silver, ¼ inch in thickness, bent into an incomplete circle 5 inches in
diameter. The pin, which wants the point, has a bulbous head of the same
character as those previously described, but the prickly ornamentation
is merely indicated by incised lines crossing each other diagonally. The
other hemisphere of the bulbous head of the pin is decorated with a
circle enclosing an equal-armed rectangular cross. The top of the pin
presents a similar ornament, which might be described as a St. Andrew’s
Cross; but there is nothing in the character of either of these figures
which might not be present in a purely geometric ornament, and they need
not therefore be supposed to possess a symbolic significance. The ends
of the penannular ring of the brooch, instead of being furnished with
bulbs, are slightly flattened and expanded, and their ornamentation
consists of a simple dotted margin, with a triplet of larger dots placed
in triangular form at the extremities of the expansions of the ring.
Other two brooches of this form are smaller, and their pins have no
bulbous heads, but are simply looped on to the ring of the brooch. The
smaller of the two is perfectly plain; the larger has the expanded ends
of the ring ornamented with zoomorphic interlaced work, slightly
engraved in the silver with a very fine point.
It is thus evident that the special peculiarity of these brooches is
their excessive size, their massiveness and solidity of construction,
the bulbous form of their terminal expansions, and their prickly and
engraved ornamentation.
We pass now to the examination of the neck and arm rings found with
them. The commonest form of the neck rings is a circlet of about 5
inches diameter, composed of a series of thicker and finer strands,
twisted spirally together, and passing at the ends into flattened
expansions, terminating in hooks. One, 5¼ inches diameter (Fig. 62), is
composed of two thick strands, spirally intertwisted with two sets of
finer wires, each set consisting of a plait of two very thin wires,
bordered by a single fine wire on each side. These lie in the hollows of
the twists between the thicker strands, and add greatly to the beauty of
the necklet. The ends of all the strands are united together, forming
terminal flattened expansions, which are provided with recurving hooks
to fasten the ring when worn. There are ten examples of this type,
differing only in the arrangements of thicker strands, with twisted
wires of various degrees of fineness.
[Illustration: Fig. 62.—Neck Ring of Silver found at Skaill (5¼ inches
diameter).]
Another variety, an example of which is shown in Fig. 63, is formed of
seven hammered rods of equal thickness, closely interplaited like the
thong of a whip. The central portion of the ring is a solid knob, oval
in shape, from which the strands decrease in thickness towards the
extremities, where they are soldered together and drawn out into a
cylindrical tapering rod, which is coiled into a spiral termination, and
the two ends recurved so as to hook into each other when the ring was
worn.
[Illustration: Fig. 63.—Neck Ring of Silver found at Skaill.]
Another of these interplaited rings (Fig. 64) is formed of three plaits
of two strands each, spirally twisted together, and intertwisted with
double strands of very small wires, also plaited together, which lie in
the interstices of the larger plaits. The thicker wires taper slightly
towards the extremities, where they are soldered into solid flattened
ends, one of which terminates in a hook, while the other is furnished
with an eye to fasten the ring when worn. The flattened ends are
ornamented with punched triangular depressions, having a raised dot in
the centre.
[Illustration: Fig. 64.—Neck Ring found at Skaill (5¼ inches diameter).]
There are two of the arm rings which are of the same construction as the
neck rings. Both are closed rings, though both are treated with respect
to their ornament as if they were penannular. One is formed of a series
of thick strands and finer wires, spirally intertwisted. The other (Fig.
65) is of more elegant design. It is 3¼ inches in its inner diameter,
and is formed of four sets of two strands of wire, each set being
separately twisted, and the four double twists intertwisted spirally.
The strands decrease in thickness from the middle of the armlet towards
the ends, where they are soldered to a bar, formed into the semblance of
two animal’s heads, grasping in their mouths the part which forms the
junction between the penannular ends of the ring.
[Illustration: Fig. 65.—Armlet of Silver found at Skaill (3¼ inches
diameter).]
[Illustration: Fig. 66.—Armlet of Silver found at Skaill (3¼ inches
diameter).]
