ANST - Viking Brooches - More than Tortoise-Shells

[Gunnora Hallakarva]

Sael og heil!

I wanted to share an interesting discovery that I made today.  

We've always thought that pretty much all Viking women everywhere wore
those oval "tortoise shell" brooches to hold upo their hangerrockr
(apron-dresses).  On occasion, we've seen round brooches (most often
Anglo-Saxon or Finnish, but occasionally in Scandinavia as well).

I've been following the excavation of the Gotlandic harbor at Frojel during
the summer of 1998, and in Week 30
(http://viking.hgo.se/frojel/week30.html) of the excavations they found a
gravesite in which the woman's brooches were two elaborate animal heads,
made of bronze.  The shape is roughly triangular, and they are covered in
knotwork reminiscent of some of the woodcarving in the Oseberg ship grave.

These are so unusual that I thought I'd share the reference.  Was this
woman just a maverick trend-setter?  Or were there lots of different brooch
types, with oval brooches just being the bulk of what we've seen up to now?  

I've written to the archaeologist in charge to see if he has more
information about this unusual pair of brooches.


Wæs Þu Hæl (Waes Thu Hael)

::GUNNORA::

Gunnora Hallakarva
Herskerinde
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
Ek eigi visa þik hversu oðlask Lofstirrlauf-Kruna heldr hversu na Hersis-Aðal
(Ek eigi thik hversu odhlask Lofstirrlauf-Kruna heldr hversu na Hersis-Adhal)

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