NORTHERN RELICS—BOG FINDS.
Numerous Greek and Roman objects—Intentional destruction of
weapons—Thorsberg find—Coats of mail—Garments and harness—Weapons
and ornaments—The Vimose find—The sax—Bronze and iron
spurs—Carpenter’s plane—The Kragehul find—The Nydam find—Discovery
of a large oak boat—Its construction—Various weapons, tools, and
ornaments—Damascened swords.
Before passing on to other parts of our wide subject, let us examine
somewhat more minutely and in detail the various classes of remarkable
objects which have been found in the lands of the old Norsemen,
belonging to the earlier iron age.
[Illustration:
Fig. 339.—Shield boss of bronze with Latin inscription AELAELIANVS. ⅕
real size.—Thorsbjerg find.
]
The bog finds[157] are very important, and throw additional light on the
earlier history of the people. From them we are able to see how people
were dressed, and to learn about their riding equipment, agricultural
implements, cooking utensils, household vessels, waggons, tools, and
offensive and defensive weapons; from one of these also we were first
made acquainted with their sea-vessels. Many of the objects appear to be
of Greek or Roman origin, and Roman coins are found, so that we can
approximate closely the date when the objects were in use, and
consequently the taste and manner of living of the period.
We can dress a warrior from head to foot, and wonder at his costly and
magnificent equipment, and his superb and well-finished weapons, and can
realise how magnificent must have been some of his riding and driving
vehicles.
[Illustration:
Fig. 340.—Bronze breast-plate, covered with gold and
silver.—Thorsbjerg find.
]
All these antiquarian bog-finds are within very easy access of the sea,
varying in depth beneath the surface of the earth—in the Thorsbjerg bog,
10–14 feet; in the Nydam, 5–7 feet; the Vimose, 4–5 feet. Those of
Denmark have proved far richer than those of the present Sweden, Norway,
and the countries situated on the eastern and southern shores of the
Baltic. In numerous instances the objects are unique, and many present a
great similarity to those found in the skeleton graves, such as swords
with Roman characters upon them, fragments of wooden buckets, checkers,
dice, &c.
Here also, as in the graves where the bodies were burnt, we find objects
intentionally damaged. This bending, twisting, and hacking of weapons
seems to have been a religious custom. The spear-handles, scabbards,
bows, arrow-shafts, and shields are often broken into fragments, or
rolled together in inextricable knots. Ringed coats of mail and garments
are torn to pieces, which afterwards were wrapped carefully together;
and the skulls and skeletons of horses are cleft in many places.
[Illustration:
Fig. 341.—Fragments of silver shield boss, with gilt
ornaments.—Thorsbjerg find.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 342.—Silver helmet.—Thorsbjerg find.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 343.—Bronze serpent: probably ornament to helmet.—Thorsbjerg
find.
]
These masses of objects seem to imply that they were either the spoils
and remains of great fights between different chieftains, or offers to
the gods thrown into sacred springs. In this latter case the finds must
be the produce of a long series of years, and have been given to the
gods at different times, the destruction, instead of taking place on the
pyre, having taken place on the water.
This destruction was not apparently peculiar to the inhabitants of the
North, for Cæsar relates of the Gauls, that when they went into battle
they made a vow to consecrate the booty to the god of war. After the
victory the captured animals were sacrificed, and the rest of the booty
was brought together into one spot.
[Illustration:
Fig. 344.—Bronze buckle inlaid with gold and silver, for ring armour;
the back shows how the rings were attached. ⅔ real size.—Thorsbjerg
Bog-find.
]
[Illustration:
Reverse.
]
The narrative of Crosius offers the most striking similarity between
this custom and that of the Cimbrians and Teutons, who, when coming from
the North after their victory over the Romans at Arausia (near the river
Rhone), in the year 105 before Christ, sacrificed the whole of the
booty. He relates:—
“When the enemies had taken possession of two camps and an immense
booty, they destroyed under new and strange imprecations all that had
fallen into their hands. The clothes were torn and thrown away, gold and
silver thrown into the river, the ring armour of the men cut to pieces,
the accoutrements of the horses destroyed, the horses themselves thrown
into the water, and the men with ropes around their necks suspended to
the trees, so that there was no more booty for the victors than there
was mercy for the conquered.”
