Norse art
Encyclopedia
Scandinavia
Scandinavia is a cultural, historical and ethno-linguistic region in northern Europe that includes the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, characterized by their common ethno-cultural heritage and language. Modern Norway and Sweden proper are situated on the Scandinavian Peninsula,...
during the Germanic Iron Age
Germanic Iron Age
The Germanic Iron Age is the name given to the period 400–800 in Northern Europe and it is part of the continental Age of Migrations.-Germanic Iron :...
, the Viking Age
Viking Age
Viking Age is the term for the period in European history, especially Northern European and Scandinavian history, spanning the late 8th to 11th centuries. Scandinavian Vikings explored Europe by its oceans and rivers through trade and warfare. The Vikings also reached Iceland, Greenland,...
(known as Viking art), and sometimes even used when describing objects from the Nordic Bronze Age
Nordic Bronze Age
The Nordic Bronze Age is the name given by Oscar Montelius to a period and a Bronze Age culture in Scandinavian pre-history, c. 1700-500 BC, with sites that reached as far east as Estonia. Succeeding the Late Neolithic culture, its ethnic and linguistic affinities are unknown in the absence of...
. Viking art has many elements in common with Celtic Art
Celtic art
Celtic art is the art associated with the peoples known as Celts; those who spoke the Celtic languages in Europe from pre-history through to the modern period, as well as the art of ancient peoples whose language is uncertain, but have cultural and stylistic similarities with speakers of Celtic...
, Romanesque art
Romanesque art
Romanesque art refers to the art of Western Europe from approximately 1000 AD to the rise of the Gothic style in the 13th century, or later, depending on region. The preceding period is increasingly known as the Pre-Romanesque...
and East-European (Eurasian) Art.
There are six main styles; Oseberg
Oseberg style
The Oseberg style is a Viking Era animal ornamentation in Norse art. -History:Oseberg style is named after the Oseberg ship grave, a well-preserved Viking age ship discovered in a large burial mound at the Oseberg farm near Tønsberg in Vestfold County, Norway...
, Borre
Borre style
Borre style is a Viking Era animal ornamentation which was first named after artifacts from a boat grave in Borre mound cemetery near the village of Borre, in Horten municipality, Vestfold county, Norway.-History:...
, Jellinge
Jelling style
The Jelling style is a phase of Scandinavian animal art during the 10th century. The style is characterized by markedly stylized and often band-shaped bodies of animals...
, Mammen
Mammen style
The Mammen style is a phase of Scandinavian animal art during the late 10th century and the early 11th century. The style is named after finds from a chamber tomb in Mammen on Jutland, Denmark. The finds included a silver engraved axe of which one side shows a markedly stylized animal with long...
, Ringerike
Ringerike style
The Ringerike style is a Scandinavian animal style from the late 10th century and the 11th century, which evolved out of the earlier Mammen style. It has received its name from a group of runestones with animal and plant motifs in the Ringerike district north of Oslo. The most common motifs are...
and Urnes style
Urnes style
The Urnes style was the last phase of Scandinavian animal art during the second half of the 11th century and in the early 12th century. The preceding phases of Scandinavia's Viking Age animal ornamentation are usually categorized as Oseberg style, Borre style, Jelling style, Mammen style and...
. The Jelling style is named after the Jelling
Jelling
Jelling is a village in Denmark with a population of 3,248 , located in Jelling Parish approx. 10 km northwest of Vejle. The city lies 105 metres above sea level.-Location:...
royal grave where the Jelling stones
Jelling stones
The Jelling stones are massive carved runestones from the 10th century, found at the town of Jelling in Denmark. The older of the two Jelling stones was raised by King Gorm the Old in memory of his wife Thyra...
are located, and features prominent animal designs. The Ringerike style is characterized by elaborate foliage ornament and interlacing
Interlace (visual arts)
In the visual arts, interlace is a decorative element found in medieval art. In interlace, bands or portions of other motifs are looped, braided, and knotted in complex geometric patterns, often to fill a space. Islamic interlace patterns and Celtic knotwork share similar patterns, suggesting a...
and is named after the district in Norway where it is represented in local sandstone. Detailed designs in carved
Wood carving
Wood carving is a form of working wood by means of a cutting tool in one hand or a chisel by two hands or with one hand on a chisel and one hand on a mallet, resulting in a wooden figure or figurine, or in the sculptural ornamentation of a wooden object...
doors of Urnes stave church
Urnes stave church
Urnes Stave Church is a stave church at the Ornes farm, along the Lustrafjord in the municipality of Luster in Sogn og Fjordane county, Norway, about east of the village of Hafslo....
in the Sognefjord
Sognefjord
The Sognefjord is the largest fjord in Norway, and the second longest in the world. Located in Sogn og Fjordane county, it stretches inland to the small village of Skjolden...
, Norway gave its name to the final style.
