period are guldgubber (‘old men of gold’). These are tiny gold foil votive plaques impressed with figures of men or, more rarely, women or couples, which are thought to be inspired by Roman temple money. Around 75 per cent of the 3,000 guldgubber found so far come from Sorte Muld, a trade and cult centre on Bornholm. Guldgubber were mass produced as many were clearly stamped with the same moulds.
The turbulent times shaped Norse legend as well as metalwork. It was in this period that the Volsunga Saga , the most important of the Norse legendary sagas, began to take shape. The saga centres on the deeds of the legendary hero Sigurd, the forging of his magical sword Gram, his slaying of the dragon Fafnir and his acquisition of its cursed treasure hoard, and his eventual murder at the instigation of his spurned Valkyrie lover Brynhild. While a plot like that is unlikely to have any basis in historical fact, several of the saga’s leading characters are historically identifiable figures from the Migration Period. Brynhild’s husband Gunnar is based on the Burgundian king Gundahar, who was killed in battle with the Huns in 437; King Atli, who kills Gunnar is a barely disguised Attila the Hun (d. 453); and Jormunrek, the husband of Sigurd’s daughter Svanhild, is inspired by Ermanaric, a king of the Goths who committed suicide after being defeated by the Huns in 375. Sigurd himself is thought by some to be based on the Frankish king Sigibert (d. 575), who was murdered as a result of family feuding between his wife, his brother and his brother’s lover. If so, Sigibert’s Burgundian wife Brunhilda may, then, be the inspiration for Brynhild.
The first Scandinavian kingdoms
The Late Germanic Iron Age (550 – 800) saw the emergence of powerful regional kingdoms in Denmark and Sweden. Scandinavia was still largely beyond the horizons of literate Europeans so these kingdoms’ existence is deduced primarily from archaeological evidence such as major defence works, planned settlements, richly furnished burials and feasting halls, all of which point to the presence of strong centralised authorities that controlled considerable material and human resources. One of these kingdoms was probably centred in southern Jutland where a 19-mile long (30 km) earth and timber rampart, known today as the Danevirke, was built across the neck of the peninsula between Hollingstedt and Schleswig. Although the Danevirke is now in Germany, in the early Middle Ages, this sparsely populated area’s marshlands and infertile heaths made it a natural frontier between the Danes and the Saxon tribes to the south. The Danevirke began as a simple earth bank, built around the middle of the seventh century. About eighty years later the height of the rampart was raised and a timber palisade was built on top, turning it into a much more effective obstacle. Thanks to the science of dendrochronology the date of the palisade’s construction can be fixed precisely – the timbers used to strengthen the rampart were felled in 737. The Danevirke, which still survives to a height of nearly 20 feet (6.1 m) in places, was strengthened several more times during the Middle Ages before it fell out of use in the fourteenth century. The construction of the Danevirke was probably overseen from a recently discovered high-status settlement at Flüsing, near Schleswig. An eighth-century feasting hall, roughly 100 feet (30.5 m) long by 30 feet (9.1 m) broad, excavated here was surrounded by up to 200 smaller buildings, which could together have accommodated up to 1,000 warriors on a temporary basis.
Another construction work possibly commissioned by the same king is a canal across an isthmus on the island of Samsø, off Jutland’s east coast. This has been dated by dendrochronology to exactly 726. It was probably built to make it easier for warships to control the sea routes on both sides of the island. The foundation of Scandinavia’s oldest town, Ribe on Jutland’s west
The turbulent times shaped Norse legend as well as metalwork. It was in this period that the Volsunga Saga , the most important of the Norse legendary sagas, began to take shape. The saga centres on the deeds of the legendary hero Sigurd, the forging of his magical sword Gram, his slaying of the dragon Fafnir and his acquisition of its cursed treasure hoard, and his eventual murder at the instigation of his spurned Valkyrie lover Brynhild. While a plot like that is unlikely to have any basis in historical fact, several of the saga’s leading characters are historically identifiable figures from the Migration Period. Brynhild’s husband Gunnar is based on the Burgundian king Gundahar, who was killed in battle with the Huns in 437; King Atli, who kills Gunnar is a barely disguised Attila the Hun (d. 453); and Jormunrek, the husband of Sigurd’s daughter Svanhild, is inspired by Ermanaric, a king of the Goths who committed suicide after being defeated by the Huns in 375. Sigurd himself is thought by some to be based on the Frankish king Sigibert (d. 575), who was murdered as a result of family feuding between his wife, his brother and his brother’s lover. If so, Sigibert’s Burgundian wife Brunhilda may, then, be the inspiration for Brynhild.
The first Scandinavian kingdoms
The Late Germanic Iron Age (550 – 800) saw the emergence of powerful regional kingdoms in Denmark and Sweden. Scandinavia was still largely beyond the horizons of literate Europeans so these kingdoms’ existence is deduced primarily from archaeological evidence such as major defence works, planned settlements, richly furnished burials and feasting halls, all of which point to the presence of strong centralised authorities that controlled considerable material and human resources. One of these kingdoms was probably centred in southern Jutland where a 19-mile long (30 km) earth and timber rampart, known today as the Danevirke, was built across the neck of the peninsula between Hollingstedt and Schleswig. Although the Danevirke is now in Germany, in the early Middle Ages, this sparsely populated area’s marshlands and infertile heaths made it a natural frontier between the Danes and the Saxon tribes to the south. The Danevirke began as a simple earth bank, built around the middle of the seventh century. About eighty years later the height of the rampart was raised and a timber palisade was built on top, turning it into a much more effective obstacle. Thanks to the science of dendrochronology the date of the palisade’s construction can be fixed precisely – the timbers used to strengthen the rampart were felled in 737. The Danevirke, which still survives to a height of nearly 20 feet (6.1 m) in places, was strengthened several more times during the Middle Ages before it fell out of use in the fourteenth century. The construction of the Danevirke was probably overseen from a recently discovered high-status settlement at Flüsing, near Schleswig. An eighth-century feasting hall, roughly 100 feet (30.5 m) long by 30 feet (9.1 m) broad, excavated here was surrounded by up to 200 smaller buildings, which could together have accommodated up to 1,000 warriors on a temporary basis.
Another construction work possibly commissioned by the same king is a canal across an isthmus on the island of Samsø, off Jutland’s east coast. This has been dated by dendrochronology to exactly 726. It was probably built to make it easier for warships to control the sea routes on both sides of the island. The foundation of Scandinavia’s oldest town, Ribe on Jutland’s west
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