The Nebra Sky Disc-Unetice Culture Part 1

 

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Nebra_disc_1.jpg  

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e9/Nebra_disc_1.jpg 

Frank Vincentz, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

[[File:Nebra disc 1.jpg|thumb|512px|alt=Nebra Sky Disk|Nebra Sky Disk. Photo by Frank Vincentz, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons]]

The Nebra Sky Disc or to give it its German name, die Himmelscheibe von Nebra was discovered by two treasure hunters, equipped with a metal detector in 1999 near the town of Nebra in Sachsen-Anhalt (Saxony-Anhalt) in Germany. Although their actions were judged to be illegal we must be grateful for their discovery which unearthed some incredible finds. The discovery came to light in 2002 due to a police operation when the treasure had for the second time been placed on the black market. The find led qualified state archaeologists to start their own dig. It is unfortunate that the treasure hunters damaged part of the disc with a spade and destroyed parts of the site. The find was part of a prehistoric site, enclosing an 827ft high  hill called the Mittelberg. Also unearthed at the site were the remains of two bronze axes, two bronze swords a bronze chisel and fragments of bronze armbands.

 Radiocarbon dating of the sword hilts gives a date of 1600-1560 BCE for the hoard. Likewise, an analysis of the corrosion and metal radioactivity on the disc support this date range. X-ray fluorescence indicates that the copper in the bronze originated from Bischofshofen in Austria; the tin and gold originated from Cornwall. This demonstrates that there were extensive trade links between this area of Germany with Austria and England over 3,500 years ago.

The disc measures approximately 32cm in diameter and weighs 4.9lb. The blue-green patina on the bronze disc is thought to have been created by the smearing of rotten eggs. The colour represents the night-sky and helps to contrast with the gold symbols on the surface of the disc. The symbols contained on the disc include a depiction of the sun, a lunar crescent, stars and two arcs (there were originally three). The stars which are symbolised by 32 gold dots include a cluster of seven stars which are believed to represent the Pleiades. The gold used to make the arcs appears to come from a different source and these symbols are considered to be a later addition.

Around the edge of the disc were originally 38 to 40 holes punched. Researcher, Howard Crowhurst speculates in his book, The Nebra Sky Disc. Cycles in the Cosmos (second edition, 2023) that the actual number is 39. Scientists cannot say with any certainty whether the number is 38, 39 or 40 due to some damage to the edge of the disc. Mr Crowhurst advances several reasons as to why he believes the number to be 39, based on his knowledge of geometry and archaeoastronomy, citing examples from the Mayan calendar and the cycles of the Moon, Mars and Venus as well as the human gestation period. I recommend that my readers purchase a copy of his book. It contains only 76 pages but it is vital reading if you are interested in finding out about the disc. Be aware that it contains a lot of geometry which I found quite difficult to follow: several readings of the book would be necessary for most people to fully understand and consolidate all the information.

Originally, there were two arcs on the left and right sides of the disc but only the right side one has survived. The two arcs have an angle span of 82 deg which show the angle between the positions of the two solstices from the line of latitude of the Mittelberg. This demonstrates to me that the disc was an integral part of the archaeological culture of that area for it has been clearly calibrated for this specific region. 

Mr Crowhurst speculates that the 39 3mm diameter punched holes on the edge of the disc were intended for the insertion of small pegs for the purpose of keeping track of the cycles, making this disc a very practical tool for calculating and synchronising the solar and lunar calendars. In other words, this is a portable version of the likes of megalithic structures such as Stonehenge and Carnac. The science appears to be the same. This is surely evidence for a professional priesthood in the early European Bronze Age?

The god arc at the bottom of the disc is more problematic when it comes to interpreting its symbolism and practical function. Like the other two arcs it is known that this was a later addition to the ensemble of symbols. One rule of thought is that the arc represents the solar boat which is a feature of Indo-European mythology and symbolism found in Latvian, Greek and Hindu mythology and on many Scandinavian petroglyphs (see Chariot of the Sun and Other Rites and Symbols of the Northern Bronze Age by Peter Gelling and Hilda Ellis Davidson, 1969). The archaeologist, Mary Cahill (2015) draws a link between solar boat symbolism and the gold lunulae of the Bell Beaker culture. The subject of solar boat symbolism deserves an article specifically devoted to it which I intend to pen in the not too distant future.

The Nebra site is 25 miles northeast from the Goseck neolithic circle (also in Sachsen-Anhalt) which dates back to 4900BCE. I will discuss this circle in a future article. The disc is part of the Aunjetitz or Unetice culture which is of particular interest to me personally, being genetically related to three burials from this culture at Leubingen, Thueringen (Thuringia) from 1950BCE, two male and one female. Again, I may discuss these burials in a future article.

Hagalaz and the Chaos of this Age

 My inspiration for writing this article stems from my meditation on the Hagalaz rune of the Elder or Common Germanic FUTHARK, a rune that held a great deal of personal significance for me in the late 1990s. This rune also appears in the Anglo-Saxon or Anglo-Frisian FUTHORC as Haegl and in the Younger FUTHARK as Hagall. Guido von List included this rune in his own Armanen FUTHARKH as Hagal.

The shape of the rune stave differs significantly across the aforementioned rune rows. The Elder and Anglo-Saxon versions resemble a letter H and have that letter as the initial sound in the rune name. The latter version features a double rather than a single-barred cross bar. The Younger and Armanen versions, however resemble the Iar rune stave of the Anglo-Saxon FUTHARK. It should be noted that Hagalaz or more accurately *Hagalaz is a reconstructed Proto-Germanic term in contrast to Haegl and Hagall.

The general accepted meaning of Hagalaz in all three rune poems is hail which symbolises destruction, chaos and change. Usually this destruction is swift and devastating. This interpretation can be seen very clearly in the various rune poems:

Old English Rune Poem

Hail is the whitest of grain; it is whirled from the vault of heaven and is tossed about by gusts of wind and then it melts into water.

