Brisingamen and the Menet necklace

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I

Glaube, Kult und Herrschaft

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II

RömiscH-GeRmaniscHe Kommission, FRanKFuRt a. m.

euRasien-abteilunG, beRlin

des Deutschen archäologischen instituts

Dr. Rudolf Habelt GmbH · bonn 2009

Kolloquien zur Vor- und Frühgeschichte

band 12

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III

Glaube, Kult und Herrschaft

Phänomene des Religiösen im 1. Jahrtausend n. chr.

in mittel- und nordeuropa

akten des 59. internationalen sachsensymposions

und der

Grundprobleme der frühgeschichtlichen entwicklung im mitteldonauraum

herausgegeben von

uta von Freeden, Herwig Friesinger und egon Wamers

RömiscH-GeRmaniscHe Kommission, FRanKFuRt a. m.

östeRReicHiscHe aKaDemie DeR WissenscHaFten

aRcHäoloGiscHes museum FRanKFuRt

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IV

X, 532 seiten mit 413 abbildungen

Bibliografische Information der Deutschen Nationalbibliothek

Die Deutsche nationalbibliothek verzeichnet diese Publikation in der Deutschen nationalbibliografie; detaillierte bibliografische Daten sind im internet über < http : // dnb . d-nb . de > abrufbar

satz: http : // wisa - print . de Druck: druckhaus köthen GmbH, Köthen gedruckt auf alterungsbeständigem Papier

isbn 978-3-7749-3663-8 titelbild

anhänger aus silber aus Galgebakke, nordjütland (s. 296 abb. 12,2).

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V

Vorwort

Die frühgeschichtliche archäologie mitteleuropas kennt mit den „Grundproblemen der frühgeschichtlichen entwicklung im mittel-donauraum“ und dem „internationalen sachsensymposion“ zwei weit verzweigte netzwerke, in denen sich Wissenschaftlerinnen und Wissenschaftler aus vierzehn ländern mittel- und nordeuro-pas in jährlichen tagungen zusammenfinden. es lag auf der Hand, beide Kreise in einer Konferenz zusammenzuführen, auf der grundlegende Fragen der Frühgeschichte europas dargestellt und diskutiert werden sollten. Vor diesem Hintergrund entwickelte ein Gremium von zehn Wissenschaftlerinnen und Wissenschaftlern seit 2006 ein tagungskonzept, das unter dem thema „Glaube, Kult und Herrschaft. Phänomene des Religiösen im 1. Jahrtausend in mittel- und nordeuropa“ beide Kreise zur inhaltlichen Diskus-sion, aber auch zum näheren Kennenlernen zusammenbringen sollte. Vom 8. bis 14. november 2008 fand schließlich diese Konfe-renz im archäologischen museum der stadt Frankfurt in Frankfurt am main statt, ermöglicht durch die finanzielle Förderung des archäologischen museums sowie der Römisch-Germanischen Kommission des Deutschen archäologischen instituts und der österreichischen akademie der Wissenschaften.

„Glaube, Kult und Herrschaft“ war das große Rahmenthema dieser tagung. aufgelöst in die drei Zeitscheiben „Römische Kai-serzeit“, „Völkerwanderungszeit“ und „Frühes mittelalter“ sowie ferner ergänzt durch einen diachronen block wurden zentrale themen dieses Problemkreises erörtert. im mittelpunkt eines ers-ten abschnittes stand dabei die manifestation von macht im Reli-giösen, wofür sich in unserem arbeitsgebiet sowohl aus dem im-perium als auch im barbaricum herausragende beispiele aus dem 1. bis 10. Jahrhundert finden lassen. Dabei kommt den eigentlichen Kulthandlungen und deren archäologischer evidenz eine zentrale bedeutung zu. Daneben zu stellen sind die bestattungen und das bestattungszeremoniell der Herrschenden, aber auch die archi-tektur von Kultbauten im weitesten sinne. in diachronem ansatz konnte so der Vergleich zwischen herausragenden Denkmalkom-plexen, königlichen Grablegen und den frühen Kirchen gewagt werden. Dabei durften die paganen Riten der frühgeschichtlichen ethnien ostmitteleuropas nicht vernachlässigt werden, selbst wenn die archäologische basis für weiterführende interpretationen nicht immer so tragfähig ist wie in anderen Regionen West- und nord-europas.

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VI Vorwort

eine lange, kulturhistorisch und mentalitätsgeschichtlich grundlegende traditionslinie lässt sich im bereich der amulette und der Kultbilder nachvollziehen. Die amulette stellen basale Formen der Volksreligiosität mit einer erstaunlichen traditions-beständigkeit dar. in der auseinandersetzung zwischen Hoch-kultur und barbaricum entwickelt sich in der ersten Hälfte des 1. nachchristlichen Jahrtausends eine symbolsprache, die zunächst in den germanisch geprägten Kulturen und dann in der bildspra-che des christlibildspra-chen Frühmittelalters erste überregionale und damit europäische Verständigungsebenen findet.

es war den mitgliedern des vorbereitenden ausschusses durch-aus bewusst, dass im Rahmen dieser Konferenz kaum ein abschlie-ßendes oder gar vollständiges bild entwickelt werden konnte. Das wissenschaftliche Konzept zielte vielmehr auf die integration ein-zelner themenkomplexe aus jenen bereichen und Regionen euro-pas, für die die „Grundprobleme“ und das „sachsensymposion“ seit vielen Jahren wesentlicher motor wissenschaftlicher Diskus-sion und archäologischen erkenntnisgewinnes sind. Wir sind uns allerdings sicher, dass so ein umfassender einblick in zentrale Fra-gen zur archäologie von „Glaube, Kult und Herrschaft“ gewonnen werden konnte, wofür der vorliegende band ein eindrucksvolles Zeugnis ist.

