Gevninge helmet fragment
Gevninge helmet fragment | |
---|---|
Material | Bronze, gold |
Size | 8 by 5 cm (3 by 2 in) |
Created | c. 550–700 AD |
Discovered | 2000 Gevninge, Denmark 55°38′42″N 11°57′34″E / 55.6451°N 11.9595°E |
Present location | Lejre Museum, Denmark |
The Gevninge helmet fragment is the
The fragment is an ornate piece, but nothing else remains of the helmet; it might be the single remnant of a disintegrated helmet, or it might have been lost or discarded. It is one of two Scandinavian eyepieces discovered alone, giving rise to the suggestion that it was intentionally deposited in an invocation of the one-eyed god Odin. It would have been part of a decorated "crested helmet", the type of headgear that was common to England and Scandinavia from the sixth through eleventh centuries AD. These are particularly known from the examples found at Vendel, Valsgärde, and Sutton Hoo; the Tjele helmet fragment is the only other Danish example known.
Gevninge is three kilometres (1.9 mi) upriver from Lejre, a one-time centre of power believed to be the setting for Heorot, the fabled mead hall to which the poetical hero Beowulf journeys in search of the monster Grendel. The settlement's location suggests that it functioned as an outpost through which anyone would have to pass when sailing to the capital, and in which trusted and loyal guardians would serve. This mirrors Beowulf's experience on his way to Heorot, for upon disembarking he is met with a mounted lookout whose job it is "to watch the waves for raiders, and danger to the Danish shore." Upon answering his challenge, Beowulf is escorted down the road to Heorot, much as an Iron Age visitor to Lejre might have been led along the road from Gevninge. The Gevninge helmet fragment, a military piece from a riverside outpost, therefore sheds light on the relationship between historical fact and legend.
Description
The Gevninge eyepiece is 8 cm (3 in) wide and 5 cm (2 in) tall, moulded from bronze and gilded.[1] An oval eye opening is overlain by a sculpted eyebrow with grooves representing individual hairs;[1][2] grooves around the perimeter of the oval might represent eyelashes.[1] The top and bottom of the fragment each have three holes, presumably used to attach it to the helmet where it would have formed the dexter eyepiece.[3] The top three holes might have attached it to the helmet cap, the bottom three to some form of face protection such as a face mask or camail.[4]
Typology
The Gevninge helmet fragment was discovered by itself, with no other nearby artefacts to give it context.
Function
Helmets like that which the Gevninge fragment once adorned served both as utilitarian equipment and as displays of status.
If protection was all that was asked of a helmet, a simple iron cap would suffice.[22][5] Yet a soldier guarding Gevninge, a riverside outpost on the way to the major city of Lejre, would have to be trustworthy, and perhaps also connected to the king by family or loyalty.[22][23] He would also occupy an important position in the military hierarchy.[22][23] Adornments like the Gevninge fragment would have identified the rank of such a person,[24] as well as adding decoration to a helmet.[22][13]
Discovery
The fragment was discovered in 2000 with the use of a metal detector during a minor
The eyepiece may have been made at nearby Lejre, the seat of the Scylding kings during the Iron and Viking ages.[19] It was discovered in the topsoil and might have been lost or discarded, or the entire helmet might have become buried and then been destroyed by ploughing.[5] It might also have been deliberately buried, as was the helmet eyebrow from Uppåkra.[2] If buried alone, it might have been an allusion to the one-eyed god Odin who sacrificed an eye in exchange for wisdom and intelligence in Norse mythology.[28]
Exhibition
