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_900x900.jpg "Viking Age Gold Elf Shot Pendant with Garnet")
_200x200.jpg "Viking Age Gold Elf Shot Pendant with Garnet")
.jpg "Viking Age Gold Elf Shot Pendant with Garnet")
LOT 1403
Viking Age Gold Elf Shot Pendant with Garnet
9TH-12TH CENTURY A.D.
1 in. (0.94 grams, 24 mm).
With a suspension loop and short length of chain composed of coiled wire links, clasping a polished plano-convex garnet.
ProvenanceAcquired 1970-2010.
Collection of a late Japanese gentleman.
This amulet was believed to offer protection against 'Elfshot'. The attack of elves was believed responsible for mysterious suffering in men and livestock. 'Elfshot' described sudden shooting pains localised to a particular area of the body, such as in rheumatism, arthritis or muscle stitches or cramps. Elves were thought to shoot darts or arrows where such pains had no obvious external cause. Belief in elfshot persisted into the 20th century in rural areas, and as proof country folk would sometimes find small arrowheads (the remains of Neolithic or Mesolithic flints, or naturally-occurring spear-shaped stones) that were believed to be the magical weapons that caused the afflictions. Belief in elfshot began in the Pagan Germanic period.
CONDITIONTimeLine Auctions follows a vetting process to ensure the authenticity and legality of all items, reinforcing our commitment to integrity and responsible trading. Each antiquity, antique, and coin lot undergoes thorough examination by a vetting committee of at least ten external specialists, professional trade association members, scientists, and archaeologists: Our Vetting Process
AUCTIONS:
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From the collection of a North American gentleman, formed in the 1990s.
Pendants in the form of miniature buckets have been found in a number of pagan Anglo-Saxon and Viking contexts and are generally made of bronze or iron, with gold examples being rare; three gold examples were found with the hoard from Hoen, Norway. Bronze bucket amulets have been found at Driffield in Yorkshire, and Vimose bog in Denmark, among other places. In form they represent wooden buckets bound with bronze or iron bands which have been found in Anglo-Saxon and Viking graves and are believed to have held mead or ale and were used to replenish the cups from which warriors drank. As amulets they probably represent the ecstatic power of alcoholic drink and the role of women as the dispensers of these precious beverages. -
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Composed of nine tiers of round cross-section coils, the terminals tapering to points. 17.88 grams, 22.14 mm overall, 17.42 mm internal diameter (approximate size British P, USA 7 1/2, Europe 16.23, Japan 15)
From the collection of a North American gentleman, formed in the 1990s. -
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9th-12th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £65
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From the collection of a North American gentleman, formed in the 1990s.
