Benutzer:Lokis Tochter/Guldgubber

Guldgubber (Danish for "gold old men") are small gold foil figures depicting men, women and animals, whch are stamped in or cut out of gold sheet and found troughout of Scnadinavia that is Denmark, Sweden and Norway. They origin in the Younger Iron Age (400-800 a.D.) or elsewhere refered to as Migration Age. They measure up to one centimetre in hight and up to one centimetre in width. The thickness is up to 1 millimetre, when they are cut out and not stamped. They are made of a gold alloy consisting of gold with copper or with silver. Some single copies are made of pure bronze (two pieces so far, one with a loop to be used as pendant) or pure silver (one piece so far).

Distribution

Up to now about 3000 guldgubber are found, not all are preserved but quite a lot a fragmentary. The biggest hoard was found on Bornholm in Sorte Muld (Denmark). The biggest hoard of Sweden was unearthed in Uppåkra with about 120-150 guldgubber. Other known find places are Slöinge, Ravlunda and Helgö in Sweden, Mære and Borg in Norway and Gudme/Lundeborg in Denmark. As there are often more than one gubbe that shows the same motif (sometimes up to 60 copies) it can be stated, that guldgubber are a mass production made with patrices. The find circumstances are all similar (except Sorte Muld). They where found around postholes, sometimes underneath churches. In the case of Sorte Muld, they were found with neatly arranged settlement debris of several hundred years. Guldgubber are very often found together with glassware, brakteats, purposely bended spear heads and luxury goods of all sorts as rings, beads and precious stones.

Motifs

The guldgubber depict humanoid figures and animals. Mostly single men and women dressed in the clothes from the Younger Iron Age. There are also couples, mostly men and women, but there are also same sex couples. Animals were only found in Bornholm and are harder to identify, they seem to be rather domestic animals like pigs and maybe some sort of beef or deer. The fourth markable motif is that of a ghostly apparition, called wraith.

Typology

Since 2009 a typology of all the existing guldgubber has been made and as it is conlcusive it shall be presented here as well to be of usage.

The guldgubber can be divided into seven categories: men [A], women [B], doublegubber [C], wraiths [D], animals [E], unidentified [F], and fragments [G]. Categories [F] and [G] were probably not intended by the original artists, but have to be included in a modern approach of the whole guldgubber corpus.

The category men [A] consists of men. They always have rather short hair up to shoulder length; wear very often a kaftan, which always leaves the feet and ankles visible. The attributes of men are the Franconian Sturzbecher, staff, ring, and an up to now unidentified object. The category can be further divided into subcategories. [A-I] is made up of all guldgubber showing a man with a Sturzbecher. Subcategory [A-II] consists of men with a staff. [A-III] shows guldgubber with men and diverse gestures . The men with a sword are gathered in subcategory [A-IV]. In subcategory [A-V] are all guldgubber with men that show neither gestures nor have any attributes.

Category [B] is made up of women. They have all rather long hair, at least longer than shoulder length, but sometimes even floor length. They usually wear an Irish-Ribbon-Knot (with one exception, where the woman is wearing a hat). The dress is long and is sometimes combined with an apron and a cape. The feet are visible but very seldom the ankles. The attributes are: horn, fibula, ornamented cape, and necklace. This category has two subcategories: [B-I] which gathers all women with a horn and subcategory [B-II] consisting of women without a horn but with necklace, fibula or cape.

Category [C] consists of doublegubber. Doublegubber are always a pair, which faces each other. Normally a man and a woman make up this pair, but there are exceptions where the gender is obviously the same (but only 3-6 single gubber of over 200 doublegubber). There are no attributes, except some not yet identified objects. The three subcategories are: [C-I] the man is grasping the woman around the waist or hip, [C-II] the woman is grasping the man’s wrist, and [C-III] the pair is holding each other.

The next category [D] is called wraiths. Formerly some of this group were called dancers. But a closer look to the details of this group makes another explanation more plausible. They have big eyes and seldom any facial distinctions. They are always naked and have nevertheless no gender specifications. They have exaggerated hands. The majority of this category belongs to subcategory [D-I]. Attributes of the wraith are: a staff and in case of one imprint a necklace. There are seven subcategories of the category [D]. In the first [D-I] all wraith have their arms and legs with feet pointing downward. In subcategory [D-II] they touch their breast. Subcategory [D-III] contains guldgubber where the anthropomorphic being is folding its arms. Subcategory [D-IV] shows guldgubber, where the being is holding its hand up to its mouth. In category [D-V] all of the shown beings have no or cut arms. Subcategory [D-VI] consists of guldgubber where the being has risen arms. The last category [D-VII] shows staff bearing wraiths.

Category [E] is made up of animals and has no subcategories. There are up to now 12 imprints of animals found and not all of them can be categorised. There are bears, pigs and probably a kind of red deer.

Category [F] describes all unidentified guldgubber. It is thinkable, that they belonged to one of the categories above when they were made, but some of them are not readable at all. There are four subcategories: [F-I] the third and fourth gender, [F-II] guldgubber with visible outlines but enigmatic imprint, [F-III] almost completely faded imprints, and [F-IV] formerly folded guldgubber.

Category [G] unites all fragments and combines therefore categories and subcategories of the other six categories.

Interpretations and possible Usage

Some scholars have made an attempt of interpretating the guldgubber and their function. The common interpretation is that they were a kind of temple money for a named god, e.g. Odin or Freyr. It is rather difficult to identify single gods as the hints for deducing so origin from another period: the Viking Age. There are no written sources in the Younger Iron Age and almost all descriptions of the viking Age gods are from after the Viking Age era. There is no evidence, that the people of the Younger Iron Age venerated the same gods as the Vikings after them.

One theory concerning the guldgubber, does compare the guldgubber gestures to medieaval law texts of Germany. As laws tend to change very slowly, it may be, that the gestures depicted origin in decades if not hundreds of years before the time of writing.

Guldgubber were use as documents in law context

This theory uses medieaval German law texts as a comparison. It could be stated in the PhD of Sharon Ratke that there is a continuity of pictures from the Vendelperiod to the end of the 11th century. After that time the pictures tend to be of Christian painting style. The mediaeval law text is the pictorial law text Sachsenspiegel. The advantage of that text is that the law is described in words and pictures, which makes it quite easy to understand and find the right gesture for the law explained. The guldgubber and the pictures of the law text could be compared easily and parallels with the imagery of the gubber could be found that way. Almost every guldgubber can be placed into a law context, the majority quite probably into a context of heirloom. An example for a law context shall be given here. The context of heirloom is chosen, as this was and is often a question of debate amongst the heirs and has to be regulated somehow. The rune stones of the Viking Age state that quite clearly for the following era. In a pictures from the Heidelberger Sachsenspiegel (cpg 164) a man in front of the house is deadly injured and transported into the house in order to heal him. But he dies in the house. He is showing two gestures of incapability. The first one grabbing his arm with the other hand, because he is injured and cannot move, the other one, with his hands parallel to his body is because he is dead. If one turns around the wraiths of subcategory [D-I], it is quite easy to see the stunning similarity. So this guldgubber could be used to show that someone died and another person claims his bequest. The law document (one or possibly a collection of guldgubber) was fixed to a post in a big hall for everybody to be seen.

The latest two theories concerning the guldgubber are using the pictures of the guldgubber and are based on archaeological facts.

Guldgubber were Votiv offerings to higher powers

The first thesis interprets the guldgubber as votiv offerings to higher powers or entities. The word entity is used on purpose as the author does not want to relocate Viking Age gods into the Younger Iron Age. The guldgubber could have been used to express a certain wish to the entity or entities during a wish, prayer, ritual or ceremony. If one wants to identify the wishes, one has to decode the pictorial world of the guldgubber first in order to understand the whole ritual. What do the single pictures with their attributes and symbols mean? An attempt of decoding the pictures shall be given in an example of a staff bearing man. A staff bearing man could stand for a wise man, as elderly people tend to have a staff and are generally considered to be wiser than the younger ones. But the staff could also point to a judge or any other person personifying the law. The staff is still used in law context some hundred years later and at least in German sayings the staff is still used as a reference to law and judgment. The third possibility is that of a wizard, magician, druid or shaman, seeing the staff as a magic wand. So a wish made with this gubber could mean a wish for a wise judgement, a wise or good guiding or advice, and probably the wish for help (magically or not). A possible function and symbolic meaning can be found for every category or subcategory of the guldgubber.

Guldgubber were used in memory of the dead or travelling people

This theory is also based on archaeological material. The guldgubber were found around postholes – if found in a building – and were probably placed on the post for display. They were made in a high quantity and therefore probably used or at least theoretically needed a lot. During the Viking Age a lot of Scandinavian people travelled a lot – for business and raids. But before that small raids were already taking place and it is proven that they had significant contacts with other countries ad can be seen by the goods they brought with them. It is also natural, that people died during that era, possibly on a journey as well. Another possibility of interpreting the guldgubber is that they symbolize the memory of the dead for travelling people, probably in combination of a good wish. A guldgubber from the category of the wraith [D], could represent a dead person. Guldgubber from the subcategories [A-V] and [B-II] could also represent dead people but possibly ones that recently died. The wraith (especially subcategory [D-I]) could stand for ancestors or longer dead people – but this is only speculation. Other guldgubber, for example the man with the Sturzbecher [A-I] could symbolize a wish for a prosperous journey, as in mediaeval times, drinking finished a contract (the so-called arrha in German laws). If the journey was a journey in another country or into an otherworld is free to decide and both is likely.

All three interpretations can be easily combined with each other.

External links

website for guldgubber research

Benutzer:Lokis Tochter/Guldgubber

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Distribution

Motifs

Typology

Interpretations and possible Usage

Guldgubber were use as documents in law context

Guldgubber were Votiv offerings to higher powers

Guldgubber were used in memory of the dead or travelling people

Further reading

External links

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Benutzer:Lokis Tochter/Guldgubber

Distribution

Motifs

Typology

Interpretations and possible Usage

Guldgubber were use as documents in law context

Guldgubber were Votiv offerings to higher powers

Guldgubber were used in memory of the dead or travelling people

Further reading

External links

Navigationsmenü

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