Norwegian Rune Poem

Hail is the coldest of grain; Christ created the world the world of old.

Icelandic Rune Poem

Hail = cold grain and shower of sleet and sickness of serpents.

Swedish Rune Poem

Hail best in home.

 I believe that the rune or runic influence which governs this age is Hagalaz. The last vestiges of the old word order are now perishing, a process which began in the Industrial Reveolution and gained pace in the aftermath of WWI and WWII. Here in recent years in the United Kingdom we have witnessed huge, rather than gradual swings of support between the two main parliamentary parties, the Labour and Conservative parties, and now we are witnessing the emergence of a third political force in the form of political populism with the Reform UK Ltd company!

 Unfortunately, events have shown that the electorate, specifically in England, lack a general education in politics and are unable to understand the rudiments of how the United Kingdom is governed and the different functions of the various organs of state. The primary consequence of this general ignorance is the easy manipulation of the vast majority of voters, most of whom would not have been qualified to vote until the 19th century. To extend the electoral franchise to all and sundry is based upon the erroneous assumption that all men (and women) are of a minimum level of intelligence and education, which is clearly not the case. Mother Nature does not recognise the concept of 'equality' or the 'brotherhood of man': these are modern liberal man-made concepts which are not based in reality.

In the 18th century the franchise was only applicable to men who owned land worth a minimum of 40 shillings. All this changed in 1832 with the passing of the Representation of the People Act which extended the franchise to any man who paid an annual rental of £10 or more. The 1867 Representation of the People Act extended the franchise to men over the age of 21 who lived in the urban towns and cities provided that they met the property requirements. The impetus behind this act was to appease the growing demands for political representation by the urban working class. More single member borough seats were created in urban centres, allowing more men to vote, not just residents in rural areas. These new seats were Darlington, Stockton and Hartlepool in County Durham, Middlebrough in the North Riding, Dewsbury in the West Riding, Burnley in Lancashire, Wednesbury in Staffordshire, Stalybridge in Cheshire and Gravesend in Kent. The 1884 Representation of the People Act extended the franchise further as well as introducing other changes. Employees who were not tenants but lived in property provided to them for their sole use by their employers could now vote also.

The Industrial Revolution had created new urban areas which people flocked to from the rural towns and villages for work, consequently placing a huge demand for accommadation which was quickly built to a poor standard. These new populations were cut off from their organic rural roots and so crime, poor health and living standards and degenerate living ensued. A people divorced from their roots become aimless, atomised cogs in a wheel with no sense of identity. The origins of today's society has its beginnings in the Industrial Revolution which has done more harm than good for the broad masses of people.  

The horrors of WWI placed further demands upon the establishment to extend the franchise even further. Parliament, terrified by the prospect of revolution spreading to the United Kingdom, and having seen the downfall of the German, Austro-Hungarian and Russian royal dynasties, introduced the 1918 Representation of the People Act which extended the franchise to ALL men over the age of 21, regardless of whether they owned or rented property or land, and to woman over the age of 30 who resided in property with a rental value of at least £5. Voting in local government elections was also granted to women over the age of 30 on the same grounds as men. Finally, in 1928 the Representation of the People (Equal Franchise) Act extended the franchise to all men and women over the age of 21 and there were no minimum property qualifications. The Representation of the People Act, 1969 lowered the voting age to just 18. In summer of this year, the government announced its intention to reduce the voting age even further to a mere 16. Between 2013 and 2015 the voting age in Scotland was reduced to age 16 for various types of elections but obviously not for the general election as this covers the entire United Kingdom and the voting age remains at 18 for the time being for this type of election.

There has been a general presumption, frequently stated, that political literacy has greatly increased over the last 100 years or so due to mass compulsory education but I beg to differ. In my encounters with the general public I have found very little political literacy but a great deal of ignorance, both of a political and non-political kind. It is of course very easy to blame the educational system but in reality it is the quality of the human raw material which is to blame. In my 65 years I have found that the great mass of the native English population seem lacking somehow. The cause of this, in my opinion, is to be found in the Norman Conquest of 1066 when England's elite were exterminated (with a few exceptions) and the English population were bred for serfdom, a state of affairs which has continued until the aftermath of WWII and the emergence of the counter-culture of the late 1960s and early 1970s. From this point onwards a significant part of the educated population began to wake up to the horrors of war and the evils of capitalism.

Over the last couple of years, due to the ongoing war between the Ukraine (the 'west's' proxy) and the Russian Federation, the subject of conscription has periodically reared its ugly head. The establishment has from time to time tested the barometer of public opinion by the leaking of information and careless remarks made by generals and intelligence service chiefs (both of whom should in theory and practice be politically impartial) and then subsequently denied by ministers when the barometer readings do not meet with their jingoistic expectations. The days when young men could be expected to risk life and limb for the military-industrial complex without complaint and resistance are over. 

Since the summer of 2024, the United Kingdom, most especially England has witnessed mass demonstrations and even riots in protest against illegal and mass immigration. Ordinary people, frustrated by the establishment's refusal to listen to, acknowledge and act upon their legitimate concerns and fears have turned to extra-parliamentary means to vent their anger. Unfortunately, these people lack legitimate and respectable spokesmen and leaders. Many people are using various forms of social media to voice their frustrations but more often than not their comments are inarticulate and uneducated, descending into what is in reality 'hate speech'. Inciting others to commit acts of violence and to engage in treasonous acts (violent removal of government, military coups and political assassinations) are both illegal and reprehensible, and such people rightly deserve to be punished.

The discontented masses know what they are against but not what they are for; they have no concrete goals and lack any kind of ideology beyond hate. Such a directionless and leaderless body of angry people will accomplish nothing except play into the hands of the establishment who will simply double down on their efforts to silence and criminalise dissent. The pitchfork-wielding insensate mob is a danger to the good and the bad, and  most of all to themselves. Destruction and chaos are the end result of their efforts. They are the very epitome of the actions and meaning of Hagalaz.

