field and the body curves up below (exceptionally above) the mask to a hip at the
opposite side of the field. The legs are produced from the hip and some of the feet grip
either the border of the field or another part of the animal’s body. The Borre animal
differs from the gripping beast of the preceding style in that it forms a single articulated
creature and tends to be symmetrical within the field. The third Borre-style motif is an
animal (normally standing alone in a field) seen from the side (Figure 24. 3 c). Although
formalised, it is of more-or-less naturalistic proportions, its head frequently bent back-
wards; the hips are spiraliform, and the feet sometimes grip the border of the field. This
motif is occasionally treated three-dimensionally. The style probably originated in met-
alwork: the metalworkers’ interpretation of the style being developed in precious metal,
the transverse nicks on base metal objects imitate gold or silver filigree. The style is
widely diffused in the British Isles, where it was adapted enthusiastically in stone
sculpture and to a lesser extent in metalwork (Bailey 1980 : 54 – 5 ; Wilson 1976 , 1983 ),
and in the metalwork in the Swedish settlements and graves of Russia (e.g. Roesdahl and
Wilson 1992 : 307 , nos 301 , 304 , 305 , 307 , 310 ).
Dates for the Borre style depend almost entirely on coin hoards. A mid-ninth-century
date for the beginning of the style might be suggested on the basis of the hoard from
Hoen, Norway (Horn Fuglesang and Wilson 2006 ), and it is reasonable to allow for the
production of the Borre style for more than a century after 850 , as objects decorated in
the style are found in the late tenth-century circular fortresses in Denmark. Danish coin
hoards provide an acceptable chronological series for the first three-quarters of the tenth
century (Wilson and Klindt-Jensen 1966 : 92 – 3 ).
ab c
Figure 24. 3 Bronze harness-mounts from Vestfold, Norway. Scale 1 : 1.
© 3 a Eva Wilson; b and c after Brøgger ( 1916 ).–– chapter 24: The development of Viking art––