Viking Valkyrie brooch Tissø, bronze

Product description

Women with weapons are traditionally interpreted as Valkyries in Viking art. The rider on this brooch is armed with a sword and lance and possibly represents a warrior who, fallen in battle, rides to Valhalla and is greeted by a Valkyrie with a shield. According to Germanic belief, Valkyries escort the heroes who died on the battlefield, the so-called Einherjer, to Valhalla, where they dine together at Odin's table.

The model for this Valkyrie brooch is a Viking brooch of gilded silver with niello inlay, found at Storgården near Tissø on Zealand, Denmark, and now displayed in the National Museum in Copenhagen. The Valkyrie brooch dates from the 9th to 10th century. Multiple identical Valkyrie brooches from the Viking Age have been found, including in Poland and Haithabu. On the back of the brooch is an eyelet with which the brooch can be attached to a chain or leather band. Additionally, the brooch has a sturdy pin that is also suitable for thicker fabrics. The dimensions of the brooch are 4.5 x 3.5 cm and it is available in high-quality bronze and genuine silver-plated.

Tissø was an important religious center in the Viking Age. The lake is located in West Zealand in Denmark and takes its name from the god Tyr, one of the Æsir. Archaeological findings show that the area was a place of sacrificial practices even before the beginning of our era. However, most findings date from the Late Iron Age and the Viking Age.

Religious rituals also took place on the land surrounding the settlement of a local ruler. Around a large hall stood various enclosed buildings that may have had a cultic function. In and around this settlement, a remarkable number of amulets have been found, including Thor's hammers and small silver pendants and fibulae in the form of female figures that are often interpreted as Valkyries.

Furthermore, animal bones, jewelry, silver objects and coins have been found on a hill near the settlement. These findings may come from an open sacrificial site. The religious landscape around Tissø thus encompassed both the lake and natural sacrificial sites as well as specially designed cultic buildings.

In Viking mythology, the Valkyrie is considered a female spirit from the retinue of Odin, the father of the gods, who has a fateful connection with the Norns, Fylgia and Diesen. The Vikings believed that the northern lights were a sign of the presence of Valkyries and saw it as a portent of a great battle. When the Valkyries chose the Einherjer from the fallen warriors, the moonlight reflected in their armor, making the northern lights shimmer.

The cloth beneath the rider consists of nine compartments. These stand for the sacred number nine, the nine worlds and completeness and cosmic order.

In all Indo-European cultures, horses played an important role. More than 5,000 years ago on the Pontic-Caspian steppe, our ancestors, the Indo-European steppe herders, cultivated the horse. Later, their equestrian culture emerged from this, and the horse began to play an important role as a means of transport, in warfare and as a help on the land. It is no wonder that early on the horse was incorporated into the spiritual world of our ancestors. They believed that the sun was pulled across the sky by a horse and therefore associated the animal with fertility, of both people and the land. The horse also stood for kingship and the connection between the ruling aristocracy and the territory over which they ruled.