Ultimately, out of chaos and disorder a new order of being has its birth but all I can see at the moment is the destructive elemental force of Hagalaz, not a new beginning.

  

Brigantia, the Tutelary Deity of the Brigantes

 As many of my readers will be aware, the tribe known as the Brigantes was a major Britonnic tribal confederation located in the northern part of England, between the rivers Tyne and Humber, which corresponds to the ancient Anglian kingdom of Northumbria. The Brigantes were also resident in Ireland in the modern counties of Wexford, Waterford and Kilkenny, and on the continent in the Alps. Their capital in England was named Isurium Brigantum (modern day Aldborough, near Boroughbridge in the old West Riding part of present day 'North Yorkshire'). Isurium is taken from the Latin name for the River Ure, the Iseur.

The Devil's Arrows standing stones are located on the outskirts of Boroughbridge. This is one of the many places I lived at with my parents as a boy but my birth town is Darlington, County Durham, which is on the Durham bank of the river Tees, a border town between Durham and Yorkshire. As an aside, I have genetic evidence of being descended from the Brigantes and I have always had a strong affinity with the Devil's Arrows stones.

The name Brigantes shares the same Proto-Celtic root as the goddess, known as Brigantia, meaning 'high, elevated'. This may refer to physical human height, topographical height or metaphorical height. The Germanic Burgundi share a related term and both probably relate back to the Proto-Indo-European *bhergh.

Famously or infamously, the Brigantes were known to be allies of Rome. The defeated anti-Roman resistance leader, Caratacus, the chieftain of the Catuvellauni tribe, was betrayed to the Romans by Cartimandua, the queen of the Brigantes in 51 CE. This heinous act of betrayal strengthened her influence with the Romans. Her degenerate moral character was further demonstrated by the divorcing of her rightful husband, Venutius and her taking of his armour bearer, Vellocatus to be her consort. Despite attempts by Venutius in waging war against her, the Romans defended their client queen with military support, keeping her in power.

It is not known whether the goddess Brigantia was named after the Brigantes, or the Brigantes named after Brigantia. There is evidence for the cult of Brigantia in Gaul, Britain and possibly in Ireland (Brigid). The Romans identified Brigantia with their own goddess, Minerva, who was likewise a goddess associated with warfare and also with Victoria, the divine personification of victory. 

John Moss, writing in his The Celtic Tribes. Origins, Ancestry and the Warrior Class, 2024 hypothesises that she is the same deity as the goddess, Britannia but offers no explanation for his theory. I am not convinced that they are one and the same beyond a slight similarity with their names and the fact that they are both tutelary deities. Britannia is purely a divine personification of the British Isles and may be linked to the Hitto-Phoenician goddess Barat or Brihat who features on Lycaonian and Carthaginian coins, according to Professor L.A. Waddell in his Phoenician Origins of Britons, Scots and Anglo-Saxons Discovered by Phoenician and Sumerian Coins, 1924. See: Britannia, Aryan Tutelary Goddess of the British Isles

A bronze statue in fragments, dating back to the first century CE and housed in the Museum of Britanny is believed to depict Brigantia in her Roman aspect of Minerva. A head and shoulders image is shown below, and one can see the superficial resemblance to Britannia as depicted on pre-decimal British coins.

Museum of Brittany, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:BrigitteCelt.jpg

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1c/BrigitteCelt.jpg

Below is an image of a pre-decimal British penny, which ceased to be legal tender on 1 September 1971. The last pennies for general circulation were minted in 1967, although souvenir pennies were also struck in 1970. One can see the image of Britannia on the reverse of the penny.

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:British_pre-decimal_penny_1967_reverse.png

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/70/British_pre-decimal_penny_1967_reverse.png

Scan: Retroplum, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

 

Wotans Krieger's Code of Aryan Ethics

Edmund Leighton, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Leighton-God_Speed!.jpg

 This code, which I have lived by since the age of at least 7 has served me well and I have not included any points which I have not personally adhered to as to do otherwise would be an act of hypocrisy, an unAryan trait.

Do not hate a man because of his race, ethnicity or nationality.

Judge the value of a man solely by his actions.

Do all in your power to preserve the racial integrity of your bloodline.

It is better for one's bloodline to die out than that it should be compromised.

Fulfil all oaths to gods and men.

To break an oath is an act of the greatest dishonour but do not be bound by oaths to men who have first broken their oath to you. Even if it is to your own personal cost or disadvantage, never break an oath!

Do not dishonour your gods in word or deed.

The gods will hold you to account for any dishonourable words or deeds towards them.

Be gracious in defeat and merciful in victory.

Be prepared to offer the hand of friendship to a defeated enemy.

Be prepared to defend your honour by word or deed.

Ultimately satisfaction may be required by fighting a duel.

Defend the weak against tyranny and injustice.

Speak out and act against all wrong doing.

Honour the land and remember that you do not own it: it owns you.

Treat the earth with reverence for She is our Mother.

Do not pollute land, sea or sky.

Just as the earth is our Mother, the sky is our Father.

Respect all wildlife and vegetation.

Life forms that are different from us are still sacred and the gods will hold us to account for our misuse of animal, vegetable or mineral.

Honour our sacred sites, whether megalith, sacred oak, mound, hill, well or grove.

By doing so we maintain a connection to our ancestors and their memory.

Defend your land but do not participate in an unjust war.

Judge the merits of a conflict before risking life and limb and remember that most wars are initiated to maintain or extend the interests of an elite, not the common man. Our distant ancestors only fought if they felt that it was in their own interest to do so. 

