Viking art

Art made by Scandinavians during the Viking Age (c. 790-1100 CE) mostly
encompassed the decoration of functional objects made of wood, metal,
stone, textile and other materials with relief carvings, engravings of animal
shapes and abstract patterns.

The motif of the stylised animal (‘zoomorphic’ art) – Viking Age art’s most
popular motif – stems from a tradition that existed across north-
western Europe from as early as the 4th century CE, but which developed in
Scandinavia into a confident native style by the end of the 7th century CE.
Often, these animals twist and churn across their surface – imagine
decorated carts, engraved jewellery and weapons, wall-tapestries and
memorial stones – interwoven with other animals and plant ornamentation.

Besides the many different carved surfaces, some instances of more properly
3D-art are also preserved, mostly in the form of animal heads that were used
to adorn posts, carts or caskets.

Several succeeding and sometimes overlapping styles have been identified

within Viking Age decorative art, usually named after the finding place of a
famous example of that style, such as:

 Style E (late 8th century CE-late 9th century CE). Important finds from
Broa (Gotland, Sweden) and the Oseberg ship burial (Norway); long
animal bodies; small heads in profile with bulging eyes; ‘gripping-
beasts’ with muscular bodies and claws gripping everything nearby.

 The Borre Style (c. 850-late 10th century CE). Ribbon plait (‘ring-chain’,
a symmetrical interlaced pattern); a single gripping-beast with
triangular head and contorted body; most widespread of all the styles,
found throughout Scandinavia and across the Viking colonies.

 The Jelling Style (just before 900-end of the 10th century CE). Beast with
a ribbon-like body; head seen in profile; usually double-contoured
body which is beaded; closely related to and overlapping with the
Borre style.

 The Mammen Style (c. 950-1000 CE). Great, fighting beasts; spiral-
shaped shoulders and hips; often asymmetrical; vigorous and dynamic;
ribbon- and plant elements.

 The Ringerike Style (c. 990-1050 CE). Large animal in dynamic pose;
movement; powerful and elegant; plant ornament; popular
in England and especially Ireland.
  The Urnes Style (c. 1050-at least 1125 CE). Also named ‘runestone style’;
very elegant; asymmetrical; motif of the great beast; interweaving,
looped snakes and tendrils; very popular in Ireland.

The urnes style

The last of the Scandinavian animal ornamentation-based art styles is the
Urnes style, which was most prominent between c. 1040 CE and c. 1100 CE.
Because of its prevalence on the runestones of Uppland, Sweden, the term
'runestone style' is also found there. Sophisticated, elegant and sleek, even
decadent, the Urnes designs are often asymmetric and form an interweaving
mass of sinuous, gently curving animals and snakes.
There are no abrupt transitions or breaks in the lines. Its characteristic motif is
that of a great four-legged beast often struggling with surrounding snakes,
biting each other. The greyhound- or deer-esque animals have long necks
and slim heads, with snake-like creatures (sometimes with one foreleg,
sometimes just a tendril ending in a snake's head) coiling around the design
in figure-eight loops. The pointed, almond-shaped eyes fill almost the entire
heads, which are usually depicted in profile.
Shapes
 Extremely elongated proportions (head almost reduced to a mere
ribbon terminal).
 Tendrils usually without offshoots.
 Tightly scrolled tendril terminals.
 Tendrils with a single lobe.
 Head in profile.
 Almond-shaped eye.
 Upper and lower lip-lappets.
 Neck-tendril.
 Spirals representing hip joints.

Pattern
 Open interlace with a more visible background.
 Single-stranded ribbons.
 Usually limited to only two ribbon widths.
Composition
 Two basic schemes of interpenetrating loops:
o Two intersecting ribbons of figure-of-eight loops
o Multi-loops – three or more intersecting ribbons
 Absence of axiality and symmetry.
 Balance in design is built by the fluent juxtaposition of the circular loops.

Motifs
 Great Beasts, almost exclusively, and typically executed in a very
similar and extremely formalistic manner.
 Occasional vegetal motives.
The Urnes Church
But it is of cause the magnificent wood carving of the Urnes church, from
which the style got its name, which comes to mind when recalling great
examples of the style. The carvings originate from an earlier church built on
the site and were reused in the current surviving iteration of the stave-church.