslo Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022 ...
in the period 1100–1175, dendrochronological dating of the Lisbjerg frontal in
Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...
to 1135, as well as Irish reliquaries that are dated to the second half of the 12th century.Fuglesang, S.H. ''Swedish runestones of the eleventh century: ornament and dating'', Runeninschriften als Quellen interdisziplinärer Forschung (K.Düwel ed.). Göttingen 1998, pp. 197–218. p. 208


See also

*
Migration Period art Migration Period art denotes the artwork of the Germanic peoples during the Migration period (c. 300 – 800). It includes the Migration art of the Germanic tribes on the continent, as well the start of the Insular art or Hiberno-Saxon art of the ...
*
Medieval art The medieval art of the Western world covers a vast scope of time and place, with over 1000 years of art in Europe, and at certain periods in Western Asia and Northern Africa. It includes major art movements and periods, national and regional ar ...
* Celtic art *
Anglo-Saxon art Anglo-Saxon art covers art produced within the Anglo-Saxons, Anglo-Saxon period of English history, beginning with the Migration period art, Migration period style that the Anglo-Saxons brought with them from the continent in the 5th century, ...
*
Insular art Insular art, also known as Hiberno-Saxon art, was produced in the sub-Roman Britain, post-Roman era of Great Britain and Ireland. The term derives from ''insula'', the Latin language, Latin term for "island"; in this period Britain and Ireland ...
*
Picture stone A picture stone, image stone or figure stone is an ornate slab of stone, usually limestone, which was raised in Germanic Iron Age or Viking Age Scandinavia, and in the greatest number on Gotland.The article ''Bildstenar'' in ''Nationalencyklopedi ...
*
Runestone styles :''The term "runestone style" in the singular may refer to the Urnes style.'' The style or design of runestones varied during the Viking Age. The early runestones were simple in design, but towards the end of the runestone era they became increas ...
* Interlace * Saint Manchan's Shrine, Urnes style adapted to Ringerike style.


Notes


References


Background

* Brink, S. with Price, N. (eds) (2008). ''The Viking World'', outledge Worlds Routledge: London and New York, 2008. * Graham-Campbell, J. (2001), ''The Viking World'', London, 2001.


General Surveys

* Anker, P. (1970). ''The Art of Scandinavia'', Volume I, London and New York, 1970. * Fuglesang, S.H. (1996). "Viking Art", in Turner, J. (ed.), ''The Grove Dictionary of Art'', Volume 32, London and New York, 1996, pp. 514–27, 531–32. * Graham-Campbell, J. (1980). ''Viking Artefacts: A Select Catalogue'', British Museum Publications: London, 1980. * Graham-Campbell, James (2013). ''Viking Art'', Thames & Hudson, 2013. * Fred S. Kleiner, ''Gardner's Art Through The Ages: The Western Perspective'', Volume I. (Boston, Mass.: Wadsworth Cengage Learning, 2009

* Roesdahl, E. and Wilson, D.M. (eds) (1992). ''From Viking to Crusader: Scandinavia and Europe 800–1200'', Copenhagen and New York, 1992. xhibition catalogue * Williams, G., Pentz, P. and Wemhoff, M. (eds), ''Vikings: Life and Legend'', British Museum Press: London, 2014. xhibition catalogue * Wilson, D.M. & Klindt-Jensen, O. (1980). ''Viking Art'', second edition, George Allen and Unwin, 1980.


