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LOT 0326
Viking Age Scandinavian Silver Odin Pendant with Ravens
CIRCA 9TH-11TH CENTURY A.D.
3/4 in. (1.76 grams, 21 mm).
A discoid silver pendant with integral loop, beaded border enclosing a low-relief niello image of a male facing mask between two birds embraced at the necks. [No Reserve]
ProvenancePrivate collection formed in Europe in the 1980s.
Westminster collection, central London, UK.
Cf. Hammond, B. M., British Artefacts Volume 2 - Middle Saxon and Viking, p.57, item 1.5.3-f; Korshyn, V.E., Yazcheskye Priveski Drevnei Rusi X-XIV Vekov, Moscow, 2013, item M.2.02.
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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LOT 0326
Viking Age Scandinavian Silver Odin Pendant with Ravens
Sold for (Inc. bp): £520
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Anglo-Scandinavian Viking Bronze Borre Knot Disc Brooch
11th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £286
Disc brooch with low-relief Borre style looped tendrils motif, lug and catch to the reverse. 6.56 grams, 28 mm
Acquired on the UK art market in the 1980s. From an East Anglian private collection. -
Viking Age Gold Plunder Dinar Coin Pendant
8th-9th century A.D.Sold for (Inc. bp): £416
Formed using an Abbasid Caliphate dinar coin with ridged suspension loop attached. 4.43 grams, 22 mm
Acquired in the late 1970s and 1980s. Ex property of a London gentleman.
Such Islamic coins were traded across the Viking world and have been discovered as grave goods or in hoards (as coins and as jewellery items) in Scandinavia and the Baltic area. -
Viking Period Gold 'Elf Shot' Pendant
9th-11th century A.D. or earlierSold for (Inc. bp): £715
Gold cup with hoop and suspension loop, with carnelian insert. 0.78 grams, 16 mm
Ex property of a late Japanese collector, 1970-2000s.
This amulet was believed to offer protection against 'Elfshot'. The attack of elves was believed responsible for mysterious suffering in men and livestock: 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.