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.

Norse Man’s Bronze Penannular Brooch

By Danr Bjornsson

October 2004

There were some areas of overlap between the Norse and Celtic cultures during the Viking Age, and one of those was the fashion of penannular brooches used to secure men’s cloaks. This brooch consisted of a nearly-complete circle (hence the name) with a pin attached to the ring shank.

To use the brooch, the pin was thrust through the garment and rotated to bring it through the gap in the ring, then the ring was spun around to secure the pin. The tradition was for the rectangle cloak to be worn with the pin on the right shoulder, to keep the sword arm free. The sharp end of the pin, when the cloak was fastened, pointed upward to the right at a 45-degree angle. This was said to prevent a right-handed enemy from reaching around by surprise to cut the wearer’s throat, because the pin would stick the attacker’s hand. I am not certain how often this situation arose in the Viking Age, but it was best to be prepared.

I designed this brooch to represent my household. The terminals on the ring are the heads of a wolf and bear, representing my lady and myself, in a rough Jelling style relief. The pin is decorated with a dragon head, representing our parent household.

Creating the brooch was simple. I formed it from polymer clay, baked the clay until it was hard but still flexible, and cast a pewter prototype from the clay original. I then filed and polished the pewter prototype to its final form. This two-step process, while labor intensive, allowed me to work in an easy medium (clay) for the basic shape, and still have a master model of a tougher material (pewter) that can withstand the process of making many sand-casting molds.

I cast this brooch from bronze for myself. As we build our félag (fellowship, a.k.a. household), brooches like this will be part of the regalia worn by the men of the group. I intend for various metals to represent various levels of membership, starting with pewter and working up to brass and bronze.

Back to Danr's A&S page.