Specialist Studies

* Arwidsson, G. (1942a). ''Valsgärdestudien I. Vendelstile: Email und Glas im 7.-8. Jahrhundert'', cta Musei antiquitatum septentrionalium Regiae Universitatis Upsaliensis 2 Uppsala: Almqvist, 1942. * Arwidsson, G. (1942b). ''Die Gräberfunde von Valsgärde I, Valsgärde 6'', cta Musei antiquitatum septentrionalium Regiae Universitatis Upsaliensis 1 Uppsala: Almqvist & Wiksell, 1942. * Bailey, R.N. (1980). ''Viking Age Sculpture in Northern England'', Collins Archaeology: London, 1980. * Bonde, N. and Christensen, A.E. (1993). "Dendrochronological dating of the Viking Age ship burials at Oseberg, Gokstad and Tune, Norway", ''Antiquity'' 67 (1993), pp. 575–83. * * Capelle, T. (1968). ''Der Metallschmuck von Haithabu: Studien zur wikingischen Metallkunst'', ie Ausgrabungen in Haithabu 5 Neumunster: K. Wachholtz, 1968. * * Fuglesang, S.H. (1980). ''Some Aspects of the Ringerike Style: A Phase of 11th Century Scandinavian Art'', ediaeval Scandinavia Supplements University Press of Southern Denmark: Odense, 1980. * Fuglesang, S.H. (1981). "Stylistic Groups in Late Viking and Early Romanesque Art", ''Acta ad Archaeologiam et Artium Historiam Pertinentia'',
eries altera in 8° The Erie people were an Indigenous people of the Northeastern Woodlands historically living on the south shore of Lake Erie. An Iroquoian-speaking tribe, they lived in what is now western New York, northwestern Pennsylvania, and northern Ohio be ...
I, 1981, pp. 79–125. * Fuglesang, S.H. (1982). "Early Viking Art", ''Acta ad Archaeologiam et Artium Historiam Pertinentia''
eries altera in 8° The Erie people were an Indigenous people of the Northeastern Woodlands historically living on the south shore of Lake Erie. An Iroquoian-speaking tribe, they lived in what is now western New York, northwestern Pennsylvania, and northern Ohio be ...
II, 1982, pp. 125–73. * Fuglesang, S.H. (1991). "The Axe-Head from Mammen and the Mammen Style", in Iversen (1991), pp. 83–108. * Fuglesang, S.H. (1998). "Swedish Runestones of the Eleventh Century: Ornament and Dating", in Düwel, K. and Nowak, S. (eds), ''Runeninschriften als Quellen interdisziplinärer Forschung: Abhandlungen des vierten internationalen Symposiums über Runen und Runeninschriften in Gottingen vom 4.-9. August 1995'', Göttingen: Walter de Gruyter, 1998, pp. 197–218. * Fuglesang, S.H. (2001). "Animal Ornament: the Late Viking Period", in Müller-Wille and Larsson (eds) (2001), pp. 157–94. * Fuglesang, S.H. (2013). "Copying and Creativity in Early Viking Ornament", in Reynolds and Webster (eds) (2013), pp. 825–41. * Hedeager, L. (2003). "Beyond Mortality: Scandinavian Animal Styles AD 400–1200", in Downes, J. and Ritchie, A. (eds), ''Sea Change: Orkney and Northern Europe in the Later Iron Age AD 300–800'', Balgavies, 2003, pp. 127–36. * Iversen, M. (ed.) (1991). ''Mammen: Grav, Kunst og Samfund i Vikingetid'', ysk Arkæologisk Selskabs Skrifter XXVIII Højbjerg, 1991. * Kershaw, J. (2008). "The Distribution of the 'Winchester' Style in Late Saxon England: Metalwork Finds from the Danelaw", ''Anglo-Saxon Studies in Archaeology and History 15 (2008), pp. 254–69
Academic.edu