Edmund Leighton, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Accolade_by_Edmund_Blair_Leighton_-_complete.jpg

The Systematic Emasculation of Modern Aryan Man

 I have discussed this subject before in my older blogs, especially in Aryan Myth and Metahistory. Since the deactivation of that blog five years ago, I have noticed that the pace of emasculation of man, specifically Aryan man, has greatly accelerated. The feminised man and by extension, the masculinised woman is now the standard by which the liberal and 'progressive' society of today judges the two genders (yes, there are only TWO). This was not always the case. I am half way through my seventh decade on this earth and I do not recognise anymore the society into which I was born; the lunatics are truly in charge of the asylum!

I watch a little bit of television and I pay close attention to the trends of the advertising industry. Multiracial families, bearded men kisssing and cripples engaging in very physical sports are now not just common place but the norm. What is even more insidious is the pushing of gender role reversal onto society, especially onto native European males and females. The man now occupies the place of the traditional housewife, washing the dishes, wiping the kitchen floor, vacuuming the carpet, feeding the baby and baking the cakes. While this sorry example of a man goes about his domestic chores, the woman of the house (frequently a native African) comes home from a hard day's fire-fighting to a cooked meal, lovingly prepared by her husband, who is seen wearing a flowery apron.

Television police dramas now portray the woman (often a native African) in the starring role and in a more senior position than most of her fellow officers. These female role models not only engage in traditional masculine occupations but have begun to almost physically transform into men. The former fashion model of the past is no longer a slim, attractive, feminine woman with a gentle rounded face but either a muscular woman with angular facial features or an ugly, fat-arsed heifer! Some of these so-called 'models' would be better placed in an old-fashioned freak show, featuring bearded women! Ugliness is the new aesthetic, not the Nordic beauty (male and female) of the past, exemplified in classical and neo-classical sculpture. 

In short, we are witnessing the Umwertung aller Werte (transvaluation of all values), spoken of by Professor Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche in his Der Antichrist (The Antichrist), published in 1895 and a very controversial work for its time. The truth of the matter is, that nobody born in the last 30-40 years is old enough to know anything different, and the present generation of young people are almost beyond hope, so thorough has the 'educational' system's indoctrination by neo-Marxist teachers been.

The traditional family unit has been the greatest victim of this transvaluation with the constant drip, drip effect of traditional gender role reversal, the gradual societal acceptance of homosexual relationships, leading to 'same sex marriage', 'gender reassignment' and the invention of or recognition by the National Health Service of 21 so-called 'genders'. In more sane times, any man believing himself to be a woman, or a woman a man would have been committed by their physician to a psychiatric hospital for evaluation and treatment, spending time on a ward with lunatics in Napoleonic attire. As anyone with a modicum of understanding of mental illness knows, one should treat the patient by challenging his or her faulty view of themselves, not reinforcing it by agreeing with them! This is how we know that the lunatics, as I have said, are running the asylum!

Due to the emasculation of the man, he no longer feels confident in being master of his own hearth and has caved in to the idea that families should be organised by 'democratic' principles rather than the time-honoured tradition, an Indo-European tradition of the man being the head of the household and his decisions and person to be respected. Any reinforcement of the Aryan husband or father's traditional role is considered now to be an example of  'narcissistic' or 'toxic' (the latest pop psychology 'buzz' words) behaviour and the man branded a 'thought criminal' in need of 'treatment'. Instead, the man must learn to be 'in touch with his feelings' and to turn on the waterworks in public, to be 'emotionally available' (another ridiculous pop psychology expression). In short, he is to behave like a sissy. The mother's traditional role is to nurture and educate her offspring, the father's is to provide for and discipline his children. Any departure from these principles, which are to be found in all sentient animal species results in anarchy and the breakdown of good order in society. Paradoxically, the man of other races appears to be exempt from this emasculation process. It is only Aryan man that has to be psychologically castrated!

Only in the eastern and southern hemispheres has man maintained his traditional masculine position. Here in the so-called 'west' he is a broken caricature of his former self. No wonder then that the Men Going Their Own Way (MGTOW) movement is gaining strength and adherents from the thinking elements among Aryan man. The 21st century 'western' world is not a time nor a place in which to raise mentally and psychologically healthy children. The odds of doing so are stacked against you from the beginning. Only until times change or Aryans organise themselves into their own autonomous settlements can the Aryan (in body, mind and spirit) family unit flourish.

The Mixed Celtic and Germanic Tribes of Continental Europe and the British Isles-the Belgae

 Our knowledge concerning the tribes inhabiting the British Isles, most especially the island of Great Britain itself comes primarily from the writings of Greek and Roman historians, and archaeology. Population genetics is also beginning to play a part in unfolding our knowledge of Bronze and Iron Age Britain.

A simplistic understanding of the ethnicity of the tribes present in the island at the time of the Roman Conquest in the years 43-87CE is that all of the tribes were 'Celtic'-speaking 'Britons' until the beginning of the Anglo-Saxon invasions and colonisation of present-day England in 449CE. This is not only highly simplistic but false. A mix of both Celtic and Germanic peoples was already present in these islands at the time of the Roman Conquest. Migration from continental Europe was a factor for thousands of years prior to this. Some of the tribes of the Roman province of Britannia (present-day England and Wales) were not Celtic at all but Germanic or Celto-Germanic. The better known of these were the Belgae, who migrated from Gaul during the late 2nd century or early first century BCE.

The Belgae were not a single tribe but a confederation of closely related tribes resident in northern Gaul, namely the Bellovaci, Ambiani, Atrebates and Veromandui. Ironically, modern maps showing the location of Iron Age tribes in Britain locate the Belgae to the west of the Atrebates but the latter were part of the Belgae confederation. The German or Germanic roots of the Belgae are confirmed by Caesar in Book II of his Bello Gallico:

                           'When Caesar inquired of them what states were in arms, 

                            how powerful they were and what they could do, in war,

                            he received the following information:

                            that the greater part of the Belgae, were sprung from the Germans, 

                           and that having crossed the Rhine at an early period, 

                           they had settled there, on account of the fertility of the country,

                           and had driven out the Gauls who inhabited those regions;.....'

