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.
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.
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