A new examination of a small Viking-era gaming piece in the collection of the National Museum of Denmark has found that the hairstyle is so detailed that researchers believe it depicts a coiffure that was actually fashionable in the 10th century.
“It’s exceptional that we have such a vivid depiction of a Viking, even a three-dimensional one. This is a miniature bust and as close as we will ever get to a portrait of Viking,” says Peter Pentz, who is a curator at the National Museum.
Just three centimeters (1.2 inches) high, the piece was discovered in 1796 in a 10th century horse burial mound in Viken near the Oslofjord, southern Norway. It is carved from a walrus tusk and depicts the head and chest of a man with a thick moustache, long, braided beard and sideburns. His hair is parted in the middle and has a wave of the side that exposes his ear. The back of his hair is cropped short.
“Hitherto, we haven’t had any detailed knowledge about Viking hairstyles, but here, we get all the details – even the little curl above the ear is marked. This is the first time we see a figure of a male Viking with his hair visible from all angles. It’s unique,” says Peter Pentz.
The arms are damaged, but the beard identifies it a type of carving known as beard-stroking or beard-pulling figurines. The new study proposes that they are kings in the Norse strategy board game hnefatafl. The pulling of the beards symbolizes masculinity, fertility and kingship.
This is one of the first objects catalogued by the National Museum, number 589 out of what are now more than two million objects in the museum’s collection. Held in storage for 200 years, figure is currently on display as part of The Wolf’s Warning, the museum’s exhibition on Viking seeresses.
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