This thesis investigates the Germanic art in W. and N.W. Europe during the period c. 400-800 AD on the methodical basis of the contextual iconography, developed by the German historian Karl Hauck. Centred on an analysis of the so-called E-bracteates from Gotland it is shown that a systematic iconographic approach is relevant not only to our knowledge of pre-Christian Germanic religion, but also for the establishing of chronologies and for our understanding of early medieval society in S. Scandinavia. Founded on the recognition of motifs and underlying mythological themes as central in early medieval art, iconography is not conducive to linear explanations. As a method, therefore, it represents a systematic and critical alternative to the aesthetic and fundamentally evolutionist perception of style associated with Germanic art since Bernard Salin's seminal work "Die altgermanische Thierornamentik" in 1904.
Author(s): Märit Gaimster
Series: Acta Archaeologica Lundensia, Series in 8°, 27
Publisher: Almqvist & Wiksell International
Year: 1998
Language: English
Pages: VI+302
City: Stockholm
Preface
I. Introduction
The study of Germanic art 1
II. Iconocraphy
II:1. Germanic art and Pagan religion 13
II:2. Germanic art and contextual iconography 21
II:2:1. The Scandinavian gold bracteates: the problem of systematising meaningul images 22
II:2:2. The iconography of the gold bracteates 36
II:2:3. Germanic art and Pagan mythological tradition 48
II:3. The Gotland E-bracteates and Vendel period art 71
II:3:1. Establishing an iconographic perspective 73
II:3:2. The design on the E-bracteates 93
II:3:3. Symbolic imagery in Vendel and early Viking period art 108
III. Chronology
III:1. The chronology of early medieval Scandinavia 133
III:1:1. Style and the dating of the Vendel period 134
III:1:2. Attempts towards a new Vendel period chronology 144
III:2. The chronological significance of Germanic art 154
III:2:1. The dating of the Scandinavian gold bracteates 155
III:2:2. Style II and Vendel period disc-brooches 166
III:2:3. Gotland and the Vendel period chronology 175
IV. Art and society
IV:1. Germanic art and social interpretations 203
IV:2. Iconography as a critical approach 211
IV:2:1. Cult-practices and mythological tradition 212
IV:2.2. Germanic art and regional organisation 223
IV:2:3. Art and society: a Gotlandic perspective 236
Swedish summary 251
Catalogue. E-bracteates and major types of H-bracteates 273
Abbreviations 281
References 282