[Illustration:
Fig. 345.—Bronze plate, covered with gold and silver, belonging to
ring armour.—Thorsbjerg find.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 346.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 347.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 348.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 349.
Figures, made of thin silver plates, belonging to bronze plate.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 350.—Fragment of ring armour. Real size.
]
One might suppose that Orosius has here described the feast of victory
at Nydam or Thorsbjerg.
If any proofs were needed to show that the objects were intentionally
placed in the water, we have them in the fact that several clay vessels
have been sunk by heavy stones being put in them, and that other objects
were fastened to the bottom by means of large wooden hooks. Finally, we
ought to add, the space within which the antiquities were found was in
several places marked off by fence-like wicker hurdles of twigs, or by
poles, spears or swords, stuck into the mud.
_The Thorsbjerg[158] Bog-find._—The researches in this find cover a
period of six years, from 1856 to 1862, and is one of the most
remarkable, for here were brought to light objects unknown in other
similar finds. From the coins[159] enumerated below, we must come to the
conclusion that many of the objects found belong to the second century
of our era. Among the most remarkable antiquities of warfare are the
superb coats of mail found in the North, and the skill displayed in
making war accoutrements at such an early period shows an advanced state
of civilisation. These coats of mail (which are also found in graves)
are a network of rings each of which is run through four others. In
their workmanship they vary:—in some the rings are clinched; in others
only every other ring is riveted, the alternate ones being welded
together, so that each clinched ring grasps four welded ones, and each
welded ring grasps four riveted.
THORSBJERG FIND.
[Illustration:
Fig. 351.—Trousers of woven woollen cloth.[160] Length 45 inches.
Width round waist 38½ inches. On the waistband were several small
loops which probably held the waistbelt. The socks which are sewn to
the trousers are of the same pattern as that of the sleeves of the
shirt, but the squares are smaller. 1/18 real size.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 352.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 353.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 354.
Fragments of woollen cloak, with border.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 355.—Woollen shirt or blouse 33½ inches long, 20 inches wide,
with wristbands of a stronger cloth and a lighter colour than the
shirt, which is brownish red. Both sleeves are of a stronger cloth
than that of the body of the shirt. 1/20 real size.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 356.—Woven border at bottom of the shirt.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 357.—Pattern of the body of the shirt.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 358.—Horse head-gear of leather. The heads of the bronze rivets
resembling rosettes are covered with ornamented silver plates: the
bridle and other mountings are of bronze.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 359.—Flat round wooden shield, made of planed boards of different
widths.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 360.—Wooden sword-hilt with bronze nails, the middle surrounded
with braided bronze thread.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 361.—Fibula of bronze with engraved ornament.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 362.—A pendant of gold. Real size.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 363.—Amber die, rounded so as not to stand on the number. Real
size.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 364.—Remains of leather shoe. ⅓ real size.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 365.—Rake of wood with teeth, about nine inches long.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 366.—Ornament of bronze for scabbard. Heads of rivets plated with
silver. ½ real size.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 367.—Rein, made of three pieces of leather, with bronze ring.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 368.—Leather sandal in one piece, for left foot. ⅓ real size.
Fastened over the foot with narrow straps and buttons.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 369.—Shoulder clasp of bronze for ring armour, inlaid with gold
and silver.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 370.—Fragment of a sandal with silver-plated rivets. ⅓ real size.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 371.—Ornament of bronze for wooden scabbard, with inscription in
earlier runes. Real size.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 372.—Bronze ornamentation for scabbard, plated with silver and
gold. ½ real size.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 373.—Scabbard of wood, with bronze mounting.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 374.—Embossed mounting of a scabbard strap, silver-plated, the
whole centre inlaid with a thin gold plate.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 375.—A bridle of bronze, the end-piece plated with silver and
gold. ½ real size.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 376.—Silver-plated bronze buckle.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 377.—Bronze mounting on horses’ head-gear, apparently plated.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 378.—Shield boss with silver top.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 379.—Mountings to leather straps with svastica and gilt knobs.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 380.—Bronze and silver-plated mounting for leather used on
horses’ head-gear.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 381.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 382.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 383.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 384.
Iron axe-heads. ⅓ real size.