Besides these neck rings and armlets formed of intertwisted rods and
wires, there were in the hoard twenty-five solid penannular rings of
silver, bent to an elongated oval, and tapering slightly towards the
extremities. They vary in size from 2½ to 3¼ inches in the long
diameter, and are thus of a size sufficient to enclose the wrist. They
are either quadrangular or circular in section, and, except in one
instance, they bear no ornament whatever. The solitary exception (Fig.
66) is ornamented by a series of triangular markings impressed by a
punch, having three dots in the field. Another armlet of a different
form (Fig. 67) is a flat thin band of silver, wider in the middle than
towards the ends, and terminating in a hook at one extremity, the other
being broken. This example is the only one of its kind in the hoard. It
is also ornamented with a double row of impressed triangles, having two
dots in the field.
[Illustration: Fig. 67.—Flat Arm Band found at Skaill (2¾ inches
diameter).]
With these personal ornaments of various kinds, which constituted the
bulk of the hoard, there was a small quantity of bullion, and a few
coins.
The bullion consisted of a number of ingots of silver, some entire,
others cut, and a quantity of fragments of brooches and arm-rings
chopped up into small pieces, as if with an axe or chisel. The largest
ingot is 3¼ inches in length, and weighs 1089 grains.
The coins were few—at least few were recovered—although from their small
size and thinness they were more liable to be overlooked in the hasty
and promiscuous grubbing of many treasure-seekers. One is a St. Peter’s
penny struck at York, of tenth century date. Another is a penny of King
Æthelstan (A.D. 925), struck at Leicester. All the others are Asiatic,
of the time when the seat of the Mohammedan Caliphate was at Cufa or
Bagdad. Three of these Cufic coins belong to the Abbaside Caliphs, and
seven to the Samanian dynasty. They range in their dates between A.D.
887 and 945, and the places of mintage, still legible, are Al-shash,
Bagdad, and Samarcand.
Let us now group the characteristics of this deposit. It is a hoard
buried in the earth, but with no indication of its having been in any
way connected with the rites of sepulture. It is a large hoard,
altogether amounting to 16 lbs. in weight. It is entirely of silver, and
consists of personal ornaments, ingots, and coins. The ornaments are
brooches, neck rings, and arm rings. The brooches are of penannular
form, but differ in their character from those we have learned to
recognise as distinctively Celtic. The neck rings and arm rings present
no features of a specially Celtic character. The coins are Cufic and
Anglo-Saxon, dated mostly in the end of the ninth and the first half of
the tenth centuries.
No similar hoard has been discovered in any other part of Scotland. But
in its general composition the Skaill hoard resembles a considerable
number of other hoards of similar articles which have been found in
other countries. They are most abundant in the eastern parts of Sweden,
less common in Norway, and of occasional occurrence in Denmark. In none
of these countries has there been found a hoard consisting of such a
large number of personal ornaments as that found at Skaill, but the
forms and the character of the ornaments found in these hoards of
silver, associated with mintages of the ninth and tenth centuries, are
always the same. The specialty of these hoards so found in Scandinavia
is that they are largely composed of Cufic and Anglo-Saxon coins.[48]
The personal ornaments associated with them consist for the most part of
large rings for the neck, formed of intertwisted rods and wires; arm
rings of similar character, or of solid bars, circular or quadrangular
in section, bent into a penannular oval, and ornamented with the
peculiar triangular patterns impressed by a punch, with dots in the
field. The brooches, with long pins and bulbous ends like thistle heads,
are less common, but occur occasionally in such hoards in all the three
Scandinavian countries. In many of the hoards there are also ingots, and
dismembered ornaments cut and hammered into lumps of mere bullion. “This
fact,” says Hildebrand, “shows that they had no value with the people
who possessed them, except the intrinsic value of the metal.” Weighing
scales and weights are sometimes also found with them, and close
examination reveals the fact that the ornaments and portions of
ornaments have been often tested with a cutting instrument to try their
purity. This again reveals the trafficker rather than the plundering
Viking, who carries off his spoil without any such careful examination;
and, according to this view, Mr. Hildebrand concludes that the silver
ornaments and the Cufic coins must be considered as equally foreign to
Scandinavia. “There can be no doubt,” he says, “that these ornaments,
ingots, and lumps of silver were brought with the coins from Asia, where
silver is more easily obtained than in the northern parts of Europe.”
