The Germanic bracteate from Tjurkö as a replica.
Here you can buy a replica of a late antique bracteate made after the gold bracteate from Tjurkö in Blekinge.
The Germanic jewellery comes from a find in Blekinge, Sweden, and dates from the
4th to the 6th century AD. Remarkable about this gold bracteate is the image of a head with a surrounding runic inscription in the older Futhark.
The original bracteate comes from the
island of Tjurkö near Karlskrona in Blekinge / southern Sweden and is now in the Swedish National Museum in Stockholm.
Link to the original Tjurkö-Bracteate...
The runic inscription on the bracteate from Tjurkö reads - wurterunoʀanwalhakurne ˈ heldaʀkunimudiu - which
translates as:
It cast the runes on the Welsch grain (here: gold, bracteate) Heldaʀ the Kunimunduʀ.
Bracteates were quite common among the Germanic peoples as amulets during the
Migration Period and in late antiquity, and it is now assumed that the gold bracteate was originally an award for warriors of a jarl or king.
You can buy this bracteate pendant in
bronze or in real
silver-plated.
Alternatively, also available in 925
sterling silver (Please note the delivery time).
Alloy...
The Tjurkö bracteate
measures 3 x 3.5 cm.
A 2 mm thick black
leather strap in 1 m length is included with the bracteate.
The name bracteate comes from the Latin word bractea for a thin disc. The bracteates of the Germanic tribes were modelled on
Roman medallions, but differed from them in that they were minted only on one side. Bracteates were mostly worn by the Germanic tribes as lucky amulets and were presumably an award for deserving warriors.
The Tjurkö bracteate was discovered in 1817 when a field was being cultivated on a stony hill. It was found with other bracteates among some rocks. Together with the bracteates, a gold coin of
Emperor Theodosius II of the Eastern Roman Empire was also found, dating to 443 AD.
The bracteate from Tjurkö is therefore dated to the Germanic Iron Age between 400 and 650 AD and is a
typical C-bracteate, similar to the Vadstena bracteate, which shows a stylised head in the centre above a horse and below a bird. This depiction is interpreted as the pagan Norse god Odin with his companion animals, a horse and his raven.
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