                            (Devitte translation)

Of the Belgae who migrated to Britain, we know that the Atrebates were among them, and possibly, the Ambiani (from Numismatics, the study of their coinage). In addition to the Belgae, it is now speculated that the Iceni of East Anglia also had Germanic or Celto-Germanic origins. The Cenimagni tribe, referred to by Caesar in Book V of Bello Gallico may very well have been a misspelling of ICENI and the name is suggestive of a Germanic root. The image of what appears to be Odin on Iceni coinage adds further weight to the hypothesis of Germanic origins.

The Portable Antiquities Scheme/ The Trustees of the British Museum, CC BY-SA 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/license

The ancient city of Winchester in Hampshire was the administrative centre of the kingdom of Wessex (the West Saxons). The kings of Wessex eventually united the whole of England into one kingdom. The present King of the United Kingdom, Charles III is a descendant of Alfred the Great, the most notable of the kings of Wessex. However, Winchester's history can be traced much further back than the 9th century and the etymology of its name is derived from Wenta, a Celtic word with the meaning 'tribal town' or 'meeting place'. Subsequent to the Roman Conquest, Winchester became an important settlement for the Belgae, its name then being recorded as Wenta Belgarum, meaning 'Wenta of the Belgae'.  

What should be pointed out however, is that mixed tribes on the continent or in these islands may be mixed in terms of language, culture, belief or ancestry or any combination of these features. Thus, when discussing the possible Germanic ancestral antecedents of the Iceni, the Belgae or any other tribe, it must be borne in mind that there is no evidence that they were necessarily Germanic-speaking.

 Referring back to the continental home of the Belgae, Caeser referred to the German origins of these people but his precise words were: 'that the greater part of the Belgae, were sprung, from the Germans,....'    The emphasis here is 'the greater part'; he did not state that they were all sprung from the Germans and neither did he say that those who were of German ancestry were not also descended from any Celtic peoples as well. By the time that Caesar wrote about the Belgae, they had already been settled in Gaul for a sufficient time for any mixing of blood, language, culture and religion to occur. 

Tacitus, writing in his Germania, chapter two states:

                                  'for that the people who first crossed the Rhine, and expelled

                                   the Gauls, and are now called Tungri, were then named Germans;

                                   which appellation of a particular tribe, not of a whole people,

                                   gradually prevailed; so that the title of Germans, first assumed

                                   by the victors in order to excite terror, was afterwards adopted

                                   by the nation in general.'    

The Tungri, it should be pointed out, were part of the Belgae tribal confederation.

More or less within the same time period that Caesar was writing his Bello Gallico, the Belgae who were already established in southern Britain were still ruled by the same king who governed the Belgae in Gaul, Diviciacus of the Belgic Suessiones tribe. It should be noted that the etymology of Suessiones appears to be Gallic in origin, not Germanic. This Diviciacus should not be confused with the druid of the same name who belonged to the Gallic Aedui tribe.

There is also speculation by scholars that the Regni or Regnenses in southeast England were also part of the Belgae confederation or at the very least they were influenced by them and may have had a Belgic leadership stratum. Gunivortus Goos (Gardenstone), a Dutch researcher and a long time resident of Germany (whose books I recommend) suggests in his excellent new work, Britain and Boudicca (2025) that other tribes such as the Catuvellauni and the Trinovantes were or may have been of Belgic origin. Mr Goos provides a lot of interesting information on individual tribes in his aforesaid work with maps and coloured illustrations. 

It would also appear that the Belgae were not restricted to just Gaul and modern-day England but were also present in Iron Age Ireland too. According to Professor Thomas Francis O'Rahilly (1882-1953), some of the Belgae settled in south-west Ireland in the fifth century BCE, becoming the Iverni (Erainn). He also was of the opinion that the memory of the Belgic settlers was preserved in Irish mythology in the name and people of the Fir Bolg. This latter theory is no longer acceptable to 'mainstream' historians (nothing to do with Irish republicanism then?).

What we do know from this patchwork of Celtic and Celto-Germanic tribes present in Iron Age England is that the accepted paradigm of a totally 'Celtic' Britain prior to the Anglo-Saxon colonisations from 449CE onwards is now no longer tenable! 

                           

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:

                       

  

Britannia, Aryan Tutelary Goddess of the British Isles

 The following is the resposting of an old article originally published on my now defunct Celto-Germanic Culture, Myth and History blog which I have edited and tidied up. My reason for doing so lies in the recent awakening of the Germanic and Celtic peoples of the British Isles, most especially here in England where thousands of England flags now fly from lamp posts on most housing estates.

As a child, I was often fascinated by the imagery on old English coins and in particular the figure of Britannia on pennies, ha'pennies and farthings. This imagery continued with decimalisation in the early 1970s.

It is commonly believed that the concept of Britannia as a tutelary Goddess began with the Roman invasion but this is not the case. Although she is equated with the Roman Goddess Minerva, Her history and origins precede the Romans.

Professor L. Austine Waddell in his remarkable and fascinating The Phoenician Origins of Britons, Scots and Anglo-Saxons Discovered by Phoenician and Sumerian Inscriptions in Britain by Pre-Roman Briton Coins (1924) makes it very clear that She originated with the earliest Aryan invaders of the British Isles. In Professor Waddell's works he establishes that the Phoenicians, like the Sumerians, and the founders of Egyptian civilisation, were originally Aryans. They did of course rule over other peoples, namely Semites who later became associated with the term Phoenician but originally they or their leaders were Aryan.