With reference to this conclusion it may be remarked that while the
derivation of the Cufic coins needs no demonstration, and while it may
be admitted that other products of the Arab civilisation of the time
were brought by the same stream of commerce through Russia to the
Scandinavian countries, and thence to Scotland, England, and Ireland, it
still remains to be shown that these silver ornaments are Oriental in
their origin. This can only be demonstrated by showing that they are
allied by their forms and ornament to the Oriental types of that period;
or, if this cannot be done, it must at least be shown that they differ
so widely in form and ornament from the types of the western lands in
which they are found as to forbid the supposition that they may be of
western origin.
-----
Footnote 48:
Upwards of 20,000 Cufic and 15,000 Anglo-Saxon coins have been
enumerated from hoards of this period in Sweden alone.
-----
We have no knowledge of the types of personal ornaments in use in Asia
at the time indicated by the dates of mintage of these Cufic coins. It
is impossible, therefore, to establish the Oriental origin of these
silver ornaments by demonstrating their identity of type with Oriental
ornaments of that period. The question which remains for discussion,
therefore, is, whether their forms and ornament present such relations
to the forms and the ornament of any of the western countries in which
they are found, as will correlate them with known types of native
origin.
In 1840 a large hoard of silver ornaments, weighing upwards of a
thousand ounces, along with a quantity of silver coins, from six to
seven thousand in number, was discovered concealed in a leaden chest,
and buried in the soil at Cuerdale, near Preston, in Lancashire. The
coins consisted chiefly of Anglo-Saxon pennies, with a few of French and
some Cufic mints, and the inference from the data they afford is that
the deposit was probably made at some time subsequent to the
commencement of the tenth century. The personal ornaments in the hoard
consisted chiefly of rings of various sizes and of similar character to
those that have been described as occurring in the deposit at Skaill.
Some of the larger rings were composed of interplaited rods and twisted
wires like those from Skaill, and the solid rings were also ornamented
with patterns produced by impressions of a triangular punch, with dots
in the field. There were also some fragments of the peculiarly-shaped
brooches, with bulbous knobs and prickly ornamentation. One object in
the hoard was distinctively Scandinavian—a small Thor’s hammer of
silver, such as were commonly worn as amulets in the heathen time. Among
the fragments described at the time as incapable of being determined,
there are four which may now be said with certainty to be portions of
penannular brooches of the distinctively Celtic form. This Celtic
relationship was not perceived by Mr. Hawkins (who described them),
except in one instance, which he recognises as “so much resembling the
patterns on early crosses and architectural remains, that it is
difficult to assign to it any other than a Northern origin.” But his
general conclusion is that “it is scarcely consistent with sound
reasoning upon all the facts of the case to assign any but an Oriental
origin to these objects.” In this he is supported by Mr. Worsaae, who
says that as these silver ornaments are not found in the west of Europe
except in association with Cufic coins, and do not occur at all in the
interior or southern parts of Europe, he regards it as without doubt
that Mr. Hawkins has been perfectly right in giving an Oriental origin
to at least a great part of the silver ornaments found at Cuerdale.
Setting aside these conclusions, in so far as they are merely
conjectural, it appears established that the area over which these
deposits of silver ornaments are found is limited to the three
Scandinavian countries and the British Isles. It is certain that among
the ornaments so found some are distinctively Scandinavian, and others
distinctively Celtic, while the remainder, which constitutes the bulk of
the deposits, is of unknown derivation, but has been conjecturally
assigned to an Oriental origin, on account of its association with the
Cufic coins. I therefore proceed to the examination of these objects
which are of undetermined origin, with the view of ascertaining the
special characteristics and relations of their form and ornament.
