Forwarded from Survive the Jive: All-feed
For some reason Early Anglo-Saxons of the 5/6th century liked hanging bowls of Celtic manufacture. These sometimes display a Celtic art style that resembles the La Tene style from 500 years earlier. Additionally they are completely absent from the Celtic Western side of Britain (0 in cornwall/Devon, Wales) and are rare in Ireland (17) and Scotland (7) compared to Eastern England (117).
I believe these bowls were used for libation offerings, but this has not been proven. The Anglian king's burial at Sutton Hoo contained more than one Celtic hanging bowl, and one of them called bowl 2 is especially interesting because it had been recently modified with Germanic art added to it in the 6/7th century.
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I believe these bowls were used for libation offerings, but this has not been proven. The Anglian king's burial at Sutton Hoo contained more than one Celtic hanging bowl, and one of them called bowl 2 is especially interesting because it had been recently modified with Germanic art added to it in the 6/7th century.
1/2 (continued in next post)
Forwarded from Survive the Jive: All-feed
The copper bowl itself is Celtic in origin, perhaps centuries old. The circular and square motifs on the side contain typically Celtic art reminiscent of the ancient La Tene art that was no longer in use. The centre of the bowl also contained a fish which could spin around. This may have represented the salmon of wisdom from Celtic mythology.
But the bowl had been repaired - patched in one place with silver and etched with two birds (probably Woden's ravens). On the underside there is a circle of clearly Germanic knotwork from Style 2 which originates in Scandinavia. In the centre of the circle is a zoomorphic fylfot of the exact same kind found in contemporary finds from Sweden.
So the pagan English were acquiring these old, likely pagan, bowls from the Christian Britons and then modifying them with Odinic imagery so they could be used for Germanic pagan rituals. The trend spread from England to the rest of the Germanic world with 26 found in Norway, 2 in Sweden, 1 in Denmark and 4 in continental Germanic Europe.
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But the bowl had been repaired - patched in one place with silver and etched with two birds (probably Woden's ravens). On the underside there is a circle of clearly Germanic knotwork from Style 2 which originates in Scandinavia. In the centre of the circle is a zoomorphic fylfot of the exact same kind found in contemporary finds from Sweden.
So the pagan English were acquiring these old, likely pagan, bowls from the Christian Britons and then modifying them with Odinic imagery so they could be used for Germanic pagan rituals. The trend spread from England to the rest of the Germanic world with 26 found in Norway, 2 in Sweden, 1 in Denmark and 4 in continental Germanic Europe.
2/2