Description
Material: Bronze
Period: Viking/Early Medieval
Date: 9th to 11th century
Origin: Scandinavian to Western European
Condition: EF. beautifully decorated and lovely dark patina. suspension loop intact
Description: A darkly patinated pendant of bronze in crescent form. with triangular dot patterning. The terminals are dragon-head-like again in the form of large dots; the reverse is plain. the suspension loop is intact and therefore wearable.
Size and Weight: 45 x 33mm. 8.6g
Features and Provenance: Formerly from an Austrian collection.
A rare variety of pendant. with references to Norse mythology: the crescent moon and dragon-head terminals. The moon and sun were important to the Norseman. their calendar was based on the lunar cycle rather than the sun and they only had two seasons. The god of the moon was called Mani (pronounce Mahnee) and gave rise to the English Monday and the Danish is Mantag. The moon was related to fertility and crescent pendants were probably worn by women either singularly or as a group on a necklace. The dragons depicted at the ends of the crescents and middle area are based on Fafnir. the ill-tempered. greedy protector of wealth. He was worn as a symbol of strength by Vikings going into battle or to sea.
Condition Summary. This varies with the age of the artefact and there are grades between
Extremely Fine (EF). Very slight traces of wear. all parts of pattern etc present. visible and clear
Very Fine (VF). Some signs of wear on the higher parts of the relief. all parts of pattern etc present. but may be worn
Fine (F). Wear on the artefact and parts of item and pattern etc may be missing or not visible
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