Lokrume helmet fragment

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Lokrume helmet fragment
Lokrume helmet fragment (GFB1683) 1.jpg
The Lokrume helmet fragment
Lokrume helmet fragment - 1907.png
1907 drawing of the fragment
Material Iron, silver, niello
Createdc. tenth century
Discovered Lokrume, Gotland, Sweden
Present location Gotland Museum
Registration GF B 1683

The Lokrume helmet fragment is a decorated eyebrow piece from a Viking Age helmet. It is made of iron, the surface of which is decorated with silver and niello that forms an interlace pattern. Discovered in Lokrume, a small settlement on the Swedish island of Gotland, the fragment was first described in print in 1907 and is in the collection of the Gotland Museum.

Contents

The fragment is dated to around the tenth century AD, on the basis of its interlace pattern; similar designs appear on tenth-century swords. It is all that remains of one of five Viking helmets to survive in any condition; the others are the Gjermundbu helmet from Norway, the Yarm helmet from England, the Tjele helmet fragment from Denmark, and a fragment from Kyiv, Ukraine. These are all examples of the "crested helmets" that entered use in Europe around the sixth century, and derive from the earlier Anglo-Saxon and Vendel Period helmets.

Description

The Lokrume fragment is the remnant of the eyebrow piece, and part of the nose guard, from a helmet. [1] [2] [3] The fragment is 13.2 centimetres (5.2 in) wide. [1] [2] [3] An iron core was either coated or inlaid with silver, which was itself inlaid with niello or wire. [1] [4] [5] [3] [6] The inlaid pattern stretches the width of the fragment, though much of the sinister portion is now lost. The pattern is symmetrical, patterned with intertwined bands and circles. Transverse bands further adorn the area around this pattern. [7]

Discovery

The fragment was discovered in Lokrume, [1] a small settlement on the Swedish island of Gotland. The circumstances of its discovery are otherwise unknown. [7] It was first described in print in the academic journal Fornvännen in 1907; the two-sentence mention, which included a drawing, stated that the piece was found in Lokrume, and held in the collection of Visby Fornsal—now known as the Gotland Museum. [1] As of 2024 the fragment remains at the museum, where it is catalogued as GF B 1683. [8] [9]

Typology

The reconstructed pattern from the fragment Lokrume helmet pattern.svg
The reconstructed pattern from the fragment

The fragment's style of interlace pattern (a variation of the drakslingor  [ sv ] motif [8] ) dates to around the tenth century AD; similar patterns appear on tenth-century swords, including examples from Norway and one found near Lipiany in Poland. [7] [10] This places the fragment squarely within the Viking Age, which lasted from the end of the eighth century to the middle of the eleventh. [7] [11]

Remains of only four other Viking Age helmets (only two of which are from Scandinavia) are known: the Gjermundbu helmet from Norway and the Yarm helmet from England, as well as the Tjele helmet fragment from Denmark, and a fragment from Kyiv, Ukraine. [12] [13] [14] [15] The Lokrume piece was the first of these to be identified; [1] the Tjele fragment was discovered in 1850, but mistaken for a saddle mounting until 1984. [12] [16] Like the other four, the Lokrume helmet appears to have been a descendant of the earlier Vendel Period and Anglo-Saxon helmets from Scandinavia and England, respectively, and the final iteration of the "crested helmets" that appeared in Europe around the sixth century. [17] [18] [19]

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Fornvännen 1907, p. 208.
  2. 1 2 Thunmark-Nylén 1998, taf. 264.
  3. 1 2 3 Thunmark-Nylén 2000b, pp. 521–522.
  4. ↑ Lindqvist 1925, p. 192.
  5. ↑ Bruce-Mitford 1978, p. 158 n.3.
  6. ↑ Vlasatý 2016.
  7. 1 2 3 4 Thunmark-Nylén 2006a, p. 317.
  8. 1 2 Gotlands Museum.
  9. ↑ Thunmark-Nylén 2000c, p. 1070.
  10. ↑ Grieg 1947, p. 45.
  11. ↑ Lindqvist 1925, pp. 192–193.
  12. 1 2 Munksgaard 1984, p. 87.
  13. ↑ Tweddle 1992, pp. 1125–1128.
  14. ↑ Hjardar & Vike 2016, p. 188.
  15. ↑ Caple 2020, p. 45.
  16. ↑ Boye 1858, pp. 191–192, 197–198.
  17. ↑ Munksgaard 1984, pp. 87–88.
  18. ↑ Steuer 1987, pp. 199–203, 230–231.
  19. ↑ Tweddle 1992, pp. 1086, 1125–1129.

Bibliography

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