* Krafft, S. (1956). ''Pictorial Weavings from the Viking Age'', Oslo: Dreyer, 1956. * Lang, J.T. (1984). "The hogback: a Viking colonial monument", ''Anglo-Saxon Studies in Archaeology and History'' 3 (1984), pp. 85–176. * Lang, J.T. (1988). ''Viking Age Decorated Wood: A Study of its Ornament and Style'', Dublin: Royal Irish Academy, 1988. * Moss, Rachel. ''Medieval c. 400—c. 1600: Art and Architecture of Ireland''. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2014. * Müller-Wille, M. and Larsson, L.O. (eds) (2001). ''Tiere – Menschen – Götter: Wikingerzeitliche Kunststile und ihre Neuzeitliche Rezeption'', Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht: Gottingen, 2001. * Myhre, B. (1992). "The Royal Cemetery at Borre, Vestfold: A Norwegian Centre in a European Periphery", in Carter, M. (ed.), ''The Age of Sutton Hoo. The Seventh Century in North-West Europe'', Woodbridge: Boydell, 1992. * Owen, O. (2001). "The strange beast that is the English Urnes Style", in Graham-Campbell, J. ''et al.'' (eds), ''Vikings and the Danelaw – Selected Papers from the Proceedings of the Thirteenth Viking Congress'', Oxford: Oxbow, 2001, pp. 203–22. * Paterson, C. (2002). "From Pendants to Brooches – The Exchange of Borre and Jelling Style Motifs across the North Sea", ''Hikuin'' 29 (2002), pp. 267–76. * Reynolds, A. and Webster, L. (eds) (2013), ''Early Medieval Art and Archaeology in the Northern World—Studies in Honour of James Graham-Campbell'', Brill: Leiden and Boston, 2013. * Richards, J.D. and Naylor, J. (2010). "The metal detector and the Viking Age in England", in Sheehan, J. and Corráin, D. Ó. (eds), ''The Viking Age. Ireland and the West. Proceedings of the Fifteenth Viking Congress'', Dublin: Four Courts Press, 2010, pp. 338–52. * Roesdahl, E. (1994). "Dendrochronology and Viking Studies in Denmark, with a Note on the Beginning of the Viking Age", in Abrosiani, B. and Clarke, H. (eds), ''Developments around the Baltic and the North Sea in the Viking Age'', Stockholm: Birka Project for Riksantikvarieämbetet and Statens Historiska Museer, 1994, pp. 106–16. * Roesdahl, E. (2010a). "Viking Art in European Churches (Cammin – Bamberg – Prague – León)", in Sheehan and Ó Corráin (eds) (2010), pp. 149–64. * Roesdahl, E. (2010b). "From Scandinavia to Spain: a Viking Age Reliquary in León and its Significance", in Sheehan, J. and Corráin, D. Ó. (eds), ''The Viking Age. Ireland and the West. Proceedings of the Fifteenth Viking Congress'', Dublin: Four Courts Press, 2010, pp. 353–60. * Salin, Bernhard (1904). ''Die altgermanische Thieronamentik'', Stockholm: Wahlström & Widstrand, 1904. * Sheehan, J. and Ó Corráin, D. (eds) (2010). ''The Viking Age: Ireland and the West. Proceedings of the XVth Viking Congress, Cork, 2005.'', Dublin and Portland: Four Courts Press, 2010. * Shetelig, H. (1920). ''Osebergfundet'', Volume III, Kristiania, 1920. * Wilson, D.M. (2001). "The Earliest Animal Styles of the Viking Age", in Müller-Wille and Larsson (eds) (2001), pp. 131–56. * Wilson, D.M. (2008a). "The Development of Viking Art", in Brink with Price (2008), pp. 323–38. * Wilson, D.M. (2008b). ''The Vikings in the Isle of Man'', Aarhus: Aarhus University Press, 2008.


External links


British Museum: Explore / World Cultures: Vikings
* Sorabella, Jean

in ''Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History'', New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. Updated October 2002. *
Age of spirituality : late antique and early Christian art, third to seventh century
' from The Metropolitan Museum of Art




Examples of the Broa and Oseberg Style

Borrehaugene
* Jane Kershaw
Viking-Age Scandinavian art styles and their appearance in the British Isles – Part 1: Early Viking-Age art styles
– The Finds Research Group AD 700–1700, Datasheet 42, 2010. (Academia.edu registration required). * Jane Kershaw
Viking-Age Scandinavian art styles and their appearance in the British Isles Part 2: Late Viking-Age art styles
– The Finds Research Group AD 700–1700, Datasheet 43, 2011. (Academia.edu registration required). {{DEFAULTSORT:Viking Age art