unser Dank gilt den Kolleginnen und Kollegen, die sich so intensiv und kooperativ für die Vorbereitung der gemeinsamen Konferenz engagiert haben: Für die Grundprobleme im mittel-donauraum sind dies Prof. Dr. c. bálint (budapest), Prof. Dr. F. Daim (mainz), Dr. K. Pieta (nitra), Dr. a. stuppner (Wien) sowie Dr. J. tejral (brünn), für das internationale sachsensymposion Dr. u. von Freeden (Frankfurt), Prof. Dr. e. Wamers (Frankfurt) und Dr. l. Webster (london) sowie die unterzeichnenden. Der Römisch-Germanischen Kommission und ihrem Direktor, Herrn Prof. Dr. Friedrich lüth danken wir für ihre Gastfreundschaft vor und wäh-rend der tagung. Die RGK erklärte sich zudem bereit, den vorlie-genden band in ihre Reihe Kollquien zur Vor- und Frühgeschichte aufzunehmen, wofür wir ebenfalls besonders dankbar sind. unser ganz besonderer Dank gilt Dr. uta von Freeden und Herrn Prof. Dr. egon Wamers sowie den mitarbeiterinnen und mitarbeitern der Römisch-Germanischen Kommission und des archäologischen museums, die die Konferenz selbst in großer Gastfreundschaft und Herzlichkeit organisierten und die den vorliegenden band schon ein Jahr nach der Frankfurter tagung der Fachöffentlichkeit vor-legen.

claus von carnap-bornheim Herwig Friesinger

schleswig Wien

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VII

VoRWoRt

eRöFFnunGsVoRtRaG

1 ernst Künzl

Das Herrschergrab im altertum von alexander bis theoderich

oPFeRFunDe – ausDRucK Von Kult unD HeRRscHaFt

25 claus von carnap-bornheim und andreas Rau

Zwischen religiöser Zeremonie und politischer Demonstration – Überlegungen zu den südskandinavischen Kriegsbeuteopfern 37 anne nørgård Jørgensen

Weapon-offering types in Denmark, 350 bc to 1200 ad. Definitions, chronology and previous interpretations 53 Xenia Pauli Jensen

From fertility rituals to weapon sacrifices. the case of the south scandinavian bog finds

ReliGion unD Kult – sPätantiKe unD VölKeRWanDeRunGsZeit

67 Werner Jobst

staatsreligion und Grenzsicherung.

Der römische Jupiterkult im mitteldonauraum 81 alois stuppner

Herrschaftszentren an der mittleren Donau und spätrömische religiöse organisationsstrukturen

95 Franz Glaser

Kirchen in noricum als spiegel von Glaube und Herrschaft

GRäbeR – ausDRucK Von Glaube unD macHt

107 Karol Pieta

Das germanische Fürstengrab aus Poprad-matejovce 123 Jaroslav tejral

langobardische Fürstengräber nördlich der mittleren Donau

163 eva Drozdová, Josef unger, Václav smrčka, alena němečková and Petr Krupa anthropological examination of skeletal remains of a princess buried at the “Žuráň” barrow (south moravia, czech Republic)

173 Patrick Périn

les tombes mérovingiennes de la basilique de saint-Denis. nouvelles recherches interdisciplinaires

185 svante Fischer, Jean soulat and Helena Victor two papers on chamber graves

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VIII

beDeutunG – ZeicHen unD symbole

203 alexandra Pesch

iconologia sacra. Zur entwicklung und bedeutung der germanischen bildersprache im 1. Jahrtausend 219 birgit arrhenius

brisingamen and the menet necklace 231 bente magnus

the broken brooches 239 arnold angenendt

Die Reliquien und ihre Verehrung im mittelalter

amulette – maGie unD Glaube

253 annette lennartz

tradition und Wandel paganer amulettbräuche in mitteleuropa zwischen antike und Frühem mittelalter

261 tivadar Vida

Herkunft und Funktion von Privatreliquiaren und amulettkapseln im frühgeschichtlichen europa

281 Judit sándor

multi-step analysis of ancient remnants contained in a capsule from szihalom-budaszög

287 anne Pedersen

amulette und amulettsitte der jüngeren eisen- und Wikingerzeit in südskandinavien

PlätZe – macHt unD Kult

305 Hauke Jöns

aktuelle Forschungen am Zentralplatz von sievern, elb-Weser-Dreieck 319 Günther binding

Karolingische Pfalzen. Vorbild und imitation 329 lars Jørgensen

Pre-christian cult at aristocratic residences and settlement

complexes in southern scandinavia in the 3rd_– 10th_{centuries ad}

355 Karl-magnus lenntorp and birgitta Hårdh uppåkra, investigations in 2005 – 2008

359 Pavel Kouřil

Vom burgwall zur curtis bei den oberdonauländischen slawen. Zur Problematik der entwicklung, Datierung und struktur der Herrenhöfe während der großmährischen Periode 377 sebastian messal

