Two Wolves Entwined: What did this Viking Ring Symbolize?

Ancient Origins

By ThorNews

In the autumn of 2015, a unique Viking Age spiral ring with two wolf heads was found in Goa in Randaberg, Western Norway. Does the ring show Odin’s two wolves, Geri and Freki – or is it the Fenris Wolf, symbolizing Ragnarok and the end of the world?

 Bjørn Tjelta, a member of Rygene Metal Detector Club, found the gilded silver ring in a field buried only 10 centimeters (4 in) down in the ground. It dates back to the period from year 900 to 1000 AD, measuring about 23 millimeters (0.9 in) in diameter.

The ring weighs 5.4 grams (0.2 oz) and has similarities with arm rings from the Viking Age and finger rings from the Middle Ages.

Similar to many people today, the Vikings feared wolves because they represented a real threat to people and livestock. The beast has thus been designated mythical attributes and plays a central role in Norse mythology.

Odin’s Two Wolves
Odin has several animals: a horse, two ravens, a pig and two wolves.

Odin’s eight-legged horse Sleipnir is the fastest of all horses, and it can run on land, on water, through the mountains and in the air. On each shoulder, Odin has his two ravens, Huginn and Muninn (“Thought” and “Memory”). They can see every movement down on earth and hear every sound. Nothing can be kept secret from Huginn and Muninn.

Silver figurine from Gammel Lejre: Odin on his high seat with his ravens and his wolves (Photo: National Museum of Denmark)

He also owns the pig Sæhrímnir providing food for all in Vallhalla. The pig is killed and eaten every night, and then resurrects the next day.

Odin’s two wolves, Geri (“Greedy”) and Freki (“Ferocious”) are, according to Norse mythology, lying at Odin’s feet and help him in war. If Odin is served food, he immediately sends it on to the wolves.

In 2009, a silver figurine was discovered during the excavation of Old Lejre in Denmark. The figurine is dated to about the year 900 AD and shows Odin sitting on his high seat Hlidskjalf surrounded by his ravens Huginn and Muninn. The decoration on the throne’s back displays the wolves Geri and Freki.

Was it a Viking warrior who wore the ring from Goa displaying Odin’s two wolfs, and could the ring provide magical protection in battle?

The Fenris Wolf
In Norse mythology, Fenris (Old Norse: Fenrisúlfr or Fenrir) is a monster wolf, son of Loki and Angrboða, “the one who brings grief”. It has two siblings, Hel and the Midgard Serpent, and two half-siblings, Nari and Váli.

Angerboda’s and Loki’s offspring: The Fenris Wolf, the Midgard Serpent and Hel – all having a central role during the events of Ragnarok. (Illustration: Willy Pogany, 1920).

In both the Poetic Edda and Prose Edda, the Fenris Wolf kills Odin during the Ragnarok, but is in the end killed by Odin’s son, Víðarr.

Does the ring from Goa symbolize the Fenris Wolf and Ragnarok, and that that the end of the world is near?

The answer to the question has unfortunately disappeared together with one of history’s most fascinating cultures.

Top image: What did this ring with two wolf heads symbolize to the Viking who wore it? (Photo: Lars Søgaard Sørensen, Rogaland County Municipality)

 The article, ‘ The Wolf Ring From Goa’ was originally published on ThorNews and has been republished with permission.

'For Allah' Inscription Found on Viking Era Ring

Rossella Lorenzi, Discovery News  
Live Science

The Viking Age ring with the Arabic inscription. Credit: Christer Åhlin/Swedish History Museum View full size image

Ancient tales about Viking expeditions to Islamic countries had some elements of truth, according to recent analysis of a ring recovered from a 9th century Swedish grave.
Featuring a pink-violet colored stone with an inscription that reads “for Allah” or “to Allah,” the silver ring was found during the 1872-1895 excavations of grave fields at the Viking age trading center of Birka, some 15.5 miles west of Stockholm.
It was recovered from a rectangular wooden coffin along with jewelry, brooches and remains of clothes. Although the skeleton was completely decomposed, the objects indicated it was a female burial dating to about 850 A.D.
The ring was cataloged at the Swedish History Museum in Stockholm as a signet ring consisting of gilded silver set with an amethyst inscribed with the word “Allah” in Arabic Kufic writing.
The object attracted the attention of an international team of researchers led by biophysicist Sebastian Wärmländer of Stockholm University.
“It’s the only ring with an Arabic inscription found in Scandinavia. We have a few other Arabic-style rings, but without inscriptions,” Wärmländer told Discovery News.
Video: Mythical Viking Sunstone is Real
Using a scanning electron microscope, the researchers discovered that the museum description wasn’t entirely correct.
“Our analysis shows that the studied ring consists of a high quality (94.5 percent) non-gilded silver alloy, set with a stone of colored soda-lime glass with an Arabic inscription reading some version of the word Allah,” Wärmländer and colleagues wrote in the journal Scanning.
Although the stone wasn’t an amethyst, as long presumed, it wasn’t necessarily a material of lower value.
“Colored glass was an exotic material in Viking Age Scandinavia,” Wärmländer said.
A closer inspection revealed the glass was engraved with early Kufic characters, consistent with the grave at Birka dating to around 850 A.D.
Mysterious Toe Rings Found on Ancient Skeletons
The researchers interpreted the inscription as “il-la-lah,” meaning “For/To Allah.” Alternative interpretations of the engraving are possible, and the letters could also be read as “INs…LLH” meaning “Inshallah” (God-willing).
“Most likely, we will never know the exact meaning behind the inscription, or where and why it was done,” the researchers wrote.
Viking ‘Hammer of Thor’ Unearthed
“For the present investigation, it is enough to note that its Arabic-Islamic nature clearly links the ring and the stone to the cultural sphere of the Caliphate,” they added.
Most interestingly, Wärmländer and colleagues noted the ring body is in mint condition.
“On this ring the filing marks are still present on the metal surface. This shows the jewel has never been much used, and indicates that it did not have many owners,” Wärmländer said.
In other words, the ring did not accidentally end up in Birka after being traded or exchanged between many different people.
“Instead, it must have passed from the Islamic silversmith who made it to the woman buried at Birka with few, if any, owners in between,” Wärmländer said.
Viking Women Colonized New Lands, Too
“Perhaps the woman herself was from the Islamic world, or perhaps a Swedish Viking got the ring, by trade or robbery, while visiting the Islamic Caliphate,” he added.
Either way, the ring constitutes evidence for direct interactions between the Vikings and the Islamic world, the researchers concluded.
“The Viking Sagas and Chronicles tell us of Viking expeditions to the Black and Caspian Seas, and beyond, but we don’t know what is fact and what is fiction in these stories,” Wärmländer said.
“The mint condition of the ring corroborates ancient tales about direct contacts between Viking Age Scandinavia and the Islamic world,” he said.
Originally published on Discovery News.