This Viking ring is made of two thick and two thin tapering and intertwining gold threads. Viking gold and silversmiths were masters in braiding gold thread, sometimes they used no fewer than twelve threads!
This ring was found in a field in Gaasterland, an area in south-west Friesland, in 2009. But how on earth did a Viking ring end up in Friesland in the first place?
Viking ring, 9th-11th century A.D. Click on the photo for a larger version.
Danish Vikings did not only come to Friesland to trade, but also to loot and to get a foothold here. The Franks, who ruled over Friesland at the time, were constantly at war with them. In order to put an end to these raids, the Franks granted a number of Vikings a limited degree of power over some areas, in the form of a thaneship.
The ring is made of solid gold and has a diameter of 24 millimetre: the Viking who wore it must have had thick fingers.