Viking Art

Viking Art

1. Animals involved in art

   • Germanic Animal Ornament
     • Inspired by Late Roman metalwork
     • Originates in Denmark in the late 5th century
       • Popular throughout the Germanic world by the 7th century
     • Visigothic gold eagle fibulae with garnet, amethyst, and cloisonne inlays, 6th c AD
   • Balsfjord rock carvings, Norway, c. 3000-4000 BC
   • Reindeer Petroglyph, Bøla, Norway, c. 3000 BC
     • animal as an important part of life, might be believed to have magical power for a good hunt or spirit guides in Shamanic form
   • Late Roman Belt Buckle, 4th c AD
     • center with ordered geometric patterns of nature
       • centralized power, orderedness
     • edges with animal figures--> barbarians tribes
   • Germanic Animal-Style Belt Buckle, interred as Sutton Hoo, England, c. 620
     • animal figures moved into the center
       • reflects situation in the world of "barbarians" taking over
   • "Tier Salat"/"Animal Salad"
     • according to German art historian Gunther Haseloff
     • scatter pieces representing animal parts
       • reflects the condition of the time--> chaotic and unclear what's going on
   • Ribbon Animals
     • Germanic animal ornament is characterized specifically by depictions of ribbon-like animals with bodies that inter;ace with other animal bodies
       • many are fantastical animals

2. Use of Frameworks

   • "Gripping Beasts"
     • relates to the idea of tying ships together in battle and not deserting one's fellow
     • Gripping Beasts on Steinsvik Sword Hilt, c. 900 AD
   • gaining control and order
   • Bronze ornament mounted on a purse, c. 800 AD
   • 10th century, cast silver open-work pendant with a Borre-style design of a gripping beast inside a frame further decorated with four protruding animal heads. Found in Norfolk, England

3. Missing Viking Art

   • most only art in durable media survived
   • little survives of painting on wood, but skaldic verse described such from (elaborately painted shields)
   • the Oseberg tapestry indicates that weaving was and important art form, too

4. Most Viking Art is "applied art" or "decorative art" rather than "fine art" or "art for art's sake"

5. Vikings in the Popular Imagination

   • iconic image associated with Vikings
     • long ship
       • heroic exploration-->image of ability to explore under limited conditions
     • horned helmet
       • fearsome warrior, likely an invention based on the beast like image of Vikings
         • Richard Wagner's Ring Cycle, Premiere in Bayreuth, 1876--> possible source of horned helmet
     • Elisabeth I. Ward, “Reflections on an Icon: Vikings in American Culture”
   • Sagas & Eddas
     • 13th Century Fascination with Vikings
   • Viking Renaissance
     • 17th Century- after adopting European culture and modern languages, reviving old traditions- translate Eddas and Sagas into Danish and Latin
   • Romantic Nationalism
     • 18th Century-Eddas and Sagas translated into French, English, & German as part of Romantic Nationalist movement to establish Scandinavia's (and all Germanic nations') "glorious past." Vikings come to represent Heroic Age of Germanic peoples
       • desired to be taken more seriously on a world stage-->commemorate glorious past when they had wielded the most power among European nations
     • Thor’s Battle with the Giants by Mårten Eskil Winge, 1872
       • techniques the same as the ones used to depict Geek gods, Geek ideal image, lost some vikingness
   • modern influences
     • "The Skeleton in Armor"
       • body found buried at nearby Fall River, Massachusetts, 1841
         • believed to be a viking warrior by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, who wrote the poem
           • in the poem, the skeleton haunt the poet, wish to be remembered
             • link to the Skald tradition
     • Nazi Viking
       • try to use viking symbols to convince the Danes to unite with the Germans to become the "modern vikings"
         • Nazi SS Panzer Division "Viking" was composed of foreign volunteers from Scandinavia and the Baltic countries
           • strong resistance movements
     • American depiction
       • Dir. Friz Freleng for Warner Brothers, 1945- "Herr meets Hare"
         • WWII themed cartoon, mock Germany's Nazism
       • "What's Opera, Doc?" 1957, Dir. Chuck Jones
         • American egalitarian rejection of romantic nationalism, mockery of taking it too seriously
       • The Vikings, 1958, Dir. Richard Fleischer
         • based on the 1951 novel The Viking by Edison Marshall, which in turn is based on material from the sagas of Ragnar Lodbrok and his sons
         • Viking merciless and pride in death on battle field by taking a sword in their hand
       • The Mighty Thor
         • role as savior of the Earth and Asgard, both capable and vulnerable
           • reflect America in the Cold War as the most powerful nation in the world wish to lead the world but anxious, arm race
       • Viking Mission to Mars, named in 1966
         • named in 1966, when Viking settlement discovered in Newfoundland, confirming pre-Columbian Viking exploration of New World, launched in 1976
           • pushing the last frontier in the new time