Ship flag (vikings)
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Vikings - ship flags are made of copper - or bronze plate made ship pennant showing ornamental ornaments with animal and vine motifs. They are also known as weather vanes . Some ships' flags were gold-plated and, instead of the well-known dragon heads, were attached to the fore stems of Viking ships by important leaders. They were removable and in individual cases came into the care of the church, where they have survived on church towers and church roofs in Norway and Sweden until our time. Miniature flags made of bronze were found during excavations. They may adorn ship models or were used as amulets .
description
There are basically two types of ship flags that were used on the longships in the Viking Age and until the Middle Ages. Both are mentioned in the Norse literature .
Gilded ship's flags
The first type is the gold-plated flag attached to the stem of large ships. It is called veðrviti (weather indicator ) in the old Norse tales and usually consists of several parts made of different metal alloys such as bronze and brass, which were partly forged and partly cast. In terms of its basic shape, it is triangular, its two straight sides enclose an angle of 110 ° in the previously known specimens, so that it could be attached to a rod attached at an angle to the stem. A mythical creature, cast from metal, placed on the upper edge of the flag pointed forward, similar to the dragon heads on many ships of that time. The longest side of the flag is rounded and gives the flag approximately the appearance of a section of a circle. Along this curve, the flag is provided with small holes for attaching fabric ribbons or metal tags. In contemporary literature it is mentioned that these objects are said to have rattled in the wind. The gold-plated form of the Viking Age ship's flag is only preserved in four copies.
Miniature flags
The second genus is often referred to in Norse literature as flaug . It was attached to the top of the mast at a right angle. It is not clear whether it was made of textile or metal, like today's flags and pennants. So far, during excavations and as grave goods in the Baltic Sea region, only small-format models of such flags have been found that were cast from bronze. They are rectangular trapezoidal. The lower edge is usually very short, so that the pennant approaches the triangular shape, which has also been realized in some finds. The flags show openwork ornaments in the Borre style . The shortest side of the triangle has two to three eyelets as a hanging device. The longest side usually has very strong, thorn-like or comb-like protrusions that could symbolize braids or ribbons. Some of the models have protruding animal heads on the upper edge, similar to the large, gold-plated flags.
Illustrations
The centuries-long use as a "weather vane" on church towers after the end of the Viking Age in the 11th century had largely forgotten its original function. It was known that the flags were much older than the church buildings on which they were placed, but there was little evidence of their use as a ship's flag, except for the mention of the shiny gold banners in Icelandic saga literature .
Bryggen rune staff
The most important clue as to the meaning of the flags was a 25 cm long piece of juniper wood, which had been found during excavations on the Bryggen in Bergen and which could be dated between 1248 and 1332. The rune staff shows the "Laidang" (the fleet), which is assembled in the harbor from Kiel to Kiel. Only the largest longships have a kite or banner decorated stem and a flag on the mast. This could indicate that only the ships of the leaders carried these valuable identification marks. The curves on the bow of the ships correspond to the shape of the gold-plated weather vanes.
Bildstein from Smiss
On the Gotland picture stone of Smiss in the parish of Stenkyrka you can see a detailed picture of a Viking ship. On the mast top is a ship's flag in the flaug style , which was found in miniature form during excavations in the Baltic Sea region. The representation corresponds to the trapezoidal models made of bronze.
Bayeux Tapestry
A triangular standard, also in the style of a ship's flag, as it was found in miniature form made of bronze as a grave goods from the Viking Age, can be seen on the Bayeux Tapestry . However, it is not mounted on a masthead at sea, but on the tip of a lance in the retinue of King Harald Godwinson's brothers . This has led to speculation over whether such ship flags removed and the ensigns were carried into battle on the mainland.
use
The function of the flags on the Viking ships has not been clarified. The gilded ship's flags obtained weigh between 0.84 and 2.15 kg and were unsuitable as wind flags both on ships and later on church towers, which tests with copies have proven. The device for attaching the flag has an angle of 110 ° to the horizontal, so that when it is attached to the stem of a ship, the animal sculpture points exactly forward. This position was imitated, for example, when it was attached to a sloping mast on the church roof in Heggen. However, this arrangement makes it difficult to rotate the flag about the axis.
The holes made at different distances on the rounded edge of the flags have been interpreted as markings for measuring the position of the sun. They should be about 4.8 ° apart. However, there is no evidence that the Vikings were aware of such a way of navigating using a quadrant . The shape of the large ship's flags is reminiscent of such a quadrant, but the unequal edges make a calculation difficult. The objects attached to colored ribbons in the eyelets, as can be seen in the drawing on the juniper stick from mountains, were probably used for decoration.
Preserved ship's flags
The four preserved large gilded ship flags are:
- the flag of Söderala in Sweden ,
- the ship's flag from Källunge , also in Sweden,
- the ship's flag from Heggen in Norway and
- the ship's flag from Tingelstad , also in Norway.
They show animal representations and tendril ornaments in the Mammen and Ringerike style .
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d Keyword: weather vane . In: Herbert Jankuhn, Heinrich Beck et al. (Hrsg.): Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde. Volume 33, De Gruyter, Berlin / New York 2006, pp. 550-555
- ^ A b c Martin Blindheim: De gyldne skipsfløyer fra sen vikingtid. Bruk and technology. In: Viking , Volume 46, 1982, Oslo 1983, pp. 85–111 ( digitized version ( memento of the original from March 18, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. )
- ↑ Bernhard Salin: A gold-plated weather vane from the church of Söderala. Fornvännen 17, pp. 253-279, Stockholm 1921
- ↑ Jan Bill: Ship graffiti. Vikingeskibs Museet, picture sources, accessed March 18, 2014
- ↑ David Berg Tuddenham: Gull i stavnen. SPOR, 23, 45, pp. 4-7, 2008
- ↑ a b Flemming Rickfors: Det gyldne segl - Vejrfanen. ( Memento from May 25, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Asernes Æt, fynhistorie.dk
- ↑ Jan Engström & Panu Nykänen: New Interpretations of Viking Age Weathervanes. Fornvännen, 91, 3, pp. 137-142, Stockholm 1996
- ^ Arne Emil Christensen: The Viking weathervanes were not navigation instruments. Fornvännen, 93, pp. 202-203, Stockholm 1998
literature
- Martin Blindheim: De gyldne skipsfløyer fra sen vikingtid. Bruk and technology. In: Viking , Volume 46, 1982, Oslo 1983. pp. 85–111 ( digital version , PDF 11.3 MB)
- David Berg Tuddenham: Gull i stavnen. SPOR, 23, 45, pp. 4-7, 2008
- Arne Ernil Christensen: The Viking weathervanes were not navigation instruments . Fornvännen 93 (Stockholm 1998) pp. 202-203
