Ship flag from Heggen

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Ship flag from Heggen

The ship flag of Heggen ( Norwegian Heggenfløyen ) is the oldest of the Viking Age ship pennants found so far . It is 28 cm long, consists of gold-plated bronze sheet and is decorated in pure mommy style. Today Heggen belongs to the municipality of Modum and is located west of Oslo in Norway .

An animal figure attached to the upper edge is typical of the large ships' flags

Ship flags have the shape of a modified quarter circle and are also known as weather vane or "Vejrvane". These are made of metal ( copper , bronze or gold-plated metal) and therefore preserved specimens of Viking Age heraldry, which instead of the well-known dragon heads sat on the fore stems of the long ships, were removable and only survived in isolated cases on church towers. A rune staff from Bergen in Norway shows the "Laidang" (the fleet), where some large ships have a dragon or banner decorated stern.

The standard from Heggen shows, in addition to the three-dimensional sculpture of a mythical animal placed on top, two magnificently decorated monsters on one side and a bird of the same kind on the other. The typical ornamentation in tendril technique winds around the representations. The edge is offset and riveted.

Another ship flag from Norway is that from Tingelstad , but it is younger than that of Heggen. The other large ships' flags that have survived are those of Källunge , with which there is some resemblance, and that of Söderala , both from Sweden . Whether these flags were forerunners of the "Raven Banner" or ultimately also of the Danebrog , which is considered the oldest flag in the world, is completely open.

The flag was discovered in 1923 on the church tower in Heggen and is now in the museum in Oslo.

See also

literature

  • Nils Magnus Åmell (1885–1968): Första antikvitetshandelns resa på cykel genom Medelpad - marked besök i Stöde - upptäckten av Söderalaflöjeln ; Commentary by Jonas Källström, Stöde hembygdsförening, Stöde, 1979, LIBRIS-ID 485312
  • Rune Gustafsson: Söderalaflöjeln - ett mustigt bygdespel om vikingatiden , Videoupptagning, manus: Rune Gustafsson - producent: Rolf Bergstedt - director: Karin Gustafzon, Intryck Hälsingland förlag, Järvsö, 2004

Web links