Thor’s Hammer Mjolnir pendant from 10th-11th century

I chose to research and make this pendant as my first piece because of how well it shows a host of symbolism on the surface and as a whole, I think it is one of many perfect examples that show the Vikings capacity to create pieces with a form of narrative meaning such as spiritual symbolism.

As we observe the piece we can see that it is very busy with detail so in order to explain it I had to break it down in sections.

Firstly the overall shape is that of Thor’s hammer which was worn as a symbol of strength, protection and patronage to the god of thunder. The other element that can be observed is the head of an eagle which in Norse mythology is considered to represent strength, death and Odin and as it is at the top of the pendant is shows the importance of that god and of the control Odin has over other gods such as Thor. The last symbol is a stylised version of the witch’s knot which is a protective symbol against witchcraft. 

http://archaicwonder.tumblr.com/post/139384554358/viking-thors-hammer-pendant-10th-11th-century

Through making the replica of this pendant I learnt how much effort is involved in even the most simplest of design and that working with modern tools I can further appreciate how skilled the Scandinavians were at that time with the technology they had.    

Narrative- social concerns and symbolism

For my B-tech I hope to explore the social and symbolic meanings through the evolution of ancient Scandinavian jewellery from 800 to 1200 ad.

In the Viking age the Scandinavian people would wear a number of different jewellery pieces for different purposes, some wore them to prays the gods or to seek help from them, some wore them as a symbol of social status and some wore pieces as redeemable wealth.

 Seeing how closely linked some of their jewellery is to their lives shows me that the research must start with the lives of the people in order to see the meaning in their jewellery. their jewellery is symbolic and “succinct yet addresses the complex question of relationships” (Noriko Takai) and it is interesting to see how back then as well as today “we use jewellery to celebrate important dates and occasions in our lives,” (Noriko Takai).

So I’ll be looking at how other social systems such as Christianity influenced their jewellery, the way their jewellery has changed over time with different technologies and I will be looking at the physical construction methods.