Zur Herrschaftsbildung bei den slawen am beispiel des burgwalls von Friedrichsruhe, lkr. Parchim

oRGanisation – macHt unD KiRcHe

385 babette ludowici

Gedanken zu Phänomenen des Religiösen bei den kontinentalen sachsen vom 6. bis 10. Jahrhundert im spiegel archäologischer Quellen 395 béla miklós szőke

Karolingische Kirchenorganisation in Pannonien Inhalt

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IX

417 lumír Poláček

Die Kirchen von mikulčice als spiegel von Glaube und Herrschaft 437 alexander t. Ruttkay

Der burgwall bojná i - _{Valy. ein machtpolitisches und kirchliches Zentrum}

des 9. Jahrhunderts in der Westslowakei

eXKuRsion

449 michaela Jansen

Die arnheider Kapelle st. bartholomäus im odenwald: ein frühmittelalterlicher sakralbau 461 Rainer atzbach

Das Palatium in seligenstadt. stadtherrschaft im archäologischen befund von der Frühgeschichte bis zum 13. Jahrhundert

PosteR

483 uta von Freeden und andrea Hampel

ein frühmittelalterliches Gräberfeld in Frankfurt-Harheim 489 nick stoodley and Jörn schuster

collingbourne Ducis, Wiltshire: an early saxon cemetery with bed burial 497 sofie Debruyne and Rica annaert

the merovingian cemetery of broechem 501 lone Gebauer thomsen

Pit houses on Zealand in the late iron age and the Viking period – a survey based on the material from the excavation at tissø

511 Jörn schuster and chris J. stevens

a medieval type of Grubenhaus bakery or kitchen from Kent 517 maria Panum baastrup

carolingian-ottonian disc brooches – early christian symbols in Viking age Denmark

scHlussWoRt

529 torsten capelle

Glaube, Kult und Herrschaft. eine bilanz aus dem ersten Jahrtausend Inhalt

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219

Brisingamen and the Menet necklace

Introduction

In many old cultures there exist precious jewels often with magical properties and dedicated to a special god or goddess or given as a favour from the god or a king. In ancient Egypt the hieroglyph for gold is a collar, and golden collars of different shapes were important messages of royal as well as divine power 2_{. Especially known was the necklace}

of the cow god Hathor, the Menet (Menat, Menit), also depicted as a hieroglyph (fig. 1). The Menet necklace was later adopted also by the fertility god dess Isis 3_{. Among the Jews the breastplate of the}

highest Rabbi with twelve precious stones symbol izing the twelve Jewish tribes is known 4_{and the}

Roman emperors had huge fibulae with a central setting of a sardonyx like the fibula from Szilagy Somlyo / Simleul Silvaniei 5_.

Also in Scandinavia in the Nordic sagas special jewellery is known. One is the neck ring used by the Svea tribe and called Sveagris (e. g. the pig of the Svear). The name may mean that the neck ring had ornaments in the shape of pigs (boars). Such pig devices are found on broad golden collars from the Migration period 6_{. Of certain importance in}

this case may be the find of a small piece of such a golden collar in the so called west mound in Old Uppsala, the burial place of the Svea kings 7_{. In}

the Ynglinga saga Snorri tells of how the Sveagris was stolen from the Svea king Adils by the Dan ish prince Rolf Krake. During pursuit of the thief, Rolf Krake threw away the Sveagris and king Adils stooped to pick it up, whereupon Krake exclaimed, “Now I have got the wealthiest of the Svear to bow down like a pig” 8_.

Another famous piece of northern jewellery is the Brisingamen worn by the goddess Freyja. Most detailed is the jewellery described in the Thrym s kvida: Thor has lost his hammer to the giant Thrym and the latter claims Freyja as his bride in exchange for returning the hammer to Thor. When Thor goes

to Freyja with Thrym’s proposal, she becomes so upset that the Brisingamen breaks. So Thor used the Brisingamen instead, and went to the giant Thrym disguised as Freyja. The poem describes in detail how Thor was dressed as a bride with broad beads on his chest. The poem does not make it clear whether the beads are part of the Brisingamen, and most probably the author did not know what kind of jewellery the Brisingamen actually was. As Mc Kinell 9_{has argued convincingly, the Thryms k}

vida was probably conceptualised in AngloScan dinavian northern England. It is interesting in this connection that the piece of jewellery called Bro sungamen in the Old English poem Beowulf is most probably meant to be the Brisingamen 10_.

The etymology of Brisingamen

Generally the word men has been translated as “necklace” 11_{. However, the etymology of the word}

men is perhaps not so clear as it may seem. The word menni is known from Old German as the des ignation for a dog’s accessory, normally understood as a dog’s collar 12_{. Use of the special name menni in}

my opinion indicates that the accessory was not the

1_{I would like to thank Professor Dr Lana Troy who has given}

me valuable information on the Menet necklace.

2_{Cf. Aldred 1971, 14 ff.} 3_{Cf. below.}

4_{Cf. Kunz 1971.}

5_{Fettich 1932, 21 ff.; Roth 1979, Abb. 46a.} 6_{Cf. Holmqvist 1980.}

7_{Lindqvist 1936, 179 fig. 100.}

8_{Snorre, Skaldskapurmål, stanza 44, in: Johansson / Malm}

1997, 161.

