Northern Europe, Viking or Norse culture, ca. 8th to 11th century CE. A stunning, long-knitted silver (98-99% silver) chain ending in two wrapped terminals with miniscule triangular, stippled, and circular motifs terminating in individual rings threaded through a central loop. From the central loop hangs the likeness of the fabled Mjolnir, a heavy solid-silver Thor's hammer amulet comprised of a slender handle, two lateral chevron-shaped faces, and an integral suspension loop. One face displays a circular hammered sun cross with each of four lobes bearing an individual stamped circle, and the verso is unadorned. The chain exhibits small areas of faint, emerald-green patina, imbuing with a gorgeous, wearable appearance. Glass bottle for photography purposes only. Size (necklace): 33" L (83.8 cm); size (pendant): 0.75" W x 1.8" H (1.9 cm x 4.6 cm); quality of silver: 98-99%; total weight: 72.4 grams.

Small Thor's hammers were worn as religious amulets throughout the Viking era, usually made of silver and typically hung on silver chains. Some even made it to the Christian era; there is a famous example of a Thor's hammer amulet from Fossi, Iceland, that has been turned into a cross (they are also invoked nowadays to describe the power of the surprisingly-mighty Icelandic football team). The chain itself, meanwhile, is a style of knitwork done with thin silver wire that seems to have originated with the Vikings.

The important Viking metalworking shops correspond to their great trading ports and proto-urban centers - Birka, Helgo, Sigtuna, and Lund in Sweden; Ribe, Haithabu (Hedeby), and Fyrkat in Denmark; and Kaupang and Trondheim in Norway. Silver was the principal currency of the Viking world, which stretched from Russia to northern Canada at the height of their influence. In many places, the Vikings kept silver not as coins, but as jewelry, a wearable form of currency that was not subject to the authority of a monarch or mint. One of the most common archaeological finds from the Viking period is a hoard of metal objects, often buried in the earth or deposited in bodies of water, like river beds. These are found in great quantities throughout the British Isles and the Nordic countries.

What was the meaning of such hoards? Were they treasures buried for safe keeping, perhaps by people fleeing violence who did not wish to travel with heavy loads and who died or forgot before they could retrieve them? Or does their presence in rivers suggest votive deposits, gifts and offerings to spirits who lived in the water?

Provenance: private New York, New York, USA collection

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#139049

Wearable as shown. Surface wear and minor abrasions commensurate with age, light bending to some chain links and pendant, and minor fading to stamped motifs, otherwise intact and excellent. Light earthen deposits within recessed areas, and faint areas of green patina.