]
_Vimose Bog Find._—The explorations in the Vimose bog,[161] situated
about five miles from Odense, Fyen, commenced in 1848, and since that
time 3,600 objects have been gathered together, all of which were found
in a space of 9,000 square feet. Sometimes there seemed to be a certain
order in the way in which the articles had been sunk, for all the ring
armour was together, and a number of small articles had been placed
inside a shield-boss, while other articles were surrounded with broad
bands of cloth. Many of the objects here were also badly damaged. Only
one coin has been found, _i.e._ a silver denarius of the time of the
Empress Faustina Junior (d. 175), with “Pudicitia” on its reverse. The
number of single and double-edged swords, many of which are in tolerably
good preservation, is 67. The single-edged swords, between 15¾ and 24
inches long, are simply welded, sometimes having ornaments traced on the
blade, and several of these were still in their wooden scabbards when
found. The double-edged swords vary in size from about 19 or 20 inches,
to 35 or 36 inches. On several are factory stamps—a star-shaped sign on
one side of the blade near the tongue or hilt point, and a ring-shaped
figure on the sides of the hilt points, a mark which looks rather like a
scorpion; in one stamp are Latin letters, which are somewhat difficult
to decipher. Many are welded or forged from two united blades, while
others are made of a single blade and have no factory mark. Fourteen are
damascened in different patterns.
VIMOSE FIND.
[Illustration:
Fig. 385.—One of four bronze buckles, enamelled in red, green, and
blue, the inside borders of black mosaic enamel. ⅔ real size.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 386.—Sax, or single-edged sword. ¼ real size.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 387.—Damascened sax. ¼ real size.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 388.—Bent sax, or single-edged sword. ¼ real size.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 389.—Single-edged sax or iron sword. ¼ real size.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 390.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 391.
Sax, or single-edged swords, one in wooden scabbard. ¼ real size.
]
In this remarkable find several enamelled objects have been discovered.
This art appears to have been unknown to the nations of classical
antiquity. There is no word for it in Greek or Latin. Philostratus,[162]
when describing a wild boar hunt, mentions the beauty and fine colour of
the harness of the horses, and, when stating how these colours were
produced, mentions that they were made by the barbarians living on the
shores of the ocean.
[Illustration:
Fig. 392.—Griffon’s head, ornament belonging to helmet of bronze. Real
size.
]
This description may very well refer to the people of the North, the
great splendour of whose riding gear and chariots we see from the finds
and sagas.
[Illustration:
Fig. 393.—Fragments of ring-armour of hammered iron. Real size.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 394.—Bronze mounting, plated with gold silver, and belonging to
ring-armour. Real size.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 395.—Remains of ring-armour of iron, with traces of gold plating.
½ real size.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 396.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 397.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 398.
Spurs, one of bronze, with iron point; the others of iron.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 399.—Wheel. 1/20 real size.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 400.—Man’s head on a piece of bronze covered with a thin gold
plate. Real size.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 401.—Ferrule of silver for hilt plated with gold. Real size.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 402.—Parts of a wooden plane. ⅓ real size.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 403.—Shoulder-strap of leather, with bronze button and design of
dolphin. About ⅐ real size.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 404.—Silver ornament plated with gold. Real size.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 405.—Fragment of wooden shield with gilt-headed nails.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 406.—Silver-plated bronze ornament.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 407.—Silver mounting to scabbard. Real size.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 408.—Silver mounting for scabbard. ½ real size.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 409.—One of 1,000 spears, inlaid with concentric circles. ⅓ real
size.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 410.—One of 1,000 spears. ⅓ real size.
]
Over 1,000 spears were found; the handles of most of them were broken
off, but five have been preserved complete; these are 8 feet 7⅔ inches
long, 9 feet 2 inches long 9 feet long, 11 feet long, and 6½ feet long.
The handles are made of ash, and some spears are ornamented with threads
of gold, silver or bronze inlaid in concentric circles; sometimes
ornaments are traced up the middle of the blade, and originally these
also were filled with some kind of metal.
[Illustration:
Fig. 411.—Crocodile’s head carved in wood. Real size.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 412.—Brynja, or coat of mail, 3 feet long.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 413.—Bone comb with _svastica_. ½ real size.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 414.—Fragments of checker-board. ⅙ real size.