The Lejre Museum now displays the Gevninge fragment alongside other seventh-century grave finds from the area.[29] The fragment was exhibited in Denmark and internationally from 2013 to 2015 as part of a major exhibition on the Vikings, starting at the National Museum of Denmark.[30] It then travelled to the British Museum for Vikings: Life and Legend,[31][32][33] then to Berlin's Martin-Gropius-Bau for Die Wikinger.[34][35]
Context and Beowulf
The discovery of the fragment in Gevninge is notable for its proximity to Lejre, three kilometres (1.9 mi) down the river from Roskilde Fjord.[26] Lejre was once a centre of power, as evidenced by monumental burial mounds, large halls, the silver-filled Lejre Hoard, and stone ships.[19] For the last hundred years Lejre has also been understood as the most likely setting for Heorot, the great mead hall of the Danes in the Anglo-Saxon epic poem Beowulf, to which Beowulf travels in search of Grendel and Grendel's mother.[36] In this sense, Gevninge could have been "the Port of Lejre",[37] standing guard against anyone who sailed towards the capital.[37][38] Indeed, Beowulf and his men are met by such a guard when they disembark in Denmark:[24]
þa of wealle geseah weard Scildinga, |
When the watchman on the wall, the Shieldings' lookout |
—Old English text[40] | —English translation[41] |
The watchman is a "noble warrior"[42] (guð-beorna[43]) who, after listening to Beowulf's explanation of his voyage, directs his men to watch the hero's boat and offers to escort him to king Hrothgar. He then turns back stating, "I'm away to the sea, back on alert against enemy raiders"[42] (Ic to sæ wille, wið wrað werod wearde healdan[44]). Whether or not Gevninge was the basis for the coastal outpost encountered in Beowulf, the two filled similar roles.[24] They would have also been subject to similar strategic considerations, being both early lines of defence against attack, and places to welcome the flow of visitors.[24] In this way, the fragment provides a nexus between legend and historical fact.[29]
Notes
- ^ The folio starts at the beginning of line 229 (the word þa has been lost to fragmentation), and ends a word short of the end of line 252, with the word fyr. An 1884 renumbering of the folios by the British Library means that there are two numbering paradigms, the "manuscript foliation" and the "British Library foliation".[39] The page shown is folio 137r under the British Library foliation, and folio 135r under the manuscript foliation.[39]
References
- ^ a b c d e f Christensen 2002, p. 42.
- ^ a b Price & Mortimer 2014, p. 523.
- ^ Christensen 2002, pp. 42–43.
- ^ Ulriksen 2008, p. 156.
- ^ a b c d Christensen 2002, p. 43.
- ^ Price & Mortimer 2014, p. 524.
- ^ Christensen 2000, p. 32.
- ^ a b Price & Mortimer 2014, p. 531.
- ^ Helgesson 2004, p. 231.
- ^ Steuer 1987, pp. 199–203.
- ^ Tweddle 1992, p. 1083.
- ^ Medieval News 2006, pp. 9–10.
- ^ a b Christensen 2002, pp. 43–44.
- ^ a b c Tweddle 1992, p. 1169.
- ^ Johnson 1980, p. 303.
- ^ Hood et al. 2012, pp. 83–84.
- ^ Tweddle 1992, p. 1167.
- ^ Stjerna 1912, pp. 1–2.
- ^ a b c d Christensen 2002, p. 44.
- ^ Stjerna 1912, p. 1.
- ^ Christensen 2000, p. 35.
- ^ a b c d Christensen 2000, p. 34.
- ^ a b Christensen 2002, pp. 43, 45.
- ^ a b c d Christensen 2002, p. 45.
- ^ Christensen 2002, p. 41.
- ^ a b Christensen 2015, p. 232.
- ^ Ulriksen 2008, pp. 148, 162, 181.
- ^ Price & Mortimer 2014, p. 532.
- ^ a b Medieval News 2006, p. 10.
- ^ Williams, Pentz & Wemhoff 2013, pp. 108–109, 270.
- ^ Williams, Pentz & Wemhoff 2014a, pp. 108–109, 267.
- ^ Bennhold 2014.
- ^ British Museum.
- ^ Williams, Pentz & Wemhoff 2014b, pp. 108–109, 264.
- ^ Museum für Vor- und Frühgeschichte.
- ^ Osborn 2007, pp. 290–291.
- ^ a b Christensen 2015, p. 233.
- ^ Christensen 2002, pp. 44–45.
- ^ a b Kiernan 2016.