Professor Waddell was also one of the first scholars to recognise the Hittites to be Aryan civilisation. This is today now commonly accepted but this was not the case in the 1920s. Modern science is beginning to validate this great man's theories and his books, over recent years, have reached a new generation of racially aware Indo-Europeans.

Professor Waddell identifies ancient Phoenician coins from Lycaonia in the 3rd century CE  that also bear the image of this deity, but holding a cornucopia rather than a trident. Some of the coins also feature a shield with an equilateral Sun Cross, marking Her to be a solar deity.

"These coins, with others of the same type elsewhere, are of immense historical importance for recovering the lost history of the Britons in Britain and in their earlier homeland, as they now disclose the hitherto unknown origin of the modern British marine tutelary 'Britannia', and prove her to be of Hitto-Phoenician origin."(Waddell) 

Professor Waddell draws a link between the ancient ruling Aryan clan, the Barats and the name of Britain and hence of this Goddess. Studies of Her portrait show Her to be both graceful and beautiful, a notable Aryan physical aesthetic.

"Usually the head only of this goddess is figured on Phoenician coins, and it is a fine Aryan and non-Semitic type; see for example the Phoenician `Barat` coin from Carthage, and Phoenician coins generally. In these coins of Lycaonia the general resemblance to Britannia will be noticed-Britannia hitherto being supposed to have been first invented by the early Romans in Britain in the 2nd century A.D. in practically the identical  form still surviving on our modern British penny." (Waddell)           

Britannia, or more correctly in this context, Barat is featured on the Lycaonian coins as seated on a chair of a ship amidst the waves. In some coins She holds a cornucopia and in others possibly a sceptre or a cross. In Her other hand She holds the tiller of a rudder. The shield beside Her chair features the Sun Cross, likened to a St. George Cross within a Sun Disc. On modern pre- and post-decimal coins this cross is now the eight spoked Union Flag. The eight spokes like the four are significant and relate to cardinal and ordinal directions and the wheel of the year. Some shields portray instead the rayed sun so the solar implications of Her cult are obvious.

          "Her proper name is now disclosed by the Vedic hymns of the Eastern branch of the Aryan Barats to have been Barati, meaning'                          'Belonging to the Barats.' She is also called therein 'Brihad-the Divine' (Brihad- diva)..." (Waddell)

Britannia's association with the trident draws a link with the Roman Neptune or the Greek Poseidon, who many will know was the founder and tutelary deity of Atlantis.

          "In these Vedic hymns all the attributes of Britannia are accounted for; her tutelarship of the waters and of  hips, her lighthouse on the                  sea, her Neptune trident (as well as the origin of Neptune himself and his name), her helmet and shield, her Cross on the shield as well                as the cornucopia, which she sometimes bears upon the Phoenician and Greco-Roman coins, taking the place of the corn-stalk on the                 Briton coins." (Waddell)  

Rig Veda 2.35  is devoted to the 'Son of Waters', whom the Indo-Aryans called Napat. Napat may be the origin of Neptune.

           "The Son of Waters, gathering strength in waters, shines for his worshipper to give him treasures."(Rig Veda 2.35.8)                   

Often deities who were originally female were subsequently replaced by male ones. An obvious example from Germanic mythology is the Nerthus referred to in Tacitus' Germania, worshipped by the Angles and six other tribes in northern Germania. Later Njord became prominent amongst the Scandinavian peoples and the root of Njord is to be found in Nerthus. Some speculate that they simply formed a divine pair as did their offspring Freyr and Freyja.                         

"In the Vedic hymns she is called 'The Great Mother' (Mahi) and 'Holy Lady of the Waters' and is hailed as 'First-made mother' in a hymn to her son 'Napat the son of the waters' who has a  horse (thus disclosing the remote Aryan origin of the name and personality of the old Sea-god, Neptune, and his horses, and accounting for Neptune's trident in her hands). She is a 'Fire-Priestess' and `shows the light' (thus accounting for the Lighthouse on the older British coins with Britannia). She is personified Fire and sits upon the sacred Fire (thus accounting for the St. George's Cross which, we shall find later, symbolises Fire of the Sun). She is associated with the twin horsemen of the Sun (Aswin or Dioscorides), represented on the British coins, and coins of Syracuse (an ancient Phoenician colony) etc." (Waddell)

The concept of fire on or in water reminds me of Odin's eye (the sun) being hidden in the waters of Mimir's well. Professor Waddell also finds a connection between Barati and Bairthy, the Egyptian Goddess of the Water. Their functions are identical.

                          "Thus the tutelary Bairthy of the Ancient Egyptians and Assyrio-Babylonians appears to have been designated by them as 'The                               Warrior Water-goddess of the Sailor Phoenicians of the Land  of the Fire-drill cult.'" (Waddell)

A link may also be drawn between Neptune and the Celtic sea-God Manannan mac Lir who also was associated with horses, an Aryan totemic symbol. He is the tutelary deity of the Isle of Man, whose flag consists of a three-legged triskelion, a clear solar symbol.

                           "The Poseidon of the Tuatha De Danann Pantheon was called Lir, but we hear little of him in  comparison with his famous son,                             Manannan, the greatest and most popular of his many children." (The Mythology of the British Islands, Charles Squire) 

Barati was also the tutelary Goddess of Crete, Brihad-the-Divine, the divine daughter of Phoinix, the King of Phoenicia, thus demonstrating the Aryan origin of Cretan civilisation via the Aryo-Phoenicians. There may also be an association with the Irish Goddess Brigid, the daughter of The Dagda of the Tuatha De Danann. She also was a solar deity as evidenced by the rather interesting Swastika-like Solar Cross associated with Her.

The Ysby Thor's Hammer and its Striking Resemblance to the Hedeby Thor's Hammer

 Please examine the photograph of a newly discovered Thor's Hammer pendant from the site of an archaeological excavation at Ysby in Halland, Sweden in 2022, which was widely reported in professional journals and the Miami Herald in October of that year.

