Vindelev Hoard
The Vindelev Hoard was discovered in 2020 in a field in Vindelev in Denmark, around eight kilometers northeast of Jelling in the east of Jutland. The hoard from the Germanic Iron Age consists of a total of 23 finds from the Migration Period between the 5th and 6th centuries. These include four Roman coins, sixteen medals stamped on one side from sheet gold, bracteates, some of which are unusually large with a diameter of almost 14 cm, and the golden fittings of a sword scabbard. The finds are significant not only because of their size and high quality workmanship, but also because they may be the earliest known mention of the Norse god Odin.
Discovery
The treasure was found in December 2020 by prospector Ole Ginnerup Schytz in a field in Vindelev, about eight kilometers northeast of Jelling in the Danish region of Jutland. The pieces were only about ten centimeters below the surface, i.e. in the plough layer. Nevertheless, the majority of the finds were located within two areas only four meters apart, so it can be assumed that the find site was close to the dumping site. Only three particularly large gold discs had been transported further by plowing and damaged in the process. One bracteate had been torn into three pieces, which were found 90 meters apart. The total weight of the recovered and cleaned objects was 794 grams. The ensemble is of exceptional archaeological importance. The bracteates from Vindelev are unusually large, and their craftsmanship is of a very high quality.During a follow-up excavation in March 2021, a gilded piece of hardware was found at some distance from the previous finds, which was assigned to the Nydam style. Excavations at the site of the find by archaeologists from the Vejlemuseum in late summer 2021 brought to light pottery shards, some glass fragments, remains of silver fibulae and around 840 postholes, which can be assigned to several buildings. Examination of the soil adhering to the finds and the postholes using radiocarbon dating revealed that both dated to the same period, indicating that the treasure was located within a northwest–southeast oriented longhouse surrounded by other, smaller houses. According to archaeologists, this was a princely residence with the hall of the prince in the middle.
Description
The treasure contains a total of 23 finds, which are labeled X1 to X23 in the literature. In addition to four Roman coins and sixteen gold bracteates, some of which are unusually large with a diameter of almost 14 cm, the gold fittings of a scabbard were also found. The bracteates and the Roman solidi each have a decorative edge and in some cases magnificently decorated eyelets so that they could be used as pendants.Nine of the bracteates are A-type bracteates, which show one or, more rarely, two male busts in profile. Five bracteates belong to the C-type, in which a horse and sometimes other animals or figures are depicted next to or below the male bust. Most of the bracteates have runic inscriptions, although these have only been partially interpreted to date.
The bracteates are exceptionally large. Together, the thirteen pieces weigh 576 g, as much as a hundred bracteates from earlier finds. At almost 14 cm in diameter, X10 is the largest known bracteate and four more of the Vindelever bracteates, X17, X20, X9 and X19, are among the ten largest specimens ever found. The central images, which have the same diameter of around 3 cm as previously known comparable pieces, are often surrounded by several concentric rows of stamped, sometimes figurative decorations. The eyelets are also consistently more splendid and produced with more elaborate goldsmithing than on almost all other comparable pieces found to date.
The damage to some of the finds is due to the fact that the deposition site was later ploughed, crushing the thin gold discs lying just below the surface. The largest bracteates, on the other hand, had been rolled up or folded before deposition. Unprofessional repairs, some with soldered patches, some with riveted fittings, on several bracteates indicate damage during the period of use.
To avoid having to unfold the bracteates, they were scanned at the 3D Imaging Center of Danmarks Tekniske Universitet using computer tomography and the resulting data was used to digitally unfold and make them legible.
Roman coins
The four Roman coins show the emperors Constantine I, Constans, Valentinian I and Gratian. The solidus of Constans in particular is heavily worn, which indicates that the coins were used for a longer period of time before being reworked into a medallion. The coins of Constantine, Constans, and Gratian were minted in Trier, while those of Valentinian were minted in Thessaloniki. All four coins were framed with a decorative edge and fitted with eyelets so that they could be worn as pendants. The use of Roman coins as pendants is also known from other finds, such as the Brangstrup hoard with a total of 48 Roman gold coins, several of which had been pierced and presumably served as necklaces. What is special about the Vindelev hoard is that, for the first time in Scandinavia, it contained several Roman coins that had been artfully reworked into a pendant. It is also the first find in which Roman gold coins and bracteates reworked into pendants were found at the same site.In 2024, the archaeologist Helle Horsnæs discovered that the decorative loop of the Valentinian solidus is almost identical to that of a stem-identical coin of Valentinian, also reworked, which belongs to a hoard of Roman coins, jewelry and some bracteates found in Zagorzyn in Poland. She concluded that both coins were reworked into pendants in the same workshop outside the Roman Empire.
