Friday, June 24, 2016

A Viking Woman’s Last Journey – ThorNews

A Viking Woman’s Last Journey

Boat Grave Viking Age WomanThis buried boat with a woman dating back to the early 800s documents the Viking women’s independence. (Photo: Møre and Romsdal County, Culture Department)
In 1910, there were conducted archaeological excavations of several burial mounds at Røttingsnes in Tingvoll, Western Norway. Two of the graves contained boats, one with a woman who presumably must have been the Mistress on the nearby farm.
The findings are dated to about the year 800 AD, i.e. the start of the Viking Age, and the grave is another evidence of Viking women’s strong position in pre-Christian Scandinavia.
Prominently placed on top of a rock ridge, there was found the remains of a five-meter long boat inside the burial mound. The woman was wearing a dress with two oval bronze buckles, a pearl necklace and a gold plated piece of jewelry. A bronze key was hanging from her belt.
On the last journey to the Afterlife, the dead brought with her iron scissors, whorls, a frying pan, a pan, knives and flint for starting fires.
The piece of jewelry probably originates from the British Isles. Much indicates that it was as a holy book fitting, perhaps from a Bible. It has probably been turned into a piece of jewelry after it was brought to Norway and may stem from looting a monastery or a church.

The Man’s Grave
Near the woman’s grave, there was found a smaller burial mound containing a boat. The dead was a man, and it was among other objects found the remains of a sword in a wooden sheath, a shield bulge, a buckle, a sickle, a possible awl, a gem made of brown slate stone, and three pieces of flint for starting fires.
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Boat Grave Viking Age Man
The man’s boat grave found next to the woman at Røttingsnes. (Photo: Møre and Romsdal County, Culture Department)
The boat originally was three to four meters long but was totally decomposed. There was also found remains of other iron objects, but they had been damaged that it is difficult to determine what they were used for.
It is logical to ask the question whether the man was the woman’s husband or not.
Viking Age Boat Graves
The burial custom where the deceased was laid in a boat started at the end of the early Iron Age (c. 550-650 AD) but was common during the Viking Age (c. 800-1060 AD).
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Boat Grave Viking Age Røttingnes Map
Map showing the Røttingsnes burial field. The woman’s grave is no. 5 on the map and the man’s grave no. 4. (Photo: Møre and Romsdal County, Culture Department)
It was only people who belonged to the elite who were buried with all their earthly goods in magnificent Viking longships like the Oseberg and the Gokstad ships, including horses, dogs, birds – and slaves.
The “average Viking” was buried with some of his or her belongings, while only a few free men and women could afford to be buried in a boat.
The Røttingsnes graves are examples of more modest boat graves. The distinction between “boat” and “ship” are usually set at a length of fifteen meters (49 feet).
Being buried in a ship or a boat was a status symbol for the dead and their families, and would bring them safely to Valhalla.
In the description of Baldr’s funeral in the Prose Edda, the Norse god gets a grand cremation in a boat that is put into the water.
The portrayal of the funeral may have been a model for burials in the Viking Age. It has many of the same elements, such as the procession, cremation, and the sacrifice of animals and objects.
If you want to read about the two elderly women buried inside the magnificent Oseberg ship, please go here.


A Viking Woman’s Last Journey – ThorNews

17 Passages From "Lord Of The Rings" Beautifully Recreated In Stained Glass

1. One Ring To Rule Them All

One Ring To Rule Them All
Three Rings for the Elven-kings under the sky,
Seven for the Dwarf-lords in halls of stone,
Nine for Mortal Men, doomed to die,
One for the Dark Lord on his dark throne
In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.
One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them,
One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them.
In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.




2. The Forest King

The Forest King
In a great hall with pillars hewn out of the living stone sat the Elvenking on a chair of carven wood. On his head was a crown of berries and red leaves, for the autumn was come again. In the spring he wore a crown of woodland flowers. In his hand he held a carven staff of oak
Via “The Hobbit” by http://J.R.R. Tolkien


3. The Shepherd Of The Forest
“Of course, it is likely enough, my friends,” he said slowly, “likely enough that we are going to our doom: the last march of the Ents. But if we stayed home and did nothing, doom would find us anyway, sooner or later. That thought has long been growing in our hearts; and that is why we are marching now. It was not a hasty resolve. Now at least the last march of the Ents may be worth a song.”
Via “

4. Bilbo Baggins Of Bagend

Bilbo Baggins Of Bagend
Bilbo Baggins was standing at his door after breakfast smoking an enormous long wooden pipe that reached nearly down to his woolly toes (neatly brushed)—Gandalf came by.
Via “The Hobbit” by http://J.R.R. Tolkien

5. Shelob The Great Spider

Shelob The Great Spider
But still she was there, who was there before Sauron, and before the first stone of Barad-dûr; and she served none but herself, drinking the blood of Elves and Men, bloated and grown fat with endless brooding on her feasts, weaving webs of shadow; for all living things were her food, and her vomit darkness.
Via “The Two Towers” by http://J.R.R. Tolkien

6. The Five Wizards

The Five Wizards
The first to come was one of noble mien and bearing, with raven hair, and a fair voice, and he was clad in white; great skill he had in works of hand, and he was regarded by well-nigh all, even by the Eldar, as the head of the Order. Others there were also: two clad in sea-blue, and one in earthen brown; and the last came one who seemed the least, less tall than the others, and in looks more aged, grey-haired and grey-clad, and leaning on a staff.
Via “The Book Of Unfinished Tales” by http://J.R.R. Tolkien

7. The Return Of The King

The Return Of The King
Then Frodo came forward and took the crown from Faramir and bore it to Gandalf; and Aragorn knelt, and Gandalf set the White Crown upon his head and said:
“Now come the days of the King, and may they be blessed while the thrones of the Valar endure!”
Via “The Return Of The King” by http://J.R.R. Tolkien

8. Sounding The Horn Of King’s Helm

Sounding The Horn Of King's Helm
“The day will bring hope for me,” said Aragorn. “Is it not said that no foe has ever taken the Hornburg, if men defended it?”
“So the minstrels say,” said Éomer.
“Then let us defend it, and hope!”
Via “The Two Towers” by http://J.R.R. Tolkien

9. Welcome From Lothlorien

Welcome From Lothlorien
On two chairs beneath the bole of the tree and canopied by a living bough there sat, side by side, Celeborn and Galadriel. Very tall they were, and the Lady no less tall than the Lord; and they were grave and beautiful. They were clad wholly in white; and the hair of the Lady was of deep gold, and the hair of the Lord Celeborn was of silver long and bright; but no sign of age was upon them, unless it were in the depths of their eyes; for these were keen as lances in the starlight, and yet profound, the wells of deep memory.
Via “The Fellowship Of The Ring” by http://J.R.R. Tolkien

10. Talking With Tom Bombadil

Talking With Tom Bombadil
“Fair lady!” said Frodo again after a while. “Tell me, if my asking does not seem foolish, who is Tom Bombadil?”
“He is,” said Goldberry, staying her swift movements and smiling. Frodo looked at her questioningly. “He is, as you have seen him,” she said in answer to his look. “He is the Master of wood, water, and hill.”Via “The Fellowship Of The Ring” by http://J.R.R. TolkienThe Two Towers” by http://J.R.R. Tolkien
To the sea, to the sea! The white gulls are crying,
The wind is blowing, and the white foam is flying.
West, west away, the round sun is falling, 
Grey ship, grey ship, do you hear them calling, 
The voices of my people that have gone before me? 
I will leave, I will leave the woods that bore me;
For our days are ending and our years failing.
I will pass the wide waters lonely sailing.
Long are the waves on the Last Shore falling,
Sweet are the voices in the Lost Isle calling,
In Eressea, in Elvenhome that no man can discover,
Where the leaves fall not: land of my people forever!
Via “The Return Of The King” by http://J.R.R. Tolkien
But no living man am I! You look upon a woman. Éowyn I am, Éomund’s daughter. You stand between me and my lord and kin. Begone, if you be not deathless! For living or dark undead, I will smite you, if you touch him.
Via “The Return Of The King” by http://J.R.R. Tolkien

13. Mines Of Moria

Mines Of Moria
The Balrog reached the bridge. Gandalf stood in the middle of the span, leaning on the staff in his left hand, but in his other hand Glamdring gleamed, cold and white. His enemy halted again, facing him, and the shadow about it reached out like two vast wings. It raised the whip, and the thongs whined and cracked. Fire came from its nostrils. But Gandalf stood firm.
“You cannot pass,” he said. The orcs stood still, and a dead silence fell. “I am a servant of the Secret Fire, wielder of the flame of Anor. You cannot pass. The dark fire will not avail you, flame of Udûn. Go back to the Shadow! You cannot pass.”
Via “The Fellowship Of The Ring” by http://J.R.R. Tolkien

14. Lament Of The Evening Star

Lament Of The Evening Star
But Arwen went forth from the House, and the light of her eyes was quenched, and it seemed to her people that she had become cold and grey as nightfall in winter that comes without a star. Then she said farewell to Eldarion, and to her daughters, and to all whom she had loved; and she went out from the city of Minas Tirith and passed away to the land of Lórien, and dwelt there alone under the fading trees until winter came. Galadriel had passed away and Celeborn also was gone, and the land was silent.
There at last when the mallorn-leaves were falling, but spring had not yet come, she laid herself to rest upon Cerin Amroth; and there is her green grave, until the world is changed, and all the days of her life are utterly forgotten by men that come after, and elanor and niphredil bloom no more east of the Sea.
Via Appendices to “The Lord Of The Rings” by http://J.R.R. Tolkien

15. Palace Of King Theoden

Palace Of King Theoden
“The wise speak only of what they know, Gríma son of Gálmód. A witless worm have you become. Therefore be silent, and keep your forked tongue behind your teeth. I have not passed through fire and death to bandy words with a serving-man till the lightning falls.” There was a roll of thunder. The sunlight became blotted out from the eastern windows; the whole hall became suddenly dark as night. The fire faded to sullen embers. Only Gandalf could be seen, standing white and tall before the blackened hearth.
Via “The Two Towers” by http://J.R.R. Tolkien

16. Gates Of Argonath

Gates Of Argonath
Upon great pedestals founded in the deep waters stood two great kings of stone: still with blurred eyes and crannied brows they frowned upon the North. The left hand of each was raised palm outwards in gesture of warning; in each right hand there was an axe; upon each head there was a crumbling helm and crown. Great power and majesty they still wore, the silent wardens of a long-vanished kingdom.
Via “The Fellowship Of The Ring” by http://J.R.R. Tolkien

17. Bilbo Baggins 111th Birthday

Bilbo Baggins 111th Birthday
“I wish to make an ANNOUNCEMENT.” He spoke this last word so loudly and suddenly that everyone sat up who still could. “I regret to announce that –
though, as I said, eleventy-one years is far too short a time to spend among you – this is the END. I am going. I am leaving NOW. GOOD-BYE!”
He stepped down and vanished. There was a blinding flash of light, and the guests all blinked. When they opened their eyes Bilbo was nowhere to be seen. One hundred and forty-four flabbergasted hobbits sat back speechless.
Via “The Fellowship Of The Ring” by http://J.R.R. Tolkien
17 Passages From "Lord Of The Rings" Beautifully Recreated In Stained Glass