Viking Art

Introduction:

Vikings era remained between 8th – 11th century CE and their love for art and decorations were found to
be carved in their weapons, ship woodworks, jewelry and even everyday little things. Their artwork
included incarnation of many animals like horses, serpents, birds, wolves, unreal and fantastic animals.
With the passage of time and as the Viking art work progressed, these craftsmen designs became six
distinct yet overlapping art styles of Vikings. Norse and Viking are the terms used both for the same
Germanic people who settled in Scandinavia. So all the six styles of Vikings are also Norse art which
archeologists have found over a long period of time.

Vikings Art Style:

Viking style and art had many designs and they carved it on many different elements like stones, wood,
skin, weapons, and some of them were more durable than others. Somehow many of their artworks has
been preserved in Europe. There are six prominent Viking styles.

Oseberg is the style in which paws grip the borders, neck and other parts of a beast, gripping paw must
have had an importance in Viking culture as one of the most prominent Viking style.
The Borre style overlaps with the Oseberg style, and the gripping beast touch remain the same in it as
well.

Jelling style has S shaped animal intertwined with a profile head and pigtails. This style overlaps with the
Borre style of Viking art.
The Mammen style emerged from the Jelling style, and it had naturalistic lions, birds, and serpents
patterns on it in a typically Viking style.

Ringerike Style in Viking art depicted artwork on the rune stones as this style was more prominent in the
11th century.
Urnes Style is a carved wooden with many animals, snakes and planets overlapping. This is a rare piece
which has been preserved in Norway, as wood can’t withstand such a long period of time.

Oseberg Style:

Oseberg is one of the initial Vikings artwork. It takes its name from a long ship, which is well preserved
and decorated. It was found in Vestfold, Norway. The most prominent feature of this style is the
gripping beast which is used in many other styles as well. A paw is gripping the borders, the neck,
neighboring beasts and its own parts as well. The Oseberg Viking ship is also preserved and present in
Oslo.

Borre Style:

This style shows a number of patterns of knots, and it was also recovered near a village of Borre,
Vestfold, Norway. Due to this reason, this style is named as Borre. The gripping beast can also be seen in
this style with many other animals tightly gripped together in a ribbon shaped body. This artwork was
done on mostly metals.

Jelling Style:

Jelling style was an era of Scandinavian animal style art work during 10th century. In this style animals
are designed in S shaped, intertwined with a profile head, and open band shaped bodies of animals. It
was crafted in the 10th century and Borre style often overlaps with this style.

Mammen style:

This style originated from the Jelling style and was prominent in the 10th century. It takes its name from
the object, an axe, recovered from the Mammen, Denmark. Many animals like lions, birds, serpents, and
foliate patterns can be seen on the edges and sides of it. The axe was carved into this intricate style and
then silver was layered into it.

Ringerike Style:

This was a prominent trend in the 11th century and the design was carved on a rune stone. These rune
stones were decorated with Ringerike design. Lion shaped beast and plants were also included in these
styles. Ringerike animals are curvy and thinner longer tendrils plus thin almond shaped eyes were also
carved in this Viking style.

Urnes Style:

The urnes style dates back to 12th century and the name was taken from a stave church in Urnes,
Norway. This style is carved on the wood panels. As it was not a durable object to preserve, very rare
pieces of this style remains. Animals looping with long eyes, snakes and plants were carved on wooden
in a complicated designs depicted Urnes style of Vikings.