When I’m working on a novel, especially when I’m just feeling my way back into something after a break, I don’t allow myself to read fiction. Instead I’ve been poring over delicious pictures of Anglo-Saxon jewellery, almost pornographic in their lusciousness. These web pix don’t do justice to the brilliance of the stuff–Anglo-Saxons absolutely loved their sparklies–perhaps they’ll give you an idea.
Here’s something called the Kingston Brooch, mainly gold and cloisonne enamel.
a belt buckle (a belt buckle!)
necklace, in cabochon garnet and gold
and here’s a detail of the ear flap on a helmet
This stuff makes me understand the A-S stories of dragons and their hoards. Just looking at it makes me feel all lustful and dragonish.
Oh, and I’ve just counted and realised this is my one hundredth blog post. I forget, sometimes, how young this venue is: just a little over three months. Thank you all for stopping by and joining in.
Nicola Griffith 
Those are gorgeous!
Yeah, aren’t they? And these aren’t even good photographs. Those Angles and Saxons (and the Picts, and the Irish) really had a way with gold. They seemed to be in love with garnets, too…
Its just amazing to me the intricacy of things made so long ago. And the beauty. It also amazes me, Nicoloa, that you have the time to find things like this with everything else you’re doing. Its even interested me in 7th century England. Thanks for sharing this.Duff
It took about three minutes. Google images is a wonderful thing. But, basically, all things A-S *is* my life at the moment. That and Kelley, and partying with friends (smidge of a hangover today, sigh) and watching “Boston Legal.” (We discovered that just last week and I’m enjoying immensely the duelling James Spader/William Shatner performances. Pity, though, that the women’s parts are so retrograde. Sigh.)
Nicola, these are amazing objects. If I had the ability, I would travel back and watch just how these artisans made their work. It’s so intricate!I may be a physics geek, but my brain always seems to unconsciously be on the look-out for any historical information like this. It keeps me busy, but I can’t help that I feel a thin humming line between me and the A-S, the Celtic cultures and Norwegian histories.Thank you for sharing this!
The threads between Norse, Celt, and Germanic (A-S etc.) cultures is very strong. Less of a thread than a web of cables. They traded with, intermarried, and raided each other constantly. Endless swapping of cultural DNA.Storywise, in my head, Aud is most definitely connected to Hild. But that’s a story for another time…
Heh, web of cables is a much better image. The Celtic knots I love (and have on my body) immediately come to mind.I have to say I’ve just come upon your books, and have fallen in love with your writing. Aud, specifically, has found her way to my heart.I don’t know much about Hild, but what I do know fits Aud perfectly in my mind.
Cool. The Hild novel is quite different to the Aud novels: much more sinuously written, much less straightforward. More old-fashioned and yet also more rule-breaking. It’ll be interesting to find out–in a couple of years, sigh–what you and other Aud readers think.
Well worth the wait. I love variety. :)
Finished reading the the last Aud book and now I feel like a treasured friend has gone away. I do console myself by reviewing my surroundings for things that can be used as weapons, and I shall never look at a washcloth the same way again. I have an unread copy of Slow River to comfort me, tho. Anyway, hi, love your writings, can’t wait for Hild and the jewelry you posted is amazing stuff.
I have always been fascinated by everything Celtic. I do have Irish ancestry and perhaps my fascination is from a genetic imprint. :)My birthstone is Garnet and that particular stone is used in some of the more ornate pieces of jewelry. I read that if the piece contains a lot of silver/ gold with bold colors there is most likely a Viking influence.I love searching for fossils and such. I marvel that by touching something of real substance I can connect with the past. Looking at the photos has a similar effect.I also read a news article some time ago that a hiker in Greece found a gold coin of antiquity. The hiker turned it in to the Grecian government. This sparked a debate between myself and a friend on would she or I do likewise? (Yes, I am aware of the legal/ethical implications of NOT doing so…)I have relatives who own a very large ranch in the Texas Hill Country. While out riding, a Native American campsite was found- pots, shards, implements, arrow points were left exactly in place when the people moved on. My cousin left it as it was found and will not tell the location. That piece out of time will remain intact.Thank you for sharing the photos. I so look forward to HILD’s story. Will she be adorned with a beautiful garnet brooch? Perhaps a silver torc? :)I apologize for the long comment but you rang my bell with the photos!
In Hild’s time, torcs were very much <>wealh<>, that is, not Anglo-Saxon, jewellery. She would have had many brooches, most received as gifts. Gilt bronze, gilt copper, silver, gold. Enamelled, jewelled, engraved. The whole nine yards. And she has one very special bracelet…
Reading about your process with Hild and the tidbits you find on the seventh century aroused my curiosity. I’ve been looking for info on the seventh century, England in particular, and am not finding too much. Like a map. I don’t want a map from the seventh century, I want a map produced today on what seventh century England looked like. Found info on Mercia and Northumbria with separate maps of each but can’t find something showing the whole of England in the seventh century. I’ve found info from before the seventh cent and after, but not specific to. Any suggestions on where to look for maps?Duff
For the basics, a good place to start is Wikipedia. See, for example:http://tinyurl.com/56fbpkMost seriously nifty maps are in v. expensive books. But what I have on my wall are the South Sheet and North Sheet of ‘Britain in the Dark Ages,’ two humongous maps printed (in many edition; mine are from the 1930s and the 1960s) by the Ordnance Survey. Very cool.But political boundaries, territory/polity names, in Britain changed so rapiedly in the seventh century that one really needs a dozen or so maps to get a sense of history on the ground.