- ^ Beowulf, ll. 229–257.
- ^ Heaney 2000, pp. 17–19.
- ^ a b Heaney 2000, p. 23.
- ^ Beowulf, l. 314.
- ^ Beowulf, ll. 318–319.
Bibliography
- Bennhold, Katrin (29 March 2014). "Vikings in London: Just Like Family". Arts. The New York Times. No. 56381. New York. p. C1. Retrieved 11 August 2017.
- Beowulf. n.d.
- Old English quotations above use the Klaeber text, published as Klaeber, Friedrich (1922). Beowulf and The Fight at Finnsburg. Boston: D.C. Heath & Company.
- Christensen, Tom (2000). Et Hjelmfragment fra Gevninge (in Danish). Vol. 19. pp. 31–38. )
- Christensen, Tom (2002). "Kongens Mand – Guld og Hjelm fra Gevninge". In Pind, John; Jørgensen, Anne Nørgård; Jørgensen, Lars; Storgård, Birger; Rindel, Per Ole & Ilkjær, Jørgen (eds.). Drik – og du vil Leve Skønt: Festskrift til Ulla Lund Hansen på 60-årsdagen 18. august 2002. Studies in Archaeology & History (in Danish). Vol. 7. Copenhagen: National Museum of Denmark. pp. 41–45. ISBN 978-87-89384-90-0.
- Christensen, Tom (2015). Lejre Bag Myten: De Arkæologiske Udgravninger (in Danish). Højbjerg: Jysk Arkæologisk Selskab. ISBN 978-87-88415-96-4.
- "Die Wikinger". Museum für Vor- und Frühgeschichte. Staatliche Museen zu Berlin. Archived from the original on 11 August 2017. Retrieved 11 August 2017.
- ISBN 978-0-393-32097-8.
- Helgesson, Bertil (2004). "Tributes to be Spoken of Sacrifice and Warriors at Uppåkra" (PDF). In ISBN 978-91-22-02107-0.
- Hood, Jamie; Ager, Barry; Williams, Craig; Harrington, Susan & Cartwright, Caroline (2012). Investigating and interpreting an Early-to-Mid Sixth-Century Frankish Style Helmet (PDF). Vol. 6. pp. 83–95.
- Johnson, Stephen (1980). "A Late Roman Helmet from Burgh Castle". Britannia. XI: 303–312. JSTOR 525684.
- Kiernan, Kevin, ed. (2016). "Prefixed Leaves". Electronic Beowulf. University of Kentucky. Retrieved 1 June 2018.
- "Lejre – Myth and Archaeology" (PDF). Medieval News. 5: 6–11. May 2016.
- Osborn, Marijane (2007). "The Lejre Connection in Beowulf Scholarship" (PDF). In ISBN 978-0-86698-368-6.
- S2CID 161907810.
- ISBN 978-3-7848-1617-3.
- Stjerna, Knut (1912). Essays on Questions Connected with the Old English Poem of Beowulf. Extra Series. Vol. III. Translated by Hall, John Richard Clark. London: Viking Club: Society for Northern Research. Retrieved 24 January 2017.
- Ulriksen, Jens (2008). "Gevninge – Leddet til Lejre". KUML (in Danish). 57: 145–180. Archived from the original on 2 October 2017. Retrieved 26 November 2022.
- "Vikings: Life and Legend". The British Museum Past Exhibitions. The British Museum. Retrieved 11 August 2017.
- Williams, Gareth; Pentz, Peter & Wemhoff, Matthias, eds. (2013). Viking. Copenhagen: Nationalmuseet. ISBN 978-87-7602-200-6.
- Williams, Gareth; Pentz, Peter & Wemhoff, Matthias, eds. (2014a). Vikings: Life and Legend. London: British Museum Press. ISBN 978-0-7141-2337-0.
- Williams, Gareth; Pentz, Peter & Wemhoff, Matthias, eds. (2014b). Die Wikinger (in German). München: Hirmer. ISBN 978-3-7774-2232-9.