Examples
- Ladbyskibet, the only Danish ship burialShip burialA ship burial or boat grave is a burial in which a ship or boat is used either as a container for the dead and the grave goods, or as a part of the grave goods itself. If the ship is very small, it is called a boat grave...
. The ship and its owner are buried in Ladbyhøj together with 11 horses and at least 4 dogs. It is located close to Kerteminde on FunenFunenFunen , with a size of 2,984 km² , is the third-largest island of Denmark following Zealand and Vendsyssel-Thy, and the 163rd largest island of the world. Funen is located in the central part of the country and has a population of 454,358 inhabitants . The main city is Odense, connected to the...
, DenmarkDenmarkDenmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
. The ship was decorated with a dragon's head in the bow. Today only the dragon's coily mane made of iron remains. - Copies of the two golden horns of GallehusGolden horns of GallehusThe Golden Horns of Gallehus were two horns made of sheet gold, discovered in Gallehus, north of Møgeltønder in South Jutland, Denmark.The horns date to the early 5th century, i.e. the beginning of the Germanic Iron Age....
from around the 4th century. The copies can be seen at Nationalmuseet in Denmark. The original horns were stolen and destroyed in 1802. - Gundestrupkarret (the Gundestrup CauldronGundestrup cauldronThe Gundestrup cauldron is a richly-decorated silver vessel, thought to date to the 1st century BC, placing it into the late La Tène period. It was found in 1891 in a peat bog near the hamlet of Gundestrup, in the Aars parish in Himmerland, Denmark...
) is a Celtic-style cauldron from the Iron Age. It was found in Denmark. It is housed at the National Museum of DenmarkNational Museum of DenmarkThe National Museum of Denmark in Copenhagen is Denmark’s largest museum of cultural history, comprising the histories of Danish and foreign cultures, alike. The museum's main domicile is located a short distance from Strøget at the center of Copenhagen. It contains exhibits from around the world,...
. - The Solvogn (the Trundholm sun chariotTrundholm sun chariotThe Trundholm sun chariot , is a late Nordic Bronze Age artifact discovered in Denmark. It is a representatino of the sun chariot, a bronze statue of a horse and a large bronze disk, which are placed on a device with spoked wheels....
) is from the Bronze Age. It was found in a bog in 1902 in Denmark. In the Danish Bronze Age mythology it was believed that the sun was carried over the sky on a carriage from noon to evening. At night the sun was escorted by a snake to the night ship that transported it until morning. A fish then escorted the sun to the morning ship that transported it until the horse took over again. Solvognen is housed at the National Museum of Denmark. - A copy of The Cammin Casket, housed at the National Museum of DenmarkNational Museum of DenmarkThe National Museum of Denmark in Copenhagen is Denmark’s largest museum of cultural history, comprising the histories of Danish and foreign cultures, alike. The museum's main domicile is located a short distance from Strøget at the center of Copenhagen. It contains exhibits from around the world,...
. The original casket was lost during World War IIWorld War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. The casket was made in the late Viking Age (around year 1000 AD) in the southern Scandinavia. It is made out of wood, elk horn and bronze and is an example of Norse art with rich carvings in Mammen styleMammen styleThe Mammen style is a phase of Scandinavian animal art during the late 10th century and the early 11th century. The style is named after finds from a chamber tomb in Mammen on Jutland, Denmark. The finds included a silver engraved axe of which one side shows a markedly stylized animal with long...
. The shape of the casket represents the shape of a Viking house. - Oseberg longship - an example of Norse art and craftsmanship.
See also
- Medieval artMedieval artThe medieval art of the Western world covers a vast scope of time and place, over 1000 years of art history in Europe, and at times the Middle East and North Africa...
- Migration Period artMigration Period artMigration Period art denotes the artwork of the Germanic peoples during the Migration period . It includes the Migration art of the Germanic tribes on the continent, as well the start of the Insular art or Hiberno-Saxon art of the Anglo-Saxon and Celtic fusion in the British Isles...
- Picture stonePicture stoneA picture stone, image stone or figure stone is an ornate slab of stone, usually limestone, which was raised in Germanic Iron Age or Viking Age Scandinavia, and in the greatest number on Gotland. More than four hundred picture stones are known today. All of the stones were probably erected as...
- Runestone stylesRunestone stylesThe runestone styles varied during the Viking Age. The early runestones were simple in design, but towards the end of the runestone era they became increasingly complex and made by travelling runemasters such as Öpir and Visäte....
- Sutton HooSutton HooSutton Hoo, near to Woodbridge, in the English county of Suffolk, is the site of two 6th and early 7th century cemeteries. One contained an undisturbed ship burial including a wealth of Anglo-Saxon artefacts of outstanding art-historical and archaeological significance, now held in the British...
- Norse architectureNorse architectureNorse architecture was a way buildings were designed in Scandinavia before and during medieval times . The major aspects of Norse architecture are Boathouses, religious buildings , and general buildings .-Boating houses:Boathouses are the buildings used to hold Viking...