VIMOSE FIND.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 415.—Bronze enamelled bowl (1867), 2¾ in. high, 4¾ in. wide, in
bog at Maltbœk, Jutland. The enamel in the serpentine line is red.
]
_Kragehul Find._—In a small bog called Kragehul, situated near the city
of Assens on Fyen, objects have been found which seem to belong to the
4th or 5th century. The first mention of the Kragehul bog is in 1751,
when some articles with rune inscriptions were found, which,
unfortunately, have been lost, but it was not until 1864 that a regular
exploration took place.[163]
KRAGEHUL FIND.
[Illustration:
Fig. 416.—Bundle of bent weapons.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 417.—Bronze vessel destroyed by sword cuts. ⅕ real size.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 418.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 419.
Iron spears with ornaments carved on the wooden handles. ½ real size.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 420.—Spear, ½ real size.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 421.—Spear, ⅓ real size.
]
The antiquities, none of which are of Roman origin, seem to have been
thrown in without any order, but spears with thin iron points on the end
formed the boundary of the find.
In this as in the other bog finds, weapons are twisted together in
extraordinary knots and many objects destroyed.
_The Nydam Bog Find._—The remarkable bog find at Nydam[164] is extremely
valuable on account of the boat, and the discovery of Roman coins
enables us to approximate the date of the objects,[165] which is
probably about the years 250 and 300 of our era.
The Nydam oak boat was discovered in 1863 near Slesvig, in Southern
Jutland. Its length is about 75 feet; its widest part, about 10½ feet.
It held 14 benches, and was rowed with 28 oars, the average length of
which was 12 feet. By its side was the rudder, about 10 feet long.
The bottom plank, which is not a keel proper, is 45 feet 3 inches long,
and of a single piece. The oar-tholes are fastened to the gunwales with
bast ropes, and, though they have all one general shape, there are no
two alike.
[Illustration:
Fig. 422.
]
The boat is clinch-built; that is, the planks are held together by large
iron bolts with round heads outside, and clinch plates on the inside, at
a distance of 5½ inches from each other. The space between the planks is
filled with woollen stuff and a pitchy sticky mass. The boards are
joined in a very common manner to the frame with bast ropes. In the
frame are holes, which correspond to elevated pieces on the boards which
are also bored through; these pieces had not been nailed to the planks,
but were hewn out of the latter, which thereby had lost more than half
their thickness. Vessels by this peculiar manner of joining frame and
boards acquired great elasticity, which must have been of good service
in the surf and in a heavy sea.
[Illustration:
Fig. 423.—Oar-thole of red pine. ⅒ real size.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 424.—Oar-thole of the Nydam Boat. ⅐ real size.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 425.—Inside view of one of the stems of the Nydam boat.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 426.—Rib of boat, showing seat attached.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 427.—Wooden pegs fastening stem to bottom plank. 1/17 real size.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 428.—Showing how the boards joined the ribs.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 429.—End face view of oar-thole. ⅒ real size.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 430.—Rudder, 10 feet long, found alongside Nydam boat.
]
The boat was shaped alike both fore and aft, so that it could be rowed
in either direction; and in both stems, which are fastened to the bottom
plank, are two holes through which, judging from the manner in which
they are worn, ropes were probably drawn, by which to drag the boat
ashore at the beginning of winter. In the bottom there is a hole, which
probably after the ship had been drawn up served to give outlet to the
water collected in the boat.
The boat had undoubtedly been intentionally sunk, for in the planks
under the water-line had been cut large holes to let in the water. Rust
had destroyed the ends of the iron bolts which had held the planks
together, and also the ropes with which the boards and the frame had
been held together. The planks fell apart, therefore, and took their
original straight shape; the oar-tholes were loosened from the gunwale;
the frame fell on different sides, and the two high stems fell down. As
the joints loosened, the separate pieces sank to the bottom, and
remained lying at about an equal depth, while the turf grew up above
them and preserved them from destruction. After all the parts of the
boat had been carefully collected and dried, it was possible to restore
it to its original shape.
[Illustration:
Fig. 431.—Wooden scoop for baling water. ⅑ real size.
