Raven/Bird 2 - Bronze

This piece is a detailed reproduction of a bird-brooch made of bronze, that still shows the rest of a silver coating. The original was found in Norway, by metal detector, and is dated to the Late Scandinavian Iron Age (570-800 AD).

There are many variations of this brooch, some with human or animal faces embedded in the back of the bird, and some with beautiful ornaments or details, like this one. It is part of the Style II/B and Style II/C family of bird brooches.

The original is today part of the collection of the Cultural History Museum in Oslo, Norway. 

Scroll through the pictures to see the original!

The meaning behind these bird brooch designs are not entirely known, but they are a central and a very common type of jewelry in the late Germanic Iron Age and were popular from the 6th century to the beginning of the Viking age. 

With the context of the faces on some of the bird brooches, they are sometimes contexted with shapeshifting.

Two of the many possible interpretations are: 

- The Brooch could be an image of a shapeshifting person, like Wayland the Smith, who, in some versions of his story, turns into a bird to flee captivity. In others he crafts wings for himself to fly away.

- Another possibility is of course the bird brooches being an image of the Norse god Odin in the shape of a bird, or in relation to his two ravens Hugin and Munin.

They could also reference both, be a wider image of the concept of shapeshifting, or a tribute to the importance of ravens and other birds in norse mythology. They could travel between worlds, and were often seen as messangers.

You can choose between brooch and necklace.

The necklace comes with a synthetic leather band. 

You can also choose between the smooth surface, and punched in details - just add your preference as a comment in your order.