#viking rings

[gemma-antiqua]

Viking twisted gold double ring, dated to the 9th to 11th century CE. Source: Timeline Auctions. 

[gemma-antiqua]

Viking twisted gold ring, dated to the 9th to 11th centuries CE. From the source, Trinity Antiques:

Many Vikings did not have a standard minted currency available to them, and so instead kept their wealth in the form of jewelry made from precious metals. A common practice seems to have been to amass a hoard of these objects and then deposit them, often in water sources like rivers. Gold rings - like all gold objects - were rare, and are only found in graves of the highest status. In pagan Viking culture, so roughly before the turn of the millennium, gold rings were used to swear oaths on and as markers of the godi, members of the Thing (governing assembly); some scholars have speculated that their deposition in hoards was an attempt to save them from violation with the coming sweep of Christianity. Perhaps this ring has a similar history. 

[nonamecraft]

𝐀𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐑𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐜 — 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐎𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐑𝐢𝐧𝐠 Not newly forged — rediscovered. The Lost Order ring reads like an artifact from a secret knightly brotherhood: thick, weathered metal, raised cross reliefs and an intentionally imperfect surface that celebrates age, story and survival. Wear it like a badge of endurance.

https://etsy.me/4pjadGw

[gemma-antiqua]

Viking gold ring, dated to the 9th to 11th centuries CE. Source unknown, but image from Pinterest. 

[gemma-antiqua]

Viking gold ring, dated to the 10th to 11th centuries CE. Source: Trinity Antiques.