9_{McKinell 2001, 327 ff.} 10_{Cf. ibid. 334.}

11_{Cf. de Vries 1962, 384.} 12_{Cf. MeyerLübke 1911, 401.}

Brisingamen and the Menet necklace

Birgit Arrhenius

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220 Birgit Arrhenius

commonly used collar but a more special adorn ment, perhaps a broader collar. Returning to the Brisingamen, an adornment on the chest rather than a common necklace would provide a more plausi ble explanation of Freyja’s reaction to the message from the giant Thrym. Heaving one’s chest in anger is more natural than the throat swelling so much that it causes a necklace to burst. Also the naming of Loki as the thief of the Brisinga girdle 13_{is more in}

congruence with the etymology of men as a broad collar adorning the chest. And finally the word men corresponds closely to the word for the necklace of the Egyptian cow god Hathor, with many strings of beads – namely Menet (Menat or Menit), the name used in Roman times as an attribute of the goddess Isis. The word brising is described by Mc Kinell 14_as

a heiti for “fire”. Since brising is used only in con nection with Freyja’s jewellery in the Nordic sagas, however, I have argued in an earlier paper 15_that

brising is a more specialized heiti for red transpar ent gemstones, mostly garnets, known as carbun culus in Latin and ἄνθραξ in Greek. The Latin and Greek names allude to the firelike colour of the stone, and brising similarly describes this property of the garnet gemstone. Therefore I would propose the following etymology for Brisingamen:

men corresponding to Menet, (Menat, Menit) = broad necklace

brising corresponding to carbunculus (ἄνθραξ) = red garnet stones

The properties of garnets in ancient sources

In these circumstances it can be of relevance to refer to the properties characterizing carbunculus (ἄνθραξ) in lapidaries from ancient times. Theo phrastus 16_{tells us that the gemstone anthrax had an}

inner glow. Pliny in Historia naturalis 17_{writes that}

carbunculus took first place among gemstones and derived its name from its resemblance to fire, but also that some of these stones had such inner heat that they could melt sealing wax. In later lapidarian texts we learn that the stone could give its user love and power. A Normannic lapidarium puts it like this “(E)done amur de Deu e de gent. Dámi e dámie ensement” 18_{. As is shown by Evans} 19_{, the magical}

properties attached to gemstones from the Middle Ages are the same as can be traced back to Hellen istic time. It is therefore no wonder that we often find garnets cut in the shape of a heart by Hellen istic and RomanByzantine goldsmiths. More in triguing is the fact that we find intaglios and gems in garnets depicting the originally Egyptian fertil ity goddess Isis 20_{as well as items belonging to her}

cult 21_{. It should be added that pictures of Eros were}

also often cut in garnet 22_{, which is probably to be}

explained by the connection between Eros and the Horus child of Isis 23_.

The cult of the goddess Isis

The cult of Isis spread from Egypt in the Hellenistic period and became well established in the Roman world in the first centuries ad. By this time Isis had assumed most of the properties previously attrib uted to other Greek and Roman fertility goddesses. Isis was called the goddess with the many names such as IsisAthena, IsisMinerva, IsisArtemis, IsisAphrodite, IsisVenus etc. Isis became an al mighty goddess, an Alma Mater; and her family consisting of her husband (and brother) Osiris, re named Serapis in the Hellenistic era, her son Horus and servant Anubis all belonged to the cult of Isis. In Roman times the bull god Apis and the cow god Hathor as well as the sphinx and birds such as the ibis and some heraldic animals like the lion were also associated with Isis. Isis was the queen of the universe and supposed to have power over nature. At the same time she was the goddess who had in spired the development of ancient civilization. She was the goddess of navigation and knew magical

1 The symbol

of the Menet necklace with its counterpoise.

2 The symbol of Isis,

in ancient Egypt Asis, meaning “throne”. 13_{McKinnell 2001, 334.} 14_Ibid. 15_{Arrhenius 1969.} 16_{Caley / Richards 1956.} 17_{Cf. Eicholz 1962.}

18_{Marbodius of Rhennes in: Studer / Evans 1924, 89.} 19_{Evans 1922.}

20_{Brandt 1968, 439; 440; 441.} 21_{Ibid. figs. 368; 370; 378; 444; 437.} 22_{Ibid. figs. 381; 475; 476; 477; 484.} 23_{Merkelbach 1995, 263.}

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crafts as well as fortunetelling. She was known as the benefactor of love between man and woman as children and parents 24_{. In the GrecoRoman world}

she was above all the faithful wife and divine pa troness of family life and instructor in domestic arts 25_{. The name Isis is the Greek derivative of the}

Egyptian name Aset (or Auset), meaning throne, and a throne was the hieroglyph of Isis (fig. 2). We know from the writings of Tacitus 26_{and Ammi}

anus (330 – 395) that Germanic tribes also adopted the cult of Isis. Of special importance is the fact, re corded in Ammianus, that the Alamannic king who got to know the cult of Isis as a hostage in Gaul and was so taken with it that he renamed his own son Agenarikus Serapio 27_.