                                                     Image courtesy of Radio Sweden

The photograph shows the hammer after it had been cleaned up. It is approximately 3cm in height and cast from lead. Although made from the most humble of metals it may have very well been gilded in silver or gold.

I would now like you to see an image of a Thor's Hammer discovered in modern day Hedeby in Germany. I am unable to glean exactly when it was discovered but I am led to believe that it was either in the 1950s or the 1970s. I have owned a bronze version of this hammer since the late 1990s and currently wear a stainless steel version, manufactured in Germany, and purchased by me well over 5 years ago.

The original, as pictured, was cast in silver. Modern reproductions of this hammer are available in gold, silver, bronze, pewter, stainless steel and zinc alloy.

Below is a photograph I have taken of my stainless steel version, which shows the detail with far more precision than my bronze copy.

My readers will note that this is one of the few historical hammers which depict a human face, which by process of deduction must be assumed to be that of the god, Thor, not Odin as some sellers on 'Etsy' have incorrectly suggested! This adds an extra layer of sacrality to the amulet. On the head of the hammer is found an 'infinity knot' with three circles. The design is the same on both sides on the original and on modern reproductions.

My question is this: why do we find the same design of hammer in both Germany/Denmark and Sweden? Are there any other original examples in existence? I would appear to be the very first researcher to have publicly identified the similarity in design of both hammers.

During the 8th to the 11th centuries Hedeby, or to give it its Danish name, Haithabu was an important trading centre on the southern end of the Jutland peninsula. It is now part of the German Land of Schleswig-Holstein in the most northern part of Germany. The issue of German or Danish ownership of this territory became an inflamed question during the 19th century. After the second Schleswig War in 1864 it became a permanent part of Germany but it has been fought over for many centuries prior to that. The official language of the Land is German but the languages of Low German, Danish and North Frisian are also recognised. Its culture is a mix of those three elements, making it an intriguing Germanic 'melting pot'. As an aside, I have recently learned that I am genetically related to a number of human burials from post Viking Age Hedeby, four males and one female, which makes the Hedeby hammer that much more special for me.

Royal Mint's African 'Britannia'

 To my great disgust and consternation I encountered the following 2021 news article from Vogue magazine, when carrying out some research on the Britannia divine archetype, a subject which I have written about before, and which I will return to in a future article on this blog. Here is a link to the news article which I am referring to: https://www.vogue.co.uk/news/article/britannia-woman-of-colour

So it would seem that it is not only the BBC ('Bastardising of British Culture' Corporation) and the educational establishment which is attempting to rewrite British history, but now the Royal Mint! To quote from the article: 

 “It is a huge step change for us,” says Anne Glossop, the first female Deputy Master of the Mint. “Our work is at the core of representing society and the heritage of a nation, and we need to reflect that.”

No, Miss Glossop, your role is to mint British coins, not attempt to rewrite British history or make 'right on' political statements! The 'heritage' of the United Kingdom is not African! Britannia is not merely a symbol of the insulae Britannicae, but a divine archetype, as anyone who has studied ancient historical symbolism could have told you. Britannia is concerned with the origin of the British Isles (which includes the island of Ireland), not recent unwanted developments, since the unasked for mass invasion of our islands since 1948! The native populations of these islands are Germanic, Celtic and a Celto-Germanic mix, a Europid population with a common Indo-European ancestry. It is and never has been native African!

The 'credit' for this unholy creation belongs to an 'Irish children's book illustrator' P.J. Lynch, which the article states:

'who was among a wide and diverse group invited to submit designs and renderings to be judged anonymously.' 

I am not surprised that the judging was 'anonymous'! The Royal Mint's 'advisory committee' appears to be as equally 'diverse'. Once again, nobody has asked the native peoples of the United Kingdom what they think! I trust that all right-thinking people, such as my readers, will vote with their pockets and refrain from purchasing this highly politicised creation! I wish to emphasise that I am not criticising the model who posed for this coin but its creators, designers and commissioners! 

 

 

 

The Nonsense Talked about so-called 'Shield-Maidens'

 In recent years a great deal has been assumed on the subject of 'shield-maidens', sparked off by the discovery that the body buried in Birka grave Bj581 was that of a female, not a male. From the time of its discovery in 1878, it was naturally assumed to be male due to the presence of a sword, a seax, an axe, a spear, two shields, armour piercing arrows and two stirrups.

Analysis of the skeleton's pelvic bones  in 2016, and a DNA analysis in 2017, established the remains to be female. An analysis of the weapons indicates that they had been used. Naturally, academics and feminists are wetting themselves into a frenzy about this and the assumption (unproven) follows that 'shield-maidens', either organised groups of them or individuals, were a common and natural part of life in 10th century Sweden, and by extension, the rest of Scandinavia and the wider Germanic world. However, as the saying goes, 'one swallow doth not a spring make.'

One thing that I would like the academics and feminists to explain, is the lack of wear and tear to the woman's bones, which one would expect from a seasoned warrior. The presence of weapons in a grave is not proof that its occupant was a warrior, and the condition of the bones would suggest otherwise. However, that did not hinder the makers of the television series, The Vikings from presenting 'shield maidens' for their gullible audience to uncritically assume as an historical 'fact'. It was an enjoyable series but at the end of the day, it was simply fiction.

Likewise, feminists and academics will refer to the presence of a few female warriors in ancient myths and legends and cite that as evidence to support their theory. Typical examples from the Germanic world include the following: Brynhildr from the Volsunga Saga, Brunhild from the Niebelungenlied, Hervor from the Saga of Hervor and Heidrek, Lagertha from Gesta Danorum (Deeds of the Danes) and many other lesser known ones. Examples from the Celtic world include Queen Mebd of Connacht from the Tain Bo Cuailinge (The Cattle Raid of Cooley), and Scathach, also from the Tain. There are also examples that my readers will be aware of from ancient history but none of them are said to be warriors but leaders of warriors, such as Boudica, the Queen of the Iceni (Tacitus, Annals), Gwenllian ferch Gruffydd, princess of Deheubarth, Aethelflaed, the Lady of the Mercians and daughter of Alfred the Great. Nobody is disputing the historical existence of female leaders of warriors but that is a far cry from the concept of the common place so-called 'shield-maiden'. 

