Note: This documentation is not as thorough as some of my
previous work due to time constraints created by the need to publish this immediately balanced against my desire to
share my work with others. My previous work contains documentation for most of the concepts and processes discussed
here. As time permits, I will flesh out this document to the same standard I held myself to in previous research.
10th Century Norse Silver Laurel Circlet
by Danr Bjornsson
November – December 2004
Norse kings and great chieftains had many ways of showing their status – the richness of their clothing and its decoration, the wealth of jewelry, weapons, and armor they wore, and most of all their generosity toward their friends and subordinates. In the 10th Century, however, an idea borrowed from other cultures emerged: the crown. My research has found only a few crown artifacts from the 10th Century Norse world. They are simple in basic form, richly decorated. The crowns of that time were made up of many pieces, and those pieces were joined together with hinges. It is difficult to work with large pieces of sheet metal, and much easier to make the crowns in multiple parts, decorate each part, and join them with hinges. The crowns of that time also had vertical sides, rather than the outward slope that later crowns took. This too made them easier to make. Finally, it is easier to size a hinged circlet to fit a particular person.
Since my lady was elevated to the Order of the Laurel in May 2003, I have wanted to make a circlet for her worthy of that honor. After many months of mulling over design ideas, I decided on a basic circlet with a point in front. The artwork I created was based on the trefoil brooch I made, which was based on a design for a turtle brooch I made last year, which was based on identical 10th Century brooches from Iceland and Hedeby. This design was easier to develop because it was a long rectangle. The height of the rectangles and point were sized to fit the sumptuary laws of most kingdoms. The length was sized to fit around my lady’s head in six segments. I chose six for several reasons: The segment with the point could easily be modified to create a baronial or ducal cornet, it gave a rectangle of pleasing proportions for the artwork, and it fit my casting mold.
I then took the design and adapted it to two circumstances: bringing the front up to a point to fit a laurel wreath, and resizing the circlet should the need arise. It was easy, though time-consuming, to integrate the laurel stems into the animal tendrils and the general interleaving of the design. Resizing the circlet was not easy. I experimented with variations in the tendril paths to create long and short rectangular sections of the same general form, but was not pleased with the results. Finally I simply redrew the exact design a bit larger horizontally, but the same height. In doing so I determined that minor variations in length are not visible to the casual eye. The design phase took about 8 hours, mostly because I was modifying a design I already had.
The need to hinge the circlet created three design problems. First, in period the hinge barrels were soldered onto the crown pieces, but soldering is not a skill I have yet developed to the necessary skill level. Second, if the hinge barrels were too large it would spoil the clean lines, either on the inside, outside, or both. Third, if the hinge barrels were too small or the hinge pins were weak, the circlet might break. I set aside the sterling silver and spend an hour experimenting with pewter, cast to the same thickness and cut to the same shape. My experiments determined a way to solve all three problems, though it was a non-period solution. With the jeweler’s saw I cut hinge lugs, rectangular solid sections of metal, that interlocked. Then, I cut a thin slit through the hinge lugs and, at the bottom of the slit, used the saw blade to carefully widen the opening into a circular hole just large enough to pass a hardened steel pin. I filed the edges round in the direction I wanted the joint to flex. I then assembled the pieces and slid the pin through. The articulation was nearly perfect, the joint seemed to be quite strong, and the lines were very clean. I decided to implement this solution on my first circlet. When my soldering skills improve, I can make them with regular hinges. This experimental phase took 2 hours but was well worth the time.
I then carved and built an original with layers of plastic and sheet metal. The plastic is easy to shape, while the sheet metal kept it from bending or warping when making the mold. I then sand-cast the pieces in sterling silver. I have not worked with sterling for years due to its expense, but I felt that a piece this complex was worthy of silver, rather than some lesser metal. It took a few tries to get such a large flat piece to cast without voids or other flow problems. Fortunately silver is fairly clean when re-melted, as long as you clean the surface with pickling acid before putting it back in the crucible. I cleaned the circlet pieces in pickling acid, to remove surface impuries and firescale. I then polished them on a buffing wheel. This caused black buffing compound to build up in the recesses of the design, highlighting the surface details. I could have pickled that off, but I liked the effect it created, which was easier and safer than darkening it chemically (the modern solution) and much easier than filling it with niello (the period method). I considered piercing the background out with a saw, which would be beautiful and cut the weight drastically. Since this circlet was a prototype I declined the extra 8 hours piercing would have taken. I spent most of a weekend creating the original, casting the pieces, and cleaning and polishing.
The next step was fitting. Like polishing, this was much easier to do before assembling the pieces. I started by wrapping a piece of rolled-up aluminum foil around my lady’s head to get the shape. I marked which sections of circlet would go where, and shaped each one by pounding it with a soft mallet against a curve I cut in a piece of scrap wood. When each section was shaped the same as its corresponding part of the aluminum foil, I repeated the process by test-fitting each piece against my lady’s head and further shaping it. Finally, I taped all the sections together, test-fit it to her head, and made final corrections to the shape.
I carefully cut the hinge lugs out of the circlet pieces with the jeweler’s saw. I marked each piece as to its position in the circlet and carefully filed each joint until the pieces fit. In this way the joints were sure to fit tightly, as each was custom-fit to the exact piece to which it joined. Then, one joint at a time, I cut the pin holes with the jeweler’s saw, cut each pin to length and inserted it. I locked the pins in place by hammering the slit closed, using a round-ended punch tool I made for this task. This phase of assembly took 3 hours.
When it was fully assembled, I was pleased to note that it fit so well that, after wearing it a while, she barely noticed that she had it on despite it weighing four ounces. In fact, it fits so well that she can feel if the circlet is on crooked and adjust it. I still have to make a box worthy of transporting the circlet.
This circlet was the largest and most complex piece of metalwork I have made to date. Even so, it was merely a prototype, in that I did not pierce out the design with the saw, and I took a shortcut with the hinges. As my lady uses this circlet over time, I will observe how the hinges withstand regular use and modify the design accordingly. I hope to one day perfect the design and make new circlets for myself and my lady. I also hope to make and sell cornets of this or similar design, to support my continued experimentation and research.
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