The relations between Isis and Freyja

Recently here has been discussion of the impor tance of the Roman cult of Mitras to the develop ment of the cult of Odin 28_{. The significance of the}

Isis cult as an inspiration for the development of the fertility cult in the Germanic world has in my opin ion not been properly evaluated. The description of the goddess Freyja has thus taken on many details from the Isis cult. The vague references to an orien tal cult in main 29_{is not sufficient in my opinion, as}

there are more direct connections between the cult of Isis and Freyja. It should be remembered that the cult of Isis had a much longer duration than other oriental fertility cults in Europe and even inspired the cult of Queen Mary 30_{. The name Freyja lends}

support to the virtues characterizing a housewife e.g. Fru, just as Isis also supported the virtues of the housewife. Moreover, stories such as Freyja’s search for her dead husband Odr and her introduc tion of Seidr to the Asa gods have certain resem blances to Isis’s search for her dead husband Osiris. Freyja’s trickery is illustrated by the story, told by Diaconus 31_{, of how Freyja induces Odin to give the}

name Longobards to the tribe she is protecting: she instructs the women in the tribe to drape their long hair as beards, Odin asks who the “long beards”, i. e. the Longobards, are, and Freyja states that when giving them a name, he also has to protect the Longobards so they could combat their enemies. This story could be compared with the story of Isis shaping a snake that poisons the sun god Ra, for merly the mightiest of the gods. Isis offers to cure him if he reveals his secret name. Reluctantly Ra whispers the name and is healed but thereafter Isis, knowing his name, possesses his power of life and death. In an earlier paper I have pointed out that the influence of the Isis cult on the Germanic fertil

ity cult already begins in early Migration period 32_.

In this paper I will concentrate on some Vikingera finds and their possible connection to the famous jewellery of Freyja’s Brisingamen, and the symbols and amulets originally used here may have been taken from the Isis cult.

The necklace in the Hoen treasure

When Signe Fuglesang 33_{published the splendid}

necklace with 57 pendants from Hoen, she rightly pointed out that the necklace had a counterpart – though simpler – in the necklace found in grave 632 in Birka with fourteen pendants. Like the neck lace in Hoen, many of the pendants in the Birka grave consisted of small pieces with ornaments of Carolingian origin. In grave 632 there was also a snake pendant which could be compared to such a pendant from Hoen (fig. 3). Fuglesang also noted that the necklace in Birka grave 632 seems to have been worn in a loop according to the excavation plan made by Stolpe 34_{. The many pendants of the}

Hoen necklace also suggest that parts of the neck lace were possibly worn in loops. Hayo Vierck 35

has made a very convincing reconstruction of how the interred figure in grave 632 wore her necklace, and claims that the loop was a way of emphasizing three important pendants – a snake, a chair and a coin of Theophrastus keeping the pendants in her hand (fig. 4). Grave 632 in Birka is a chamber grave with another secondary grave above it. Besides the necklace the woman had two oval brooches of Pe tersens type 42 which has a predominant frequency in Norway but which also is found in ten graves in Birka 36_{. Whereas the dating of this type of oval}

brooch in Norway seems to be in the 9th_{century, in}

Birka 37_{they occur somewhat later, i. e. at the begin}

ning of the 10th_{century, hence grave 632 may be}

somewhat younger than the Hoen treasure.

24_{Cf. Solmsen 1979; Widman 1970; Witt 1971.} 25_{Heyob 1975, 44.}

26_{Cf. Timpe 1992, 465.} 27_{Cf. Rolfe 1935, 12.} 28_{Kaliff / Sundqvist 2004.} 29_{Cf. Ström 1985, 182 ff.}

30_{Cf. Cavalli Björkman 1996; Begg 1985.} 31_{Diaconus, first book: Weimarck / Erikson 1971.} 32_{Arrhenius 2001.}

33_{Fuglesang in: Fuglesang / Wilson 2006.} 34_{Arbman 1940, 211 ff.}

35_{Vierck 2002.} 36_{Jansson 1985, 58.} 37_{Cf. Jansson 1985, 174; 182.}

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The treasure from Eketorp Nerike

The combination of a snake pendant and a chair pendant is also found in the treasure from Eketorp in Närke (Nerike) 38_{. This treasure has much in com}

mon with the Hoen treasure, although there is only one item of gold in Eketorp. The gold item is circu lar pendant, now broken into two pieces, consisting of a circular frame with garnet cloisonné surround ing a central field decorated with cloisonné pattern with empty cells. In Hoen there was also a pendant, a boss, with garnet cloisonné. Originally the boss was probably a part of a Christian reliquary which was reworked as a pendant 39_{. The pendant in Eke}

torp probably belongs to a necklace consisting of beads and fourteen other pendants all made of sil ver. Among these pendants three are cast and orna mented in Borre style and three have filigree deco ration of which two are round pendants and one cruciform, of so called Terslev type. Of the other pendants, four are in thin silver plate in the shape of a strikealight, and one in the shape of a small Thor’s hammer. Further pendants are an elaborate chair (fig. 5) and a human figure with hollow eyes, (representing a dead man?, fig. 7) with a sword in his hands, and lastly a snake pendant more or less identical with a pendant from Nordfjord, Norway 40

but in this case made of silver (fig. 6). The chair pendant has a pillow which is concave as though someone were actually sitting on the chair. Also be longing to this necklace are 24 beads of silver, of which 19 have filigree decoration and five consist of coiled silver thread. Altogether the necklace con sisted of 96 pieces, among them another 57 beads of which two were of amber and the others of glass, 19 of them with mosaic inlays.

