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Brooches
Clasps and brooches were often lavishly decorated. But they weren’t just
for show. All Vikings wore brooches to hold their clothes in place. Women
usually had two oval brooches to fasten their overdresses. Men held their
cloaks together with a single brooch on the right shoulder. In this way, the
right arm—the sword arm—was always free. Certain styles, such as oval and
trefoil brooches, were popular all over the Viking world. Others, like the box
brooches from Gotland, were only fashionable in certain areas.
One of four squatting human
figures made of goldSide view of bronze
box brooch from
GotlandHeads covered
in goldBeardLong
mustacheHairEarsTin-coated
ring and pinMEN’S HEADS
The tips of this brooch
from Høm in Denmark
are decorated with three
men’s heads. Each face
has staring eyes, a neat
beard, and a long
mustache. Brooches
like this were first
made in the British Isles.
The Vikings liked them
so much they made
their own.Long pin would have been
stuck t hrough t he cloakURNES AGAIN
The Urnes art style featured a snaky
animal twisting and turning in dynamic
coils (p. 36) It was the most popular
decoration for 11th-century brooches, like
this bronze one from Roskilde, Denmark.Head of
slender animalBronze pin, possibly from a brooch, in
Irish style but found in NorwayTHE PITNEY BROOCH
The Urnes art style was very popular in England and
Ireland during the reign of Cnut the Great (1016–35).
This beautiful gold brooch in the Urnes style was
found at Pitney in Somerset, England.GRIPPING BEASTS
Four gripping beasts (p. 37) writhe
across this silver brooch made in
Denmark. It was found at the site of
Nonnebakken, one of the great Viking
forts (pp. 22–23).BOX BROOCH
Box brooches were shaped like drums.
The magnificent brooch on the left comes from
Mårtens on the island of Gotland, Sweden.
A very wealthy woman wore it to fasten her
cloak. The base is made of cast bronze, but the
surface glitters with gold and silver.Top view of Mårtens
box broochHead of
gripping
beast
Front view Back viewSHAPED LIKE CLOVER LEAVES
Trefoil brooches have three lobes. In the 9th and 10th centuries,
women wore them to fasten their shawls. The finest ones were
made of highly decorated gold and silver. Poorer women had
simpler brooches, mass-produced in bronze or pewter. The trefoil
style was borrowed from the Carolingian Empire to the south of
Scandinavia, in what is now France and Germany.