]
Another boat of red pine wood was discovered alongside it. This one was
laid on the field and covered with bog mould, until the work connected
with the other boat was finished. Unfortunately the war of 1864 put an
end to the examination of the Nydam bog, so that the boat was left lying
on the field, and strangers have carried off many pieces of it. The
bottom plank was about 50 feet long, 13 inches broad, and ends in two
spurs or rams. How high the prows were raised above the plank cannot be
stated. Since this date the diggings have been done by inexperienced
men, and consequently have given but little results. This sacred part of
the land of the Danes had passed into the hands of its German
conquerors, for the _Nornir_[166] are fickle, and what is fated to one
generation to accomplish is often, in the course of time, undone by
another.
NYDAM BOG FIND.
[Illustration:
Fig. 432.—The end of the bottom plank of a vessel of red pine, with a
ram at each end, from Nydam Bog-find. The pointed lines show how the
spurs protruded from the stem.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 433.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 434.
Fragments wooden scabbard with bronze mountings. ½ real size.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 435.—A throwing spear with line attached, length of spear 10
feet. ⅓ real size.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 436.—Spear-head. ⅓ real size.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 437.—Leaf-shaped spear-point ornamented with engraved lines. ⅓
real size.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 438.—Iron axes. ¼ real size.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 439.—Iron celt. ¼ real size.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 440.—Tweezer and earpick of bronze hanging on a bronze ring. Real
size.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 441.—Wooden club. ⅛ real size.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 442.—Black glass bead. Real size.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 443.—Light-green glass bead, with yellow points on a dark-red
ground. Real size.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 444.—Green glass bead with red stripes. Real size.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 445.—½ real size.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 446.—½ real size.
Buckles.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 447.—Silver tweezers. Real size.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 448.—Silver ear spoon. ½ real size.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 449.—Iron knife with wooden handle. ¼ real size.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 450.—Double-barrelled tube of silver found with ear pick. Real
size.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 451.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 452.
Wooden bows, with notches at the end for fastening the string. 1/11
real size.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 453.—Part of a wooden bow. ½ real size.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 454.—Part of arrow-shaft bearing runic stave. Real size.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 455.—Arrow-shaft. ⅓ real size.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 456.—Arrow-shaft with owner’s mark. Real size.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 457.—Arrow-point of iron. ⅓ real size.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 458.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 459.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 460.
Bronze mountings for a quiver. ¼ real size.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 461.—¼ real size.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 462.—½ real size.
Fragments of wooden scabbards with bronze mountings.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 463.—Wooden quiver. ¼ real size.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 464.—Bearded spear-head, bent and twisted. ⅓ real size.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 465.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 466.
Bearded spear-points of iron. ⅓ real size.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 467.—Iron spear-point, bayonet shaped. ⅓ real size.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 468.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 469.
Iron spear-points. ⅓ real size.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 470.—Leaf shaped iron spear-point. Real size.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 471.—Iron sword, damascened, bearing Latin inscription. ⅔ real
size.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 472.—Iron sword bearing Latin inscription. ⅔ real size.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 473.—Iron sword bearing Latin inscription.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 474.—Part of sword blade with runes inlaid with gold.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 475.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 476.
Damascened blades. ⅔ real size.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 477.—Wooden bowl. ⅙ real size.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 478.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 479.
Iron ferrules to scabbard, inlaid with flat hammered gold wire. ½ real
size.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 480.—Wooden trough. ⅙ real size.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 481.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 482.—Ornaments of bronze plated with thin silver and gold. Real
size.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 483.—Bit of bronze. ¼ real size.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 484.—Bit of iron. ¼ real size.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 485.—Double-edged damascened sword with silver handle. ⅕ real
size.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 486.—Double-edged damascened sword. ⅕ real size.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 487.—Spiral bracelet of gold with triangular ornaments, ½ real
size, found in a bog near Horsens, Denmark.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 488.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 489.
Damascened iron sword, ¼ real size, of the later iron age, with
mounting for scabbard, made of silver, in relief work and gilt.
Found in a bog near Slagelse on Zealand, Denmark.
]
[Illustration:
Fig. 490.—Iron sword, with bronze handle, ⅙ real size, found in a bog
at Fremlöse, not far from the town of Odense, on Fyen, with
fragments of two other iron swords, &c. Earlier iron age.
]