Celtic pendant boar Knocknagael, silvered bronze

Product description

The beautiful pendant is based on an engraved Pictish stone from Knocknagael. Germanic and Celtic tribes were deeply fond of wild boars. The tribes of the "eburones" and "eburovici" even have the Germanic word for boar within their name. Ebur is Old High German and means the boar. Personal names such as Ebbo, Eberhard, Ebroin, Eburgrim, Eburhelm, Eburroc, Eofor, Everhelm, Everman all carry the meaning of boar. The legendary Irish fighter Conan has been compared to a boar, and the Danish king Harald's curious nickname "fighting tooth" may well refer to the tusks of a wild boar. Pigs were amongst the principal livestock of the Celts and, according to certain Celtic legends on the island, are said to have come from the Other World. Particularly popular as grave goods for survival, they may also be found as standard symbols and the weapon of warriors (for example on Gundestrup's cauldron) and as decoration on torcs ("neck rings").