terms during the period of the growth, maximum expansion and fall of the so-called
Danish North Sea Empire.
The ultimate phase of Viking Age art is named after the stave-church at Urnes, Sogn,
in western Norway (Figure 24. 6 ). The church was rebuilt in the twelfth century, but a
number of earlier timbers were used in its reconstruction, and it is these which give the
name to the style. Some of these timbers were decorated, namely the portal and door,
two planks now in the north wall of the church, the north-west corner post and the
gables at the east and west. The sculptor at Urnes used three basic motifs. First, a
standing quadruped; second, a snake-like animal with a single foreleg and a hindleg
which appears as a terminal foot, with a hip hinted at by an angular break in the curve of
the body; and, third, a thin interlacing or interpenetrating ribbon which terminates
either in an animal head or in a trefoil. The creatures are sinuous and curve gently, with
few breaks in the curves. The designs are rarely symmetrical. The animals tend to bite
each other and this ‘combat’ element, while not universal, is fairly general.
Some Urnes elements survive from earlier styles: the spiral hip, the lip lappet and the
pointed eye (which latter now nearly fills the whole head of the animal), for example.
The interlace is filament-like, and forms large, even, almost circular loops. The feet are
hardly emphasised, but the lip lappet is sometimes extended to form a tendril. The
heads are generally in profile; although some – particularly the secondary (often biting)
Figure 24. 6 Stone from Vang, Oppland, Norway. Height: 2. 15 m. After Wilson ( 1995 )–– David M. Wilson––