Rock carvings Leirfall
The rock carvings Leirfall east of Hegra, an eastern suburb of Stjørdal in North Trøndelag ( Helleristninger Leirfall in Swedish ) consist of about 1200 characters from the Norwegian Bronze Age (before 500 BC). Based on the design, the archaeologists differentiate between carvings by hunters and gatherers and those made by arable farmers such as those by Leirfall. The images in Hegra are spread over four rock surfaces . The main area, on the rock slab sloping to the south in a forest, shows boats, horses, bowls , suns etc. and an elevator with 13 figures. Field 2 shows about 90 figures of the soles of the feet (footprints) arranged in pairs .
It is led by the fertility god, shown larger, with a sword and erect phallus , who, and this is unique in the representation world of the Bronze Age, is followed by a double row of figures, above three women, recognizable by their long hair, including nine men, two of whom have something in between seem to bear. The whole thing could represent a victim scene.
The number is reminiscent of sacrificial rituals from the Ynglinga saga . In the Historia Norwegiæ it is stated that the sacrifice took place every nine years and after Adam of Bremen nine men were sacrificed. Thietmar von Merseburg (975-1018) deals with the festival of sacrifices in Lejre on Zealand and that described by Adam von Bremen in Alt-Uppsala . He wrote that the last festival of sacrifice at Lejre was still practiced under King Henry the Pious in 934.
Also noteworthy are the shape of the rather ancient (before 1000 BC) ships, which have original stem heads . The steved tradition of the Vikings and that of the figureheads has its roots here.
See also
literature
- Wolfram zu Mondfeld: Viking trip . Koehler, Herford 1985, ISBN 3-7822-0360-7 , pp. 106 .
Web links
- Series of images
- The rock carvings Leirfall on Grosssteingraeber.de
- description
Coordinates: 63 ° 28 '9.6 " N , 11 ° 9' 49.5" E