Art of the Viking
Various beasts are carved into the Oseberg ship’s stern: a ribbon-animal (in blue, also called a streaming-animal); gripping-beasts rendered with humanoid heads (in red); and more ambiguous forms that echo the bodies of creatures seen at the prow (in green). Oseberg oak longship and detail of prow with ribbon-animal and gripping-beast motifs, 9th century, found in burial mound near Tønsberg (Viking ship museum, Oslo; photo: Chad K, CC BY 2.0)
Vikings (https://smarthistory.org/viking-art/ ) have always been portrayed as long-hair pagans who raped and pillaged. When in reality they were a small community of people called Norse or Norsemen. Raiding was for exploration, colonization, and mercantilism and only a few would go out for these explorations. The majority of the Norsemen were merchants, farmers, and craftsmen. The Age of the Viking began in the late 8th century and ended in the 11th century. They traveled around the globe, interacting with many different cultures, and were more international then many give them credit for. As far as artwork many of the Norse-made or influenced pieces can be found across the globe also. The Norse were very visual people because of that skills like woodworking and metalwork were essential skills. Their artwork contained many decorative designs that were quite complex. At first many objects served for pagan purposes, but later Christian themes began to intermingle with them. Their artwork was considered to be very visually distinct because it intermingled with many different cultures, it illustrated a new way of thinking. This intermingling contributed to the many different styles like Oseberg, Borre, Jellinge, Mammen, Ringerike and lastly Urnes. The Oseberg style contains many animal forms or animal gods with geometric designs and was popular c.775/800-875C.E. The Borre style, like the Oseberg style, was popular in Scandinavia. In this style there is more movement with knot-like interlacing, and might have been influenced by northwest England. The Jellinge style is popular during 900-975C.E and is seen on a variety of objects. The animal-ribbons in this style were more prominent and beast-ribbon began to fade. The Mammen style is named after a
The Urnes Stave Church north portal, c. 1132, wood, Ornes, Norway (photo: Micha L. Rieser)
ceremonial axe head found in a Danish village of Mammen. This style is an exaggerated version of the Jellinge style and was popular with the king of Denmark and Norway. The Ringerike style was a short lived style that contained many snakes or monster-like images better known as the Great Beasts. Finally, the Urnes style, this style is more majestic than previous styles. There are three recurring structures in this style: a standing, four-legged animal resembling the Great Beast; a snake-like creature but with a single foreleg and/or hind leg; and a thin ribbon, this might be because of the growth of Christianity. This can give one an insight to how complex this society actually was and how they grew culturally.
Emma, I really enjoy that you showed the contrast between what we have been told all Vikings were like and how they really existed. The Ringerike style that you discussed is by far my favorite style, even though it was short lived. I suppose I just enjoy serpentine figures and images of "great beasts". I especially like the ribbon animals on the stern. Thank you for informing me of these Viking art styles!
ReplyDeleteEmma, this was a wild piece of art to be honest. The first picture you posted was so cool! I loved how you showed the contrast of how even been taught to perceive Vikings and how they actually were. The work on the Urnes Stave Church were beautiful. I am a bit lost because the description under the picture says wood but I see rust implying that it could be metal.
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