Pendant

Silver 'Thor’s hammer pendant'. The loop has a bird of prey face with pronounced beak, slightly protruding eyes and pronounced eyebrows. The forehead is decorated in filigree which transitions into two lying S-shaped arcs. The sides are covered by small, open circles which continue down over the shaft and hammerhead. The surface of the hammerhead and shaft have swirl decoration in combination with more sparse filigree ornamentation. Lower down on the shaft there is a recess which indicates an inlaid stone of glass or other material. The back of the pendant is smooth, but somewhat sunken. The pendant is a stray find from Skåne, which is one reason why it is sometimes called the 'Skåne hammer ". We do not know how it was found, but other Thor's hammer pendants were part of hoards, in other words not grave finds. We do not know who wore them or in what circumstances. They were probably made in southern Scandinavia or perhaps northern Germany. Other precious metal jewellery with similar bird of prey heads has been found there.

Image rights: Ola Myrin, Historiska museet/SHM (CC BY 4.0)

Object number: 106659_HST

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