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Further Reflections on the Snaptun Stone and the Gnezdovo Pendant

 Some years ago, while my Celto-Germanic Culture, Myth and History blog was still active, I posted my thoughts on the images contained on the Gnezdovo mask amulet and the Snaptun stone. There is still a link to my article on Pinterest: Celto-Germanic Culture, Myth and History: The Image of Loki on the Snaptun Stone and the Gnezdovo Amulet http://celto-germanic.blogspot.co.uk/2014/09/the-image-of-loki-on-snaptun-stone-and.html

Don't bother clicking on the link as it no longer works! Since that time, due to the popularity of my old blogs, this theory of mine gained traction to such an extent that you will find it repeated on most websites that promote the sale of reproductions of this amulet. Please note: there is a very good reason why I did not reproduce that article on this blog in 2019 when it was founded. This was a theory dating back to 2014, which I now have reservations about. However, it does go to show how gullible people can be, taking the speculations of other people and then promoting these as so-called facts, just because it appears on the world wide web!

There are certainly stylistic similarities between the two objects but that is not proof that my speculations were correct! I stand by my claim that the Snaptun stone has a clear association with Loki. Visually, the face on the stone appears to have its lips sown together. In Skaldskaparmal Chapter 35 (Brodeur translation) it is stated:

'This was their decision: that the hammer was best of all the precious works, and in it there was the greatest defence against the Rime-Giants; and they gave sentence, that the dwarf should have his wager. Then Loki offered to redeem his head, but the dwarf said that there was no chance of this. ‘Take me, then,’ quoth Loki; but when Brokkr would have laid hands on him, he was a long way off. Loki had with him those shoes with which he ran through air and over water. Then the dwarf prayed Thor to catch him, and Thor did so. Then the dwarf would have hewn off his head; but Loki said that he might have the head, but not the neck. So the dwarf took a thong and a knife, and would have bored a hole in Loki’s lips and stitched his mouth together, but the knife did not cut. Then Brokkr said that it would be better if his brother’s awl were there: and even as he named it, the awl was there, and pierced the lips. He stitched the Ups together, and Loki ripped the thong out of the edges. That thong, with which Loki’s mouth was sewn together, is called Vartari.'

It should be remembered that there is also an association between Loki and fire. Many commentators deny this association but there is evidence to be found in Jacob Grimm's Teutonic Mythology, volume 1:

  

'The three brothers Hlêr, Logi, Kari on the whole seem to represent water, fire and air as elements. Now a striking narrative in the Prose Edda places Logi ["flame, fire"] by the side of Loki, a being from the giant province beside a kinsman and companion of the gods. This is no mere play upon words; the two really signify the same thing from different points of view, Logi the natural force of fire, and Loki, with a shifting of the sound, a shifting of the sense. From the burly fire-giant Logi has developed a crafty, seductive evil-doer. Both can be compared to the Greek Prometheus and Hephaestus.'

In my opinion, the character known as Logi in Gylfaginning, who in Old Norse is the personification of fire, is a hypostasis of Loki, as is Utgard-Loki.

'“Then spoke the one who came last, ‘Who was called Loki: ‘I know such a trick, which I am ready to try: that there is no one within here who shall eat his food more quickly than I.’ Then Útgarda-Loki answered: ‘That is a feat, if thou accomplish it; and this feat shall accordingly be put to the proof.’ He called to the farther end of the bench, that he who was called Logi should come forth on the floor and try his prowess against Loki. Then a trough was taken and borne in upon the hall-floor and filled with flesh; Loki sat down at the one end and Logi at the other, and each ate as fast as he could, and they met in the middle of the trough. By that time Loki had eaten all the meat from the bones, but Logi likewise had eaten all the meat, and the bones with it, and the trough too; and now it seemed to all as if Loki had lost the game.

'....

 but he who was called Logi was “wild-fire,” and he burned the trough no less swiftly than the meat. '

The Snaptun stone is most clearly a forge stone, used as part of a bellows, directing air into the heart of the fire. Its soapstone construction makes it resistant to heat. However, this was no simple forge stone; in my opinion, it had a ritual and possibly a cultic purpose, and may serve as evidence for a cult of Loki in Demark, where it was discovered in 1950 at Snaptun, possibly as a result of tidal movement. It also serves as evidence for an association between Loki and the element of fire.

The link between Loki and the Gnezdovo pendant is far less certain and this is why I no longer stand by my earlier theory. The discovery of this item dates back to 1993 and was part of a burial hoard, containing a total of 395 items, including temple rings and other pendants. The actual site where it was discovered, Gnezdovo, begain to arouse interest in 1867 with the construction of the Orel-Vitebsk railway after the discovery of some 10th century silver ornaments. However, it was not until 1874 that a systematic excavation started and was led by M.F. Kustsinsky. It should be noted that Gnezdovo was a Varangian trading station, so one should not be surprised by the mix of Norse, Slavic and even Arabic cultural objects discovered there.

While there is nothing definitive in the design of the pendant to indicate that it represents Odin, it should be noted that He is also called Grimnir, the 'hooded' or the 'masked' one and this pendant does appear to resemble a mask. There is certainly a stylistic resemblance between the pendant and the Snaptun stone but this should not be interpreted as definitive proof of a link with Loki. I would also add, that to the best of my knowledge, no academic has stated any association between the pendant and a specific deity. 

Bloodofox, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lokistone.jpg

An image of the original silver find of the Gnezdovo pendant.

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.