Viking glass bead Novgorod

Product description

The glass bead is a replica of a bead found during excavations in Novgorod. The original dates back to the Viking Age. The bead is quite large and crafted from green glass with eye patterns. In the 9th century, Novgorod was a thriving trading centre along an important Varangian (the medieval term for Viking) trade route between Scandinavia and Greece. The city was bustling with life as merchants exchanged exotic fabrics, metals, wines, and amber from the Mediterranean for the luxurious ermine, sable, and marten furs for which Novgorod was famous. However, it was a lawless place with frequent conflicts between Novgorod and neighbouring communities. To restore order, the Novgorodians invited the powerful Varangian leader Prince Rurik to establish a fair and just government. Rurik accepted and travelled from Scandinavia in 862 to take control of the city. After his death in 879, his kinsman Oleg took power, expanding the realm by conquering territories as far as present-day St. Petersburg and more than 1,000 km south to Kiev, uniting the surrounding Slavic and Finnic tribes into the Kievan Rus state.

These glass beads are handmade using the same technique the Vikings employed: melting glass on a metal rod to form beads. They are well-suited to reenactment, living history, and Viking archaeology enthusiasts. With these beads, you can create your own Viking necklace. Mix & match them with other beads and pendants from our collection to create a distinctive piece of jewellery.

Viking necklaces were crafted from various materials and served not only as decoration but also as a status symbol and spiritual object. They could contain unique elements and were closely linked to magic, rituals, and identity, as seen in stories about the Brísing necklace and saints such as Genevieve and Bathild. Archaeological findings show that necklaces could carry both pagan and Christian symbolism and were often associated with ritual specialists, such as the v?lur, who may have utilised them in seiðr magic. Research into necklace assemblages and graves with magical objects suggests that necklaces played an important role in spiritual and ritual practices within Viking culture.