The Sigtuna Pendant

 The Sigtuna pendant, excavated in the 1960s shows artistic similarities to the Hiddensee pendant, namely: the raven motif and the detailed filigree workmanship. This has led to some suggestions that it is the work of the same craftsman. Like the Hiddensee hoard, the piece dates to the late 10th century.

Sightuna at that time was a newly founded royal and commercial centre, and an early focal point for the establishment of Christianity in mediaeval Sweden. It is speculated that the town was founded as replacement for Birka, which became abandoned in the 960s. The town was named after Fornsigtuna (modern-day Signhildsberg), an old royal estate, 2.5 miles to the west of Sigtuna. According to chapter 5 of the Ynglinga Saga, which is the initial part of Snorri Sturluson's Heimskringla, the euhemerised Odin 

                     'took up his residence at the Maelare lake, at the place now called Old Sigtun.

                     There he erected a large temple, where there were sacrifices according to the

                     customs of the Asaland people. He appropriated to himself  the whole of that

                     district, and called it Sigtun. To the temple priests he gave also domains. 

                     Njord dwelt in Noatun, Frey in Upsal, Heimdal in the Himinbergs, Thor

                     in Thrudvang, Balder in Breidablik; to all of them he gave good estates.'

There are various theories regarding the etymology of the name, Sigtuna. The primary ones are as follows:

a) 'place' (tun) of a 'swamp' (sig).

b) 'place' (tun) of 'victory' (sig).

It should be remembered that 'sig' forms the first element in some of the bynames of Odin:

a) Sigdir (victory bringer).

b) Sigfodr (father of victory).

c) Siggautr (victory Gautr).

d) Sigrhofundr (victory author).

e) Sigmundr (victory protection).

f) Sigrunnr (victory tree).

g) Sigtyggr (victory true).

h) Sigtyr (god of victory).

i) Sigthror (successful in victory)

While both explanations are suitable, I personally favour the latter. The Ynglinga Saga  draws a clear connection between Odin and the old settlement of Sigtuna. From the 10th century, the new Sigtuna took over the functions as well as the name from the old settlement, while the former Sigtuna became known as Old Sigtuna or Fornsigtuna. 

Returning to the symbolism of the pendant, it is clear to me that the bird head represented on the bottom of it is a raven in abstract form, a heathen symbol with close connections to the god, Odin. It is stylised to form almost a hammer shape, and for this reason many modern reproductions are referred to as the Sigtuna 'hammer'. The original pendant was crafted in gold and an image of it is shown below.

My own personal copy in stainless steel, which is difficult to come by:

                       

  

The Hiddensee Amulet

 In this article, I am going to discuss the 'Hiddensee amulet', a little about its background, and some of my own thoughts and speculations on its symbolism. The Hiddensee amulet was discovered as part of a hoard of  Viking-age gold treasure in 1873 on the German island of Hiddensee, which is situated in the Baltic Sea. Its discovery came about as the result of flooding in the area.

Experts date the hoard to the last quarter of the 10th century and it consists of 10 cross-like pendants, 4 small spacer pendants, a broach and a neck ring. The total weight of the hoard is 598g, a very substantial weight in gold! It is generally considered that all 14 pendants were worn as part of a single necklace. If that is the case then many of the spacer pendants are surely missing? It should also be noted that the cross-like pendants vary in size and weight, the smallest weighing just 20.2g and the largest, 40.4g (Armbruster, Eilbracht). If they were intended to be worn as a single item, as suggested, then it would have felt very heavy indeed, especially if the wearer was a woman. A closer examination of the pendants shows that there are at least two different styles. That fact, along with the large variations in size and weight of the pendants, gives me the feeling that this was not intended to be worn as a single necklace.

The whole treasure was manufactured in one workshop and from a single source of metal (Armbruster, Eilbracht). Anyone interested in its manufacture would profit by reading the excellent and detailed analysis by Barbara Armbruster and H. Eilbracht, Technological aspects of the Viking age gold treasure from Hiddensee, Germany.

For a long time there has been speculation that the treasure belonged to the Danish King Harald Bluetooth Gormsson (died 985/986 CE) or a member of his family. The neck so-called ensemble appears to mix heathen and Christian elements which is evident in the 10 cross-like pendants. Bluetooth converted to Christianity at some time in the 960s but the circumstances and details are rather vague and very confusing. Regardless of whom the hoard was commissioned for, the recipient must have been both wealthy and presumably powerful. Due to the dating of the hoard and the location where it was found, the assumption for its ownership by Bluetooth or his family may be valid. It has long been speculated that the hoard was stolen by Slavic pirates, operating at that time in the area. In my opinion, the theft was possibly from a goldsmith's workshop, rather than the Danish royal family, although it could have been commissioned by them.

I have only recently learned that these pendants were not at all unique and other examples have been discovered, one example being a silver version from a hoard in Tolstrup, Denmark and dies from Hedeby, Germany, one being quite elaborate, like the Hiddensee pendants, the other being more simplistic and lacking in filigree ornamentation (Armbruster and Eilbracht). 

