Glass Bead Necklace with Yggdrasil Pendant

Product description

This colourful bead necklace with a bronze pendant in the shape of the World Tree Yggdrasil is more than a piece of jewellery: in Viking times, necklaces like this were as much a status symbol and spiritual object as they were adornment.

The glass beads are inspired by archaeological finds from Hedeby, one of the most important trading settlements of the Viking age, where more than 7,000 beads and bead fragments in a wide variety of colours, shapes and patterns have been excavated. Research into Viking necklaces shows that they could carry both pagan and Christian symbolism and were often associated with ritual specialists such as the vǫlur, who may have used them in their seiðr magic, as also reflected in stories such as that of the Brísingamen necklace.

The bronze pendant depicts Yggdrasil, the evergreen ash tree that in Norse cosmology connects heaven, earth and the underworld and supports all nine worlds, a symbol of knowledge, life, transience and renewal. The beads and pendant are strung on an adjustable leather cord, ideal as an accessory to your Viking costume or as an atmospheric addition to your everyday wear.