The Vikings have been making jewelry since the beginning of their time. They knew how to make both simple pieces of jewelry out of metal and things to decorate with that were beautifully made and designed.
Considering that viking jewelry was made more than a thousand years ago, it’s clear that the Vikings were the best at making jewelry.
Most Vikings liked to wear bracelets, which they also called armbands or arm rings. Unlike bracelets worn today, men wore this kind of jewelry most of the time. Different kinds of bracelets were made, and they were very important in Viking society.
Read on if you want to know why bracelets were so popular back then and what role they played in Viking society.
What were Viking bracelets used for?
No matter how they were made, there were three types of Viking bracelets: There were bracelets that were just for looks and bracelets that were made to sell.
Decorative
The bracelets, which had a lot of different designs and details on them, were everyday pieces of jewelry for the Vikings. Bronze and silver were used most often to make bracelets. During the Viking Age, gold was very valuable, but only the wealthy Vikings could buy it.
Most of the time, Viking bracelets were called arm rings because they looked just like rings but were made to fit the wrist. With their beautiful designs, decorative patterns, and carved animal figures, the arm rings helped give the Vikings a strong appearance.
When it comes to making arm rings, it’s interesting to know that they could be adjusted to fit any size wrist. So, it was easy to set the arm rings to the right width for the joint.
Commercial
The bracelets that were used as money were not very pretty. Still, they were very useful, and that was the most important thing. This means that it was simple to tear off a piece of the bracelet and use it to pay for something.
During the Viking Age, almost every man wore a bracelet made for trading. It was long enough to wrap around 90% of the hand and was worn for business.
Silver was mostly used to make bracelets that were only used to pay for things. In the Viking era, it was rare for the bracelets that people used as money to have details carved on them. Most of it was just thin ribbons of silver that were made to be easy to tear off of parts during the trade.
We know all of this because of the archaeological sites where many strips of precious metals that could be bent easily and were wound in a spiral were found.
The most common type of bracelet worn by Vikings was one that looked like an arm ring. It is thought that arm rings were one of the most common ways for Vikings to show how important and wealthy they were. But this piece of jewelry had a much more important role in Viking culture and society.
The Meaning of Arm Rings for The Viking People
Leaders and warriors of the Vikings used to swear to be loyal to each other until death. During this oath, leaders would usually give arm rings to their warriors as a way to bind them to the oath.
The exchange of arms rings made a bond that couldn’t be broken, and both sides made sure to keep it that way.
Most of the time, the oath with the arm rings was done when new warriors were being trained to make sure they would be loyal. Even though it seems like a small thing, loyalty was very important to the Vikings. Because of this, even a small act like giving arm rings was a very important thing to do.
Growing Up
Because of how hard life was and how often adult men were not around, male Viking children often had very important jobs to do in their communities.
Boys were important in Viking society because they would grow up to be men, leaders, and guardians of their communities.
When a boy became an adult, he was given an arm ring as a present. Giving boys arm rings was a very important part of Viking culture. From that moment on, the boy was gone, and in his place stood a man who could join his brothers in their quest for wealth and glory.
Sentimental Significance
The Vikings sometimes spent several months at sea as part of their way of life, which we’ve already talked about. So, Viking men might have been away from their families for a few months more than once a year.
Because of this, the Vikings often made arm rings with special markings and engravings for their wives as a sign of love. The arm rings, which were given to the wives as gifts, were a silent way for the husband to ask the wife to stay faithful until he could be with her again.
It’s clear that the bracelets meant a lot to the ancient Nordic people on an emotional level. But to fully understand why you need to know everything there is to know about Viking jewelry. You have to really understand and appreciate how the Vikings got the materials they needed to make jewelry in the first place.