Viking brooch Pitney, silvered bronze

Product description

The Viking brooch is a replica of an 11th-century original found in Pitney, England. The original is now part of the collection at the British Museum in London. The brooch is crafted in the Urnes style but also clearly features Anglo-Saxon elements. The Midgard Serpent is depicted upon the brooch.

Dragons were the mythical counterpart of serpents and were included amongst some of the earliest myths of modern humans. As humans spread across the world, so did dragon mythology. In many Indo-European cultures, dragons play a prominent role in their mythologies. In Germanic and later Viking mythology, dragons are seen as all-devouring monsters. Whilst they symbolise the evil beast that must be defeated by a hero, they also represent the destroyer archetype. These two archetypes—the destroyer and the hero's adversary—reinforce one another.