Jewelry has been around for a long time, and finger rings is something that we all have a relation to. Some love to wear them, others hate them. Although some wear rings just as ornaments, to dress up or to feel nice, others might wear them to show status or wealth. Rings also have symbolic functions concerning marriage, exceptional achievement, high status, authority or membership in an organization and such. In myth, fable, and fiction, rings are often endowed with spiritual or supernatural significance.
Rings must have had some sort or a symbolic value, an economic value or a status value also in ancient times. Considering the number of rings and the context they are often found in may indicate this. The circular shape has been something people have been interested in throughout huge part much of history. The circle or ring is carved into stones, mentioned in sagas, drawn and used in many different settings. Some even thought the year was a circle. When the year ended, everything started all over again, and so on.
The oldest finger rings found, is from ancient India, dating from the 3rd millennium BC. Finger rings have also been found in tombs in Ur – which was an important Sumerian city-state in ancient Mesopotamia – dating back to ca 2500 BC. Everywhere you look, there are jewelry found, indicating that people have always liked to wear beautiful things or to show power, status or wealth.
Here in Trøndelag, we have some amazing finds of finger rings. I will now show you some of my favorites from late Bronze Age to the Medieval period.
Finger ring (T334) from Myr, Verdal. It has been dated to the Bronze Age/ late Roman Period/ viking Period. It is a simple ring made of gold with small marks of half circles around the edge.
Photo: Ole Bjørn Pedersen, NTNU Vitenskapsmuseet, CC BY-SA 4.0
Finger ring (T332) from Myr, Verdal. It has been dated to Bronze Age/ late Roman Period/ viking Period. It is a very beautiful ring made from gold and enameled glass. It has two of the glass pieces left, but there originally was a third too.
Photo: Terje Masterud Hellan, NTNU Vitenskapsmuseet, CC BY-SA 4.0
Finger ring (T28266) from Tynes Øvre, Levanger. It has been dated to the Roman period. It is made from gold and amber. The amber is framed by three lines, the middle of which is beaded. This ring was found quite recently by a metal detector, I believe.
Photo: Åge Hojem, NTNU Vitenskapsmuseet, CC BