Vikings in Canada, part 3

More notes on my trip to the ROM

An ivory crozer. Sorry, but this is the clearest image I manage to take of it. It was about the size of my hand and was a carved dragon. By biggest complaint of the exhibit was that there was a lot of generic information about the Norse, but the items only had a brief description. This piece didn't list where it was found. A bishop would have carried this, but this isn't the ivory crozer found in Greenland.

Another drinking horn. The silver end piece is original; the horn is modern. 

A horse's harness. The leather is modern, the metal bits are original. 

 Little copper studs, each about the size of a stamp.

Silver pendants and pins. 

Some kind of game set. The board is modern. Not a hnefatafl set. I couldn't get close enough to that to get a picture. Although it could be hnefatafl. The clay tokens appear to be two different shades and the center piece is distinct from the rest. The set was listed as an "unknown game set".

The remains of a sword with a brass plated pommel. 

One of several rune stones scattered around the exhibit. Reproductions. 

An actual Ulfberht sword. One of the few that still exists. I had read about these blades, and watched a Nova documentary about them. I never thought that I would ever see one in person, let alone stick my nose two inches away from one.

A close up of the same blade. The sign was lined up with the lettering on the blade, but I am unable to see the letters, even when I zoom in on the image. 

This was not at the ROM, but this is a better example of a Ulfberht. This is the Ballinderry Sword in Dublin. But you can clearly see the inlaid lettering.  

The first known piece of German technology in Ireland dates to the mid-9th century. It is a superb sword marked with the name of its maker Ulfberht. The Vikings, who  had a huge impact on Irish history, bought blades from high quality workshops in  the Rhineland. Ulfberht was the brand name of a master whose blades have been  found as far east as Russia and as far west as the lake dwelling in Ballinderry, County Westmeath where this sword was found in 1928. His name had such prestige that there is even evidence of cheaper copies pretending to be Ulfberht originals: an early example of brand piracy.The Ballinderry sword is one of Ulfberht’s finest. It tells us a lot about the mixing of cultures: the blade is German, the hilt and pommel are Scandinavian and the whole thing belonged to an Irish chieftain. He acquired it, possibly in battle but more probably through trade with Viking Dublin. It suggests that the newcomers created a kind of arms race among the native Irish. This was, quite literally, cutting-edge technology and the Irish, not for the last time, had to adapt to it.
The National Museum of Ireland – Archaeology

And finally, for this post, a spoon head. Made of horn: the handle lost in time. 

A well behaved cat

Look, he's not helping.

Meet Deckster. My new housemate. I've had him for the last week, and this evening I sat down to work on some scrolls. Deckster didn't try to help. He sat next to me and napped. He didn't stick his nose into the paint. He didn't go after the brush. He didn't sit on the paper. He just kept me company. 

What a nice cat. I didn't do scribal when I last lived with a cat and I've heard of "horror" stories from my friends relating to their cats and their scribal work (paw prints, spilled water, fur). Mistress Ekat told me that one of her cats ruined my peerage scroll that she (Ekat) was working on. Deckster doesn't appear to be interested in anything other than company and my body heat; as long as I sit still.

Vikings in Canada, part 2

More notes on my trip to the ROM

Silver broach pins, about 3 inches long: from the previous post. Here is a clearer image of the detail work. The detail is so fine, it can't really be seen except up close. Why is it that so many people think that "barbarians" only destroyed? This was the main theme of the exhibit: the arts and crafts of the Norse.

A small box, about 3 inches in diameter. Silver and gold. Look at the knotwork. That is the nice thing about camera phones, a 14Mp camera can pick up a lot of detail: more than one's eye can see from a few inches away from the object.

A spear head. The wooden shaft long since rotted away. Just a little touch of art behind the blade. It serves no purpose towards the use of the spear (except maybe to identify it as belonging to one person if it is thrown or dropped in combat). 

A small, silver cross; about 2 inches in diameter. I don't plan on posted every picture I took, just a selection. I've been in the SCA for some 35 years and I've seen my share of mass produced and hand made copies of similar items, but to be able to press my nose against the glass mere inches away from actual artifacts made me feel like a 5 year old. And speaking of 5 year olds: my inner 5 year old was allowed to run free in the dinosaur wing.

Vikings in Canada

Notes on my trip to the ROM

Sunday I took a trip, with friends, up to the wild, winter, wasteland that is Canada to the Royal Ontario Museum to visit their Viking exhibition. It's running, at the ROM, only until April 2nd. I highly recommend that if you can get to Toronto, go see this exhibition.

We took a lovely trip via the Go Train to Union station.

They don't make building like this, anymore. This isn't the museum, this is the train station in Toronto. We had a nice lunch and then we headed out to the ROM, stopped only by an unexpected St. Patrick's Day parade. Complete with DeLoreans.

And a short cut through the University of Toronto.

Finally, we made it to the ROM and walked down the "Stairs of Wonder" to see the Vikings.

Silver pedants, about 1 inch in size. My only complaints with the exhibit was 1) it was crowded (but I didn't shove anyone out of my way) and 2) very little information was listed for each item. Most of the items on display (95%) were original. The copies were plainly labeled as modern. They had two boats (copies) on display; neither of which I took a picture of. One was a 4 man row boat and the other was a 32 foot masted boat. Both was very nicely made.

Belt. The leather is modern, but the fittings are original. I am impressed with the construction: the ring (center of the image) connects the length of the belt with a shorter section of leather that is the tongue of the belt. What a great idea. If you rip apart the tongue, you just need to replace a short bit of leather.The buckle is on the far right-hand side: I didn't take a clear picture of the buckle.

Drinking horn. The silver is original, the horn is modern.

A ceramic pot. I might use the pattern as a border for a scroll.

Silver broach pins, about 3 inches long. Look at the detail work on them. I am impressed not only by the work, but that these have managed to survive 1000 years without breaking or being melted down.

Look! Forks! Now, these are not table forks, they are cooking forks, or "flesh hooks". And they are designed with the right-angle bend. They aren't like a carving fork, which is used with the hand right-above, or at a slight angle above the thing you wish to carve. And they aren't designed to stab say a port loin cooking in a pot like a kitchen fork. They were attached to long handles, to keep one's hands away from the fire, and they were at a right-angle so that the cook could reach under meat and lift it up like a hand. The smallest one (above) is about two inches long; my guess would be for small game or birds.

This will be part 1 as I have a lot more pictures to go through. Including diosaurs.