''Houaʀ''-Bracteate
The central image of bracteate X4 shows a long-haired man with a tiara and neck ring reminiscent of the Roman imperial crown, a four-legged animal, presumably a horse, with semicircular antlers or horns and decorated bands around its neck and belly, and a bird with a curved beak. This form of bracteate belongs to the C2 family of forms.An inscription in the Elder Futhark in the Proto-Norse language runs along the edge. The inscription possibly contains early evidence of Norse mythology: the word in front of the horse's head is transcribed by some researchers as houaʀ or houaz. The different transcription is due to the sound shift of the rune ᛉ from z to an /r/ sound, which, in contrast to ᚱ, r, is transcribed as small capitals. The interpretation as "the high one" possibly refers to Odin, who was given this epithet in later centuries. This could support Karl Hauck's theory that the crowned men on the bracteates represent gods, particularly Odin.
The runologist Lisbeth Imer and the linguist Krister Vasshus, on the other hand, interpret these runes as horaz, which means beloved, and could also refer to a person or a horse. The equivalent transcription horaʀ was already proposed in 2001 for a very similar specimen from a find on Funen. This bracteate, discovered as early as 1689, is referred to in research as IK 58 and shows an almost identical central image and the same runes.
Two further words are read as the formulaic word alu and laþu, "invitation" or, according to Hauck, "citation" in the sense of summoning a deity, and possibly refer to a fertility ritual. The other runes do not produce any meaningful words; they are possibly magical word formations.
The lost Vadstena bracteate and the bracteate IK 377.2 found in Mariedam, which is identical to it, also have the same combination of images, although the Mariedam bracteate contains no text, while the runic text of the Vadstena bracteate, which is separated from the central image by a ring, cannot be deciphered and is regarded as a letter and alphabet spell.
Wodan/Odin inscription
The bracteate X13, which belongs to the C3 type, shows a swastika and an open neck ring next to the head depicted in profile with a tiara and long braid. A horse is depicted below the head. A bracteate cataloged as IK 31 Bolbro -C from a hoard found in 1852 in Bolbro on the outskirts of Odense was made with the same mold, but its runic inscription surrounding the depiction is illegible.File:Vindelev bracteate x13 with runes.jpg|thumb|Detail of X13 with head, horse, torques, runic inscription, and swastika
Imer and Vasshus deciphered the text in 2023. According to this, the Norse text begins with the word hostiōz, a loanword from the Latin hostia, which can be interpreted as a sacrificial animal. The following runic sequences are related to hunting, which means that the depiction could be interpreted as a hunting scene.
Imer and Vasshus read the last part of the inscription as iz Wōdnas weraz. According to Imer, this is the oldest mention of the god Wodan/Odin and before the inscription on the Nordendorf I fibula, which dates to the 6th century. The name of the person referred to as "Wodan/Odin's man" is read as "Jaga". Imer and Vasshus see this as evidence that the people depicted on the bracteates are humans and not gods. This interpretation contradicts Hauck's interpretation, which is widely accepted by researchers, who saw in the depiction of man and horse on the C-bracteates the healing of the Balder foal by Odin described in the Second Merseburg Charm.
Bracteates with twin heads
At 123.7 g and a diameter of 13.8 cm, the disc marked X10 is the world's largest gold bracteate found to date. The pendant and eyelet are artistically designed in filigree work. As the thin gold disc is rolled up and crushed, the motif in the middle, presumably two men's heads, is not fully visible. Ornaments and small heads applied with stamps are arranged in several concentric rows around the center.The bracteate X20, broken into three pieces and measuring 11.4 cm in diameter and weighing a total of 74.83 g, shows a similar motif and is also of impressive size. The central image shows two identical busts in profile, adorned with a tiara, looking in the same direction and wearing cloaks held together by fibulae on one shoulder. A triskelion floats between their heads. The center of X20 is also surrounded by several concentric rows of stamped ornaments, including a row of horse heads and a snake.
Similar bracteates with twin heads and triskele are known from Gudme, where they are dated to the 5th century. Researchers classify them as A4 bracteates. Whether they are twin deities or royal brothers, as mentioned by ancient and early medieval writers for various Germanic peoples, has not yet been clarified. The horse heads on X20 could refer to horse deities such as the Dioscuri.