Beyond this the Eketorp treasure included two twisted neckrings of silver, six brooches of which two were round and four tongueshaped. They were all ornamented with filigree, the round ones in a cruciform pattern, whereas the tongueshaped

brooch had animal ornaments in filigree. Further more the treasure included four ballshaped termi nals to pen annular brooches. The ballshaped ter minals had applications with filigree in gold and this type of filigree was also found on a globular hollow collar, perhaps used for a wooden staff. It is noticeable that the decoration of the globular collar is much less worn than the ballshaped terminals. Finally the treasure included coins of which the ma jority were dirhems and mostly fragmented, which corresponds to other pieces of so called hacksilver in the treasure. The date of the deposition is pro vided by dirhems, the latest of which is from 954. However, many of the items, as well brooches as pendants, are of an older date.

38_{Ekelund 1956.}

39_{Cf. B. Arrhenius in: Fuglesang / Wilson 2006, 123 ff.} 40_{Fuglesang / Wilson 2006, pl. 38F.}

3 Hoen treasure. The snake.

4 Birka, grave 632.

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223

The grave find from Hagebyhöga Aska, Östergötland

Another parallel to the pendant necklace of the Hoen treasure was found in a large mound (no. 1) in a cemetery at Aska Frälsegård in Östergötland. It is a cremation grave, but as T. J. Arne emphasiz es the rich grave gifts are reminiscent of the boat graves at Vendel and Tuna in Alsike 41_{. The mound}

was opened by the owner of the field, and there may have been contamination of the grave contents from the present grave and a secondary grave, since among the gifts were three oval brooches and a threelobed brooch of silver decorated in Borre style. Otherwise the grave goods consisted of a harnessbow mount and various equipment for a wagon, two bronze vessels of which one was an oriental jug and one a hanging bowl. The jewellery comprised the brooches mentioned above and a pendant necklace related to Hoen and Eketorp. Be sides 46 beads, most of glass and some with mosaic inlays, there were also beads of rock crystal and (perhaps) carnelian. Most probably another nine

5 Eketorp. The chair or throne, note the concave pillow.

7 Eketorp. The man with hollow eyes and a sword. 6 Eketorp. The snake pendant.

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pendants also belonged to the necklace: five were pearshaped berloques of a type known in gold from the Roman period but here made of silver (fig. 8). Furthermore there was a square pendant with Borre style ornaments and a round pendant with filigree and granulation ornaments, and lastly two pendants, of silver probably gilded, depicting humans. One of these consisted of a hollowcast man’s head. Prominence is given to the eyes with drooping eyebrows and the curling moustaches above a heartshaped mouth. The helmetlike crest consist of a bird spread over the top of the head with a hooked beak resting on the bridge of the man’s nose (fig. 9). The other pendant shows a woman seated, with her arms resting on the knees and dressed in a cloak (fig. 10). The prominent traits are the woman’s jewellery consisting of a huge but ton and bow brooch and a necklace consisting of four rows of beads of which the lowest row shows somewhat larger beads or pendants. It may be that the beaded contour following her folded arms in dicates that parts of the necklace also were carried in a loop. It should also be noted that the seated woman is probably pregnant. This large button onbow brooch is also known from other pictures from the time and is depicted for instance on a fig ure gold foil from Helgö (fig. 11) where the woman is embracing and kissing a man.

The great buttononbow brooches

In Scandinavia the buttononbow brooch is a brooch that was mainly used for garnet inlays in the Vendel period 42_{. In Sweden and Denmark there}

are many grave finds with such brooches 43_{. Where}

as the majority of these brooches are rather small, around 10 – 15 cm, and often used pair wise, there exist from the end of the Vendel period (around 700 – 750 ad) a group of larger brooches of this type 44_{(cf. fig. 14). But most conspicuous are some}

giant brooches, e. g. more than 25 cm in length and around 15 cm in height. These giant brooches cannot have been worn by humans 45_{. In an earlier}

paper 46_{I have suggested that these giant brooches}

were in fact the Brisingamen, but I am now modify ing this, believing that the button and bow brooch only is one detail in the jewellery set called the Bris ingamen. It is the high significance of the garnet inlays that made the buttononbow brooch be come a part of this jewellery, but other items with garnet inlays could have had the same function. So the garnet pendants from Hoen and Eketorp had the same significance. In the Merovingian empire and the AngloSaxon kingdoms the round brooch was the foremost carrier of garnet inlays and is also depicted on some figure gold foils from Helgö as well as other places. An interesting picture (fig. 12), found in a grave situated in Solberga, Östergöt land 47_{not so far from Hagebyhöga, shows a lady}

with her jewellery consisting of a bead collar and a round brooch. In this case she will probably pro

42_{Cf. Arrhenius 1985, 182 ff.} 43_{Cf. Ørsnes 1966, 105 ff.} 44_{Cf. Arwidsson 1942, 110.} 45_{Arrhenius 1969, 56 ff.} 46_Ibid. 47_{Arbman 1939.}

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225

vide a rich harvest to a fi sherman. From above we learn that the depicted female on the pendant from Hagebyhöga belongs to a series of pictures of pros perous women, all wearing a special jewellery set and engaged in activities related to fertility 48_{. Most}

probably these pictures show us Freyja with her fa mous Brisingamen. And the male fi gure found on the same necklace would therefore most probably have been her dead husband Odr.

The boat graves from Tuna in Badelunda

A fi nal parallel to the pendant necklace of Hoen is a necklace parts of which were found in boat graves 75 and 35 in Tuna Badelunda (fi g. 13 – 14) 49_{. In grave}

75 the necklace had fourteen pendants consisting of copies of kufi c coins made in thin silver sheet. The placement in the grave indicated that the neck lace consisted of at least two rows of beads, alto gether 140, of which the pendant coins made the lowest row. The pendants were adapted between small segmented beads (cf. fi g. 13). The beads were placed between the two tortoise brooches but there was no evidence of how the beads were att ached to the brooches. Besides this jewellery the grave con tents consisted of a set of vessels made of wood. The vessels consisted of a beaker with a foot and above the foot engraved furrows, and furthermore a wooden dish and a birch bark box. A spoon of wood also belonged to the set.