Moving on to discuss the symbolism of the cross-like pendants. All 10 cross-like pendants have a suspension loop in the form of a bird, which clearly resembles the Thor's Hammer from Scania, Sweden. I interpret this bird to be a raven, not an eagle as some claim. The raven, as my readers will know, is closely associated with Odin and is thus a heathen, not a Christian symbol. So we have to ask ourselves, what is the the raven doing on these pendants if they belonged to a Christian king? Likewise, what is a wolf's head doing on the suspension loop of the Thor's Hammer from Fossi, Iceland, if it is a cross and not a hammer as I believe? One could argue that in both cases, these were examples of a period of transition from Germanic heathenism to Christianity. I have discussed the wolf hammer before, and I will do so again in a future article.

Another feature of the pendants are the 'eyes' in the lower half of the pendants which give them a mask-like appearance. If you have a reproduction copy and hold it up to the light, you will see this most clearly. Until I read Armbruster and Eilbracht's work I thought that I was probably the only person to have observed this feature. They comment on this on page 38 of their article and quote from Graham-Campbell (2001, p.180), referring to the 'glaring eyes associated with Thor in Eddic tales.' They also compare the body of these pendants with 'the pagan Thor's hammer.' I would encourage anyone who is interested in any aspect of the Hiddensee hoard to read Technological aspects of the Viking age gold treasure from Hiddensee, Germany

 An excellent example of the Tolstrup pendant may be found on the website of Asgard, a Scottish manufacturer of good quality Viking age reproductions: Hiddensee . You will note from this reproduction and the photograph on page 38 of Armbruster and Eilbracht that the Tolstrup pendant lacks the 'eyes' of the Hiddensee ones but they are present on the dies from Hedeby (page 31).

All of the Hiddensee, Tolstrup and Hedeby pendants contain what appear to be three equilateral crosses within their body. Two of the Hiddensee pendants resemble more the cross style featured on the Tolstrup pendant and are less stylised and not so subtle. One can see how the majority of them resemble a series of three Thor's Hammers, rather than Christian crosses and they share this style with the four hammer-shaped spacer pendants.  

Some Thoughts on the Gender of Odin's Ravens

 I have previously discussed the symbolism of Odin's ravens, Huginn and Muninn, on my various blogs. I refer my readers to my article from 22 July 2019 on this blog, Huginn and Munnin, Symbols of the First Function . The article may also be found in my book, Wotans Krieger Volume 4: A Final Blast on the Giallarhorn , also published in 2019 by Black Front Press.

In that article, I discussed how Edred Thorsson viewed the different but related functions of these two ravens. Huginn represents the rational mind, the 'left brain', and so it is emblematic of sovereignty and the law. Munnin represents the intuitive mind, the 'right brain', and so it is concerned with transformation, magic, in other words. Both these ravens, with their separate but related functions, are thus symbolic of the god, Odin Himself.

My recent studies of the various corvid species in the British Isles have caused me to consider another aspect of these ravens and their functions. All corvids mate for life and are very loyal birds. Indeed, I almost always see local carrion crows fly in pairs; no doubt they are mated couples. Where one sees an odd number, say three, if the third bird is a mature adult, then it is highly probable that its mate has died. Rooks, on the other hand, tend to be present in larger groups, not just pairs.

This information made me realise that Huginn and Muninn are a mated pair. The question then arises as to which one is male and which one is female. Huginn is symbolic of rational thought, a quality more associated with men, while Muninn represents intuition, a quality more associated with women. I realise, of course, that I am projecting human gender characteristics onto a different species, but what matters here, is symbolism.    

Huginn and Muninn, Symbols of the First Function

I have recently been dwelling upon the relationship between Woden and His ravens Huginn and Munnin and came across a most interesting passage in Edred Thorsson's Northern Magic. Rune Mysteries and Shamanism. I initially read this book many years ago but only recently have I begun to appreciate its full merits. The primary focus of the book is on the Younger Futhark, a rune row which is very much ignored in mainstream books on runology. Edred follows the Dumezelian tripartite division of the Aesir/Vanir into the First Function (Sovereignity), Second Function (Warfare) and the Third Function (Production/Fertility). He divides the First Function into law, governed by Tyr and magic, governed by Odin. He makes the observation that the raven Huginn (thought) is representative of the rational mind, that which can be observed and is to do with law and sovereignty whilst Muninn ( memory) is representative of inspiration, the intuitive mind and the process of transformation. It is through Muninn that we approach the Collective Unconscious or the Blood Memory.

The synthesis of the two parts is surely the objective of the Woden initiate? An indepth study of our sacred literature and runelore supported by the development of the intuition and psychic abilities should be at the forefront of the initiate's endeavours. Indeed Edred sees the 'path of Odhinn' as a process of self-transformation which involves the combining of the intellect-the rational mind with the intuitive mind. As both Huginn and Muninn work together in collaboration we as initiates who follow Odin's example must bring about a synthesis between the operation of the two hemispheres of our brain. The right hemisphere of the brain governs the imagination, intuition and visualisation whilst the left hemisphere is concerned with logic, linear thinking and facts. Both hemispheres are essential but people tend to be dominated by one side of the brain to the near exclusion of the other. The initiate's task is to make effective use of both hemispheres to the extent that they act in unison as do Odin's two ravens.