I have already remarked that the form of these bulbous brooches is that
which is distinctive of the Celtic brooch—penannular, with expanded
ends. Its special peculiarities are exaggerations of the specialties of
form by which the Celtic type is distinguished from all others; and in
this respect the form assumed by these bulbous brooches, though Celtic
in type, is so strongly differentiated from the purely Celtic form, that
it may be regarded as a distinct variety. No other form of brooch is so
huge and massive, with such a length of pin. The Celtic brooch-maker was
so much more of an artist than the mere silversmith that he flattened
the ring of the brooch and broadened its terminal expansions in order to
provide space for the elaborate surface decoration in which he
delighted. The maker of these bulbous brooches, on the other hand, is so
much more of the silversmith than of the artist that the bulk of his
work is merely finished with the hammer—the ring and the pin are beaten
into form, and the expansions made globular instead of flat. The form of
these brooches, therefore, agrees with the Celtic form in its main
features, its penannular character, and its length of pin, loosely
looped on the ring of the brooch.
But if the form of these brooches be thus closely allied to the Celtic
form, their ornament is no less closely allied to the Celtic system of
ornamentation. The peculiar prickliness of the bulbs, which is the most
marked feature of their character, is not distinctively Celtic, but a
suggestion of it is occasionally found on Celtic silver-work, as, for
instance, on the almost globular head of a Celtic brooch in the National
Museum, and on a gold brooch found near Coleraine.[49] But the reverse
hemispheres of the bulbous terminations of the Skaill brooches, which
present this prickly ornamentation on the obverse, are also decorated
with engraved designs. These are of two varieties, simple interlaced
ribbon patterns and zoomorphic patterns. The character of the interlaced
work so closely resembles the Celtic style that it may be said to be
more Celtic than Scandinavian. The character of the zoomorphic work, on
the other hand, is more Scandinavian than Celtic, and is suggestive of
the style and treatment of the designs on the Manx crosses, while it
more closely resembles some of the more characteristic designs of the
purely Scandinavian metal-work of the heathen time.
-----
Footnote 49:
The gold brooch is figured in the _Ulster Journal_, vol. iv. p. 1.
-----
The interlaced work is present on the reverse hemispheres of the bulbs
of one of the largest of the prickly brooches, in the form of a circular
pattern (Fig. 68) which is common in Celtic work, and may be seen on
several of the sculptured monuments of the east coast of Scotland.
Another circular pattern of interlaced work (Fig. 69), differing in its
construction, but possessing the Celtic peculiarity of the divided
bands, is found on the head of the pin of another brooch. The collars of
the first-mentioned example are also surrounded by bands of interlaced
work in a running pattern (Fig. 70), which is common on Celtic stone and
metal work.
[Illustration:
Fig. 68.—Circular pattern on reverse of the bulbs of the brooch
described p. 80 (actual size).
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 69.—Circular pattern on the head of the pin of brooch, described
pp. 81-82 (actual size).
]
[Illustration: Fig. 70.—Pattern on the reverse of the bulbs of the
brooch described p. 80 (actual size).]
[Illustration: Fig. 71.—Zoomorphic pattern on bulb of the brooch in the
Skaill hoard, shown as Fig. 59.]
[Illustration: Fig. 72.—Ornament on bulb of brooch, shown as Fig. 59
(actual size).]
[Illustration: Fig. 73.—On the pinhead of brooch, shown as Fig. 59
(actual size).]
[Illustration: Fig. 74.—On a single bulb of a brooch in the Skaill hoard
(actual size).]
[Illustration: Fig. 75.—On one of the bulbs (actual size).]
[Illustration: Fig. 76.—On one of the bulbs (actual size).]