48_{Cf. Näsström 2002, 144 ff .} 49_{Nylén / Schönbäck 1994.}

9 Hagebyhöga. A man’s head with a helmet. 1 Hagebyhöga. The woman.

11 Helgö. Picture foil.

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From the same period there is another boat grave with jewellery, grave no. 35, in the Tuna cemetery. In this case the jewellery consists of a huge button onbow brooch with garnet inlays (cf. fig. 14), one small oval brooch and one equalarmed brooch. This rather heterogeneous jewellery set also com prises 33 beads of which one is made of gilded bronze and the rest of glass with a predominance of mosaic beads. Three pendants of gilded bronze in the shape of a strikealight also belonged to the jewellery set. Among other finds in the grave was a simple knife of iron. The boat itself was of the same type as in grave 75, i. e. in both cases with sown boards. Modern DNA analysis revealed that the in dividuals buried in these two graves were females with a close kinship, either a mother and daughter or two sisters 50_{. I believe that this kinship is sig}

nificant and allows us to suppose that the jewel lery in both graves originally belonged to the same set composed of a large buttononbow brooch and four rows of beads, one row of which consisted of coin copies and strikealight pendants.

The Brisingamen and the Menet necklace

Above we have seen a jewellery sets with some distinctive traits. One trait is the many pendants either being loops with some beads or real pen dants in the shape of coins, odd pieces of foreign ornaments, antiquities or even copies of antiques and finally magical amulets. A garnet brooch or a

garnet pendant was an important part of the jewel lery set. The many pendants must have influenced the wearing of the jewellery inasmuch as they gave out a certain sound like jingle bells. I believe that this jingle sound is a property that connects the Brisingamen with the Menet necklace. The Menet necklace was used alongside the sistrumin cer emonies 51_{in which the rattling of the Menet con}

stituted an important property. The rattling sound of the Menet depends on the necklace consisting of beads of stones or faïence and the rattling could be produced when it was held in its counterpoise or simply lifted.

Unlike the Brisingamen the Menet necklace does not have any amulets, but instead there are pictures illustrating the cult on the counterpoise. As men tioned above, the Menet necklace was dedicated to Isis also in the Hellenistic period, when the cult of Isis spread to the Greeks and Romans, though now perhaps it was used as a votive item more than ac tually being worn. In the middle of the 4th_century,

after the death of Constantine and during the reign of Julian the Apostate, oriental religions flourished and the cult of Isis proved especially attractive to females in the empire 52_{. Towards the end of the}

4th_{century and during the 5}th_{, the Germanic tribes}

formed into small kingdoms in response to pres

13 Tuna in Badelunda, grave 75. The bead necklace.

50_{Götherström 2001; Götherström / Malmström / Lidén in}

press.

51_{Cf. Troy 1986, 89 ff.; Daumas 1969.} 52_{Heyob 1975, 109 ff.}

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227

sure from the Huns. In this period when Germanic troops were engaged in the imperial war against the Huns, but also took part in raids along the Ro man border, the Germanic tribes most probably took on traits from other pagan religions, incorpo rating them in their indigenous religion. It is from this time that we hear of the abovementioned sto ry of how Freyja induced her husband Odin to give the Longobards their name. As I have pointed out in a previous paper 53_{the Germanic treasure finds}

from this period include two finds with very rich garnet jewellery with possible links to an Isis cult – the treasures from Petroassa 54_{and Szilagy Somlyo}

(Silvan Silvanei) 55_{. In the Petroassa treasure Isis is}

depicted on the large silver bowl 56_{, and at least one}

of her servants is wearing a Menet necklace 57_{. Very}

intriguing in our context is the golden necklace with 52 pendants that are miniatures of different tools, but also a man paddling a canoe, and a large crystal ball found in treasure I in Szilagy Somlyo 58_.

Found in the same deposit and most probably be longing to the same jewellery set were fourteen Ro man medallions and a large golden disc pendant with garnets in cloisonné. As Lindqvist pointed out first 59_{the frame of one of the medallions has}

a border with facial masks that shows a close con nection to Germanic gold bracteates. This border ornament also is an indication that the jewellery set was arranged in a Germanic workshop, and I would suggest that what we see here is an early forerunner of a Brisingamen, the miniatures being symbols of ancient handicrafts and the canoe sym bolizing navigation, both virtues of which Isis was a benefactor. And the crystal ball could have been used in connection with divination. As pointed out by Capelle, who recently made a thorough study of the chain with the 52 pendants 60_{, there are finds of}

miniatures of this kind here and there in Germanic

female graves, particularly in graves belonging to the Černjachov culture, but also further north in Germania Libra 61_.

The gold bracteates occur mainly in the Nor dic countries, but also spread to eastern as well as western Europe 62_{. The gold bracteates are mostly}

found in deposits and are rare in graves 63_{. Some}

times they seem to have been used as Charon coins in graves, but more commonly they were placed on strings with other beads. In a deposition from Agerskov, Denmark, the strings of beads and brac teates are arranged in loops 64_{and the strings are}

made of leather.

The bracteates certainly had many functions in the society 65_{but I would like to suggest that they}

formed part of the jewellery set that was called the Brisingamen. When gold bracteates ceased to be manufactured, the Brisingamen acquired a new shape consisting of rows of beads 66_{and a button}

onbow brooch. Pendants in the shape of a throne (Isis), a snake or antiques (representations of old civilizations) were already added in the early Vi king period. One may wonder if these amulets are a consequence of the renewed contacts with south eastern Europe (where all kinds of amulets seem to have been in constant use) or if they were the visual examples of a tradition going back to the Ro man Iron Age. The individual shapes of the amu lets 67_{depicting the finds of the chairs indicate that}

they were an indigenous attempt to visualize old myths. The visual renderings of oral myths may also have been inspired by the rich Christian mis sionary art that the Vikings encountered on their travels abroad.

14 Tuna in Badelunda, grave 35.

The button and bow brooch.

53_{Arrhenius 2001.} 54_{Odobescu 1889 – 1900.} 55_{Fettich 1932.}

56_{von Heland 1973, fig. 32.} 57_{Ibid. fig. 38.}

58_{Capelle 1994.} 59_{Lindqvist 1926, 20.} 60_{Capelle 1994.} 61_{Ibid. 90.}

62_{Cf. map of distribution in Axboe 2007, fig. 1.} 63_{Ibid. 105 ff.}

64_{Ibid. 106 and fig. 77.}

65_{Ibid. 111 who has summarized this discussion.} 66_{Cf. Arrhenius 1960.}

67_{Cf. Price 2002, 41 – 49.}

Illustration credits: Fig. 3 After Fuglesang / Wilson 2006. – Fig. 4 Reconstruction after Vierck 2002. – Fig. 5 After Ekelund 1956. – Fig. 6 After Ekelund 1956. – Fig. 7 After Ekelund 1956. – Fig. 8 After Arne 1932. – Fig. 9 After Arne 1932. – Fig. 10 Draw ing by B. Händel. – Fig. 12 After Arbman 1939. – Fig. 13 After Nylén / Schönbäck 1994. – Fig. 14 After Nylén / Schönbäck 1994.

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Brisingamen, der Schmuck der Göttin Freja, steht im Mittelpunkt der Erörterungen. Früher war von der Autorin die Meinung vertreten worden, dass „bri sing“ (glühend) als heiti für Granate steht, die la teinisch carbunculus oder griechisch ἄνθραξ heißen. Den Wortbestandteil men haben andere Autoren mit dem altgermanischen Begriff menni verglichen, der „Halsband für einen Hund“ bedeutet. Mögli cherweise geht das Wort aber auf menet (menat, menit) zurück. Dies bezeichnet ursprünglich den Halsschmuck der kuhgestaltigen Göttin Hathor, die in griechischrömischer Zeit mit der Frucht barkeitsgöttin Isis gleichgesetzt wurde. Der Menet Halsschmuck gehörte zusammen mit dem Sistrum zu Zeremonien, bei denen das Klappern des Menet

Abstract

Brisingamen and the Menet necklace

This article discusses the jewellery worn by the goddess Freyja, the Brisingamen. The author has previously claimed that brising (“glowing”) is a heiti for “garnet”, in Latin called carbunculus and in Greek ἄνθραξ. The word men has been compared by other authors to the Old German word menni meaning a collar for a dog. However, its origin may have been the Menet (alternatively Menat or Men it) – originally the necklace of the cow god Hathor which in the GrecoRoman time was taken over by the fertility goddess Isis. The Menet necklace was mostly used in ceremonies together with the mu sical instrument sistrum, when the rattling of the Menet was an important element. The late Roman

cult of Isis most probably also influenced the old Nordic religion where the goddess Freyja took over many properties dedicated to Isis. The Germanic Menet necklace also consisted of many strings, but metal pendants like bracteates or coin imitations and garnet jewellery were important elements, too. Owing to its many metal pendants the Brisinga men could have produced a sound, though in this case not rattling but rather a sound more like jingle bells. This paper presents several precious items of jewellery representing Freyja’s Brisingamen from the Viking period, the most exquisite examples be ing the necklaces from Hoen in Norway and Eke torp in Sweden.

Zusammenfassung

Brisingamen und der Menet Halsschmuck

ein wichtiger Bestandteil war. Der spätrömische Isiskult beeinflusste wohl die nordgermanische Re ligion, in der die Göttin Freja viele Eigenschaften übernahm, die der Isis zugeschrieben wurden. Der germanische Menet Halsschmuck bestand ebenfalls aus mehreren Reihen. Metallanhänger wie Brakte aten, Münzen und Granatschmuck stellten wichti ge Elemente dar. Anstelle des Klapperns erzeugte der Brisinga Men wegen der vielen Metallanhän ger wohl eher den Klang von klingelnden Glocken. In diesem Beitrag wird verschiedener kostbarer Schmuck dieser Art aus der Wikingerzeit vorge stellt. Dabei stellen der Halsschmuck von Hoen in Norwegen und von Eketorp in Schweden die auser lesensten Beispiele für Frejas Brisingamen dar.

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229

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Birgit Arrhenius Stockholms Universitet AFL, WallenbergLaboratoriet 106 91 Stockholm Schweden birgit.arrhenius@arklab.su.se B. Arrhenius, Brisingamen and the Menet necklace