Torslunda plates
The Torslunda plates are four cast bronze dies found in the Torslunda parish on the Swedish island Öland. They display figures in relief, representing what are presumed to be traditional scenes from Germanic mythology. The plates are moulds designed for production rather than display; by placing thin sheets of foil against the scenes and hammering or otherwise applying pressure from the back, identical images could be quickly mass-produced. The resulting pressblech foils would be used to decorate rich helmets of the sort found at Vendel, Valsgärde, and Sutton Hoo. Two of the plates may have been made as casts of existing pressblech foils.
Discovery
The plates were discovered in a cairn in early 1870, and are in the collection of the Swedish [History Museum|Statens Historiska Museum]. Their fame derives from containing full scenes from mythology, unlike the fragmentary and degraded scraps of pressblech foils that are known. The plates have been exhibited internationally, including from 13 May to 26 June 1966, when they were part of the exhibition Swedish Gold at the British Museum. The plates have been dated to the Vendel Period of the 6th and 7th centuries.Description
Each plate contains a different mythological design, traditionally labeled:- Torslunda plate – "walking warriors carrying spears"
- Torslunda plate – "dancing man with horned head-dress and man with spear wearing wolfskin"
- Torslunda plate – "man with axe holding roped animal"
- Torslunda plate – "man between bears"