The zoomorphic patterns consist mostly of animal forms, which are
treated in a freer manner than is usual in Celtic work. One of these
occupying the reverse of a single bulb with prickly ornament, is shown
in Fig. 74. The irregularity of the design, its want of balance and
symmetry, and the tendency of the interlacements of the intertwisted
members to break off in scroll-like terminations, are all features which
are usually present in Scandinavian work, and as usually absent in the
work of the pure Celtic school. The body of the beast, seen sideways, is
outlined with a double line, as is usual in the Celtic style. Its head
is thrown back, its mouth open and tongue protruding; a single tooth
appears in each jaw. Its feet are furnished with two toes, and its tail
and crest, convoluted with the body and limbs, terminate in irregular
scrolls. The patterns on the bulbous terminations of another brooch
(Figs. 71, 72, 73), have a curious resemblance to this one, while
presenting points of difference. It is the same beast, almost in the
same attitude, but differing in the treatment of the details in both
representations. In Fig. 72 the body of the beast is covered with
scale-like markings, and the same tendency of the convolutions of the
crest to break off in scroll-like terminations is visible in both. The
figure [Illustration: Fig. 77.—On the bulbous head of the pin (actual
size).] on the bulbous head of the pin of this brooch (Fig. 73) differs
from those on the bulbous terminations of its ring in being more
bird-like than beast-like, and its convolutions more broken into
indefinite scrolls and whirls. It is noticeable, however, that the
crest, the eye, and the two-toed foot of this bird-like figure are the
same as those of the beast which appears in the patterns previously
described, and re-appears in conjunction with a more remarkable figure
on another brooch (described pp. 81-82) in the Skaill deposit. The
figures on its [Illustration: Fig. 78.—Axe-head inlaid with silver, from
the Mammen How, Denmark.] bulbous terminations (Figs. 75, 76) are finely
engraved. They represent the same beast which is figured on the others,
with but slight variations of detail, but the bulbous head of the pin
shows quite a remarkable deviation from the general form of these
representations. Instead of the conventional beast, we see here (Fig.
77) a quasi-human figure worked up into a pattern of interlacements. The
treatment of this anthropomorphic form is peculiar. It presents a
bearded face, which is curiously elongated and triangular in outline;
the nose is represented by a curved line, and the eyes are connected by
double lines across the upper part of the nose. The hands are bound with
interlacements, and the body is treated as the bodies of the beasts
commonly used for zoomorphic patterns. This bearded, broad-nosed,
goggle-eyed figure has no Celtic relations, but we meet with the same
typical face in Scandinavia, occasionally placed in association with
zoomorphic patterns, which are almost identical with those of the Skaill
brooches in motive and style.
[Illustration: Fig. 79.—Thor’s Hammer in silver, from Skane, Sweden
(actual size).]
For instance, the motive and the style of the decoration of an iron
axe-head (Fig. 78), inlaid with silver, which was found in a grave-mound
of the heathen time called the Mammen How, near Viborg, in Denmark,[50]
are almost identical with those of the engraved designs on the Skaill
brooches. There is the same scale-covered beast, in the same attitude,
rendered with the same conventionality of treatment, and the
convolutions of the tail and crest which interlace with the limbs and
body of the creature exhibit the same tendency to break off in scrolls.
In the upper part of the axe we have the same triangular, broad-nosed,
goggle-eyed face which also appears on one of the brooches from Skaill.
The same face appears on the pendants representing Thor’s Hammer, which
are occasionally found in hoards of personal ornaments of the heathen
period in Scandinavia. They are usually of silver, sometimes
parcel-gilt, and decorated with filigree work. One of these (Fig. 79),
found in Skane, Sweden, bearing the typical face with the goggle-eyes
and the bar between them, is here figured of the actual size.[51] The
same face occasionally occurs on Runic monuments of the heathen time. It
is seen on a stone 5 feet high by 3 feet broad, and from 2 to 16 inches
thick, at Skjern, in North Jutland (Fig. 80), which is here reproduced
from the engraving given by Professor Stephens, who thus describes the
figure:—“In the centre is the head of Thor, wild and bearded. There is
no manner of doubt that he is here introduced and invoked to bless and
protect the deceased and his tumulus, grave-stone, and funeral-marks.”
That the face is really intended for that of Thor appears to be
demonstrated by its occurrence upon the small amulets representing
Thor’s Hammer in silver, and by such monumental sculptures as that on a
stone at Aby, in Sodermanland, Sweden (Fig. 81), where a similar face,
though less conventional in treatment, occurs in association with a
sculptured representation of a Thor’s Hammer. But it is quite immaterial
to our present purpose to determine whether this peculiar type of face
is more of a mythological conception than a conventionality of art. The
point which concerns our inquiry is that we have localised the typical
form definitely within the Scandinavian area, and demonstrated its
association with the art of the monuments and the metal work of the
Scandinavian heathen time.
[Illustration: Fig. 80.—Runic Monument at Skjern, North Jutland, with
Thor’s face (5 feet high).]
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Footnote 50: