Scandinavian Amulets

in Viking Age Poland

Collectio Archaeologica Ressoviensis
Tomus XXXIiI

collegium editorum
Sylwester Czopek, Michał Parczewski,
Andrzej Pelisiak, Zbigniew Pianowski, Andrzej Rozwałka,
Aleksander Sytnyk, Marcin Wołoszyn
Fundacja Rzeszowskiego Ośrodka Archeologicznego
Instytut Archeologii Uniwersytetu Rzeszowskiego

Leszek Gardeła

Scandinavian Amulets
in Viking Age Poland

Rzeszów 2014
 Recenzent / Reviewer
dr hab. prof. AH Władysław Duczko

Redakcja techniczna / Typesetting

Zimowit

Korekta / Proofreading
Leszek Gardeła

Ilustracja na okładce / Cover illustration

Młot Thora z Truso (Janów Pomorski). MAH 1599/2008. Fot. Marek F. Jagodziński
Thor’s hammer from Truso (Janów Pomorski). MAH 1599/2008. Photo by Marek F. Jagodziński

© Copyright by Fundacja Rzeszowskiego Ośrodka Archeologicznego

© Copyright by Instytut Archeologii Uniwersytetu Rzeszowskiego
© Copyright by Zimowit

ISBN 978–83–7667-197-0

Wydawca / Publisher
Oficyna Wydawnicza „Zimowit” sp. z o.o
35-604 Rzeszów, ul. Zimowit 6/5
e-mail: oficyna.zimowit@gmail.com
 CONTENTS

Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

CHAPTER 1: Viking Age archaeology in Poland. History of research and reception . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

  1. Viking inspirations in 19th century Poland . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
  2. Viking studies in 20th century Poland . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
  Józef Kostrzewski . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
  Jan Żak . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
  Żak’s legacy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
  3. Viking studies in 21st century Poland . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
   New finds and controversies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
  4. Scandinavian-Slavic interactions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
   Scandinavians in the ports of trade on the southern Baltic coast . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
  Wolin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
  Kamień Pomorski . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
   Kołobrzeg and Świelubie . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
   Truso (Janów Pomorski) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
  5. Viking burials in Poland? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
5.1.  Greater Poland . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
  Łubowo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
  Luboń . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
   Other allegedly Scandinavian graves in Greater Poland . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
   Grave 62/08 with a cross-shaped pendant from Dziekanowice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
5.2.  Western Pomerania . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
  Wolin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
  Bardy-Świelubie . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
5.3.  Central Pomerania . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
5.4.  Eastern Pomerania . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
5.5. Elbląg . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
5.6.  Central Poland . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
5.7.  Problematic chamber graves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
  6. Poland and the Viking Worlds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

5
CHAPTER 2: Viking Age amulets in Scandinavia. An overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
  1. Defining amulets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
  2. Viking Age amulets in Scandinavia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
History of research . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Amulet types in Viking Age Scandinavia and elsewhere in the Viking world . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
  3. Amulets and Viking worldviews . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
New approaches to pre-Christian beliefs in the Viking world . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
Diversity instead of orthodoxy. Acknowledging the complexity of Old Norse beliefs . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
  4. Viking Age amulets in action . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Making Viking Age amulets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Wearing Viking Age amulets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Amulets and death . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
  5. Concluding remarks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63

CHAPTER 3: Scandinavian amulets in Viking Age Poland. Analysis and interpretation . . . . . . . . . . 66

  1. Thor’s hammers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
1.1.  Iron and silver Thor’s hammers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
   Iron Thor’s hammers with differing shoulders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
   Iron Thor’s hammers with equal shoulders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
   Iron Thor’s hammers with very short shoulders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
   Silver Thor’s hammers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
   Thor’s hammers with rings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
1.2.  Amber Thor’s hammers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
   Amber Thor’s hammers from Wolin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
   Amber Thor’s hammers from Gdańsk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
   Amber Thor’s hammers from Truso . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
   Interpreting amber Thor’s hammers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
   Thor’s hammers in Poland. Discussion and conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
  2. Miniature figures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
   Female figure from Truso (MAH 600/2007) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
   Female figure from Truso (MAH 1578/2008) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
   Female figure shown en-face from Truso (MAH 1579/2008) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
   Standing figure and horse rider from Truso (MAH 74/2000) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
   One-eyed(?) female head from Truso (MAH 2110/2003) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
   Female figure from Kałdus (27/00) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
   Animal head from Wolin (694/79) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
   Male head/mask from Wolin (1331/71) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
   Scandinavian-style miniature figures in Poland. Discussion and conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
  3. Other miniature figures from Poland . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
   Anthropomorphic figures from Wolin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
   ‘Światowit’ from Wolin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
  4. Multi-headed objects. Scandinavian or not? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
   Multi-headed objects in Viking Age Scandinavia. A reassessment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
   Multi-headed beings in Old Norse textual sources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
   Multi-headed objects in Poland and Scandinavia. Discussion and conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
  5. Miniature weapons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
  Miniature shields . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
  Miniature axes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
  Miniature spears . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102

6
   Miniature swords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
   Miniature weapons. Discussion and conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
  6. Miniature wheels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
  7. Miniature feet/legs/shoes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
  8. Miniature staff . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
  9. Miniature anchors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
10. The tri-part ‘amulet’ from Truso . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
11. Alleged amulets and problematic pendants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
  Cross-shaped pendants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
  Stone pendants? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
  Elongated pendants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
   Pendants with a triquetra motif . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
12. Concluding remarks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120

CHAPTER 4: Synthesis and conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121

  1. Types of Scandinavian amulets in Viking Age Poland. A summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
  2. Other signals of pre-Christian Scandinavian beliefs in Poland . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
  3. Scandinavian vs West Slavic amulets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
  4. Future research possibilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
CATALOGUE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
STRESZCZENIE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
BIBLIOGRAPHY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149

7
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This book is the final outcome of a research project
entitled ‘Viking Age Amulets in Poland’ which I conducted
in  2014. Its initial part was generously funded by  the
Viking Society for Northern Research whose Research
Support Fund allowed me to travel to Elbląg, Szczecin
and Wolin to  examine and document a  broad range
of  Scandinavian amulets discovered in  the territory
of Poland. The two research trips (the first to Elbląg and
the second to  Szczecin and Wolin) were undertaken
in February and August 2014.
My  first research trip to  Elbląg was intended
to  examine Viking Age amulets from the important
port of  trade known as  Truso. During my  stay at  the
Archaeological and Historical Museum in  Elbląg, Dr.
Marek Jagodziński has kindly granted me unrestricted
access to  their archaeological collections for which
I  am  deeply grateful. The opportunity to  see the
Truso finds and to  discuss my  preliminary ideas and
interpretations with the discoverer of this remarkable site
was a truly exciting and unforgettable experience. While
working in Elbląg, I also received kind help from Justyna
Duda who assisted me in finding archival reports and
important unpublished information about the particular
finds from Truso.
My second research trip involved examining Viking
Age amulets from the past and recent excavations
in Wolin, many of which are now kept at the Institute
of Archaeology and Ethnology of the Polish Academy
of Sciences in Szczecin (Centre for Medieval Archaeology
of the Baltic Region). I wish to express my warm thanks
to Professor Marian Rębkowski and especially Dr. Andrzej
Janowski for giving me the permission to access their
collections and their kind and friendly support during
my stay in Szczecin.
The main parts of  this book were written during
a  Postdoctoral Research Stay at  the University
of Bonn, which was funded by the DAAD (Deutscher
Akademischer Austauschdienst) between July and October
2014. I  was fortunate to  work closely with Professor
Rudolf Simek and to present my ongoing research during
several academic seminars organized at the Department
of Scandinavian Languages and Literatures (Abteilung
für Skandinavische Sprachen und Literaturen). I am very
grateful for constructive criticism and encouragement
that I received from Professor Simek and other members
and students of the Department.
I  am  also indebted to  Dr. Marek Jagodziński, Dr.
Andrzej Janowski, Kamil Kajkowski, Klaudia Karpińska,
Professor Andrzej Rozwałka and Dr. Jerzy Sikora for
their guidance, valuable comments and constructive
critique which helped me to improve the final version
of my manuscript. Any faults are of course mine alone.
Special thanks are also due to  Marie Brinch, Dr.
Michaela Helmbrecht, Professor Władysław Łosiński,
Dr. Błażej Stanisławski and Jacek Wrzesiński for granting
me  the permission to  reproduce images from their
research and publications and to Karolina Michałowska
for preparing high resolution plates for the present
monograph.
I  would also like to  express my  warmest thanks
to  Professor Sylwester Czopek from the Institute
of Archaeology at the University of Rzeszów for accepting
this volume for publication in  the series Collectio
Archeologica Ressoviensis. Magdalena Rzucek always
offered invaluable assistance in  acquiring and lending
books at  our Institute’s Library for which she has
my heartfelt thanks. I also appreciate the kind support
of Fundacja Rzeszowskiego Ośrodka Archeologicznego
and its director Joanna Berdowska for generously
financing the printing of this book. Special thanks to my
parents, Barbara and Roman Gardeła for their great help
during the last stages of preparing the final draft.
The book is  dedicated to  Mira Fricke. I  hope that
while reading it, she will recall the warm spring day when
we first met in Munich…
Leszek Gardeła
Bonn-Poznań-Rzeszów, 1.06.2015
9
 PREFACE
The main aim of  this study is  to critically review
the full corpus of  Viking Age Scandinavian amulets
discovered in the territory of Poland. While the different
types of amulets and their thorough analysis form the
core of this book, the author’s intention was also to set
them against a wider context of Viking Age Poland and
present some critical observations on past and present
research on Scandinavian-Slavic interactions in the period
between the 9th and 11th century AD.
The opening chapter gives an  overview of  the last
160 years of  studies on  the presence of  Viking Age
Scandinavians in  the territory of  Poland. It  begins
by  reviewing a  range of  works by  some of  the most
famous 19th century enthusiasts of Scandinavian history
and archaeology, who expressed their fascinations with the
North in their art, literature and academic publications (e.g
Henryk Siemiradzki, Juliusz Słowacki, Karol Szajnocha
and others). Further sections of Chapter 1 present the
gradual development of  Viking studies in  the early
20th century. This is  followed by  a  critical assessment
of a wide spectrum of past and recent discoveries of actual
or  assumed Scandinavian-style artefacts from various
sites in Poland.
Chapter 2 focuses on  the long history of  research
on Viking Age amulets in Scandinavia (and elsewhere
in  the Viking world) and briefly discusses their most
distinctive types. It  also explores a  range of  previous
interpretations of  such artefacts and examines the
different methodological problems which amulet studies
continue to evoke. Particular attention is devoted to the
issue of  identifying such finds and providing their
accurate definition. In  addition, Chapter 2 discusses
the Scandinavian-style amulets in the broader context
of  pre-Christian beliefs and examines how they may
have functioned in Norse societies. Some attention is also
devoted to  ways of  producing, wearing and carrying
amulets and their role in funerary practices.
Chapter 3 lies at  the core of  this book and offers
a thorough analysis and interpretation of all Scandinavian
amulets discovered in  Poland. These are divided into
a range of distinctive types and each of them is set within
a wider context of similar artefacts from the Viking world.
The last chapter summarises the discussions presented
in this book, provides a range of critical comments on the
confluences and discrepancies between Scandinavian and
distinctively Slavic amulets and offers a range of ideas for
further research in the field of Viking studies in Poland.
At  the end of  the present monograph the readers
will find a  Catalogue including a  handlist of  all
Scandinavian amulets discovered in Poland supplemented
with additional information about their find context,
measurements, weight and decoration. The book is richly
illustrated with full colour photographs of the finds, most
of which were taken by the author in 2014 and 2015.
Some preliminary ideas on Viking Age amulets from
Poland were previously published in two articles written
by  the author of  this monograph in  Polish (Gardeła
2014d; in press a) and presented at conferences in Wolin,
Elbląg and Wrocław. This book, however, expands these
ideas considerably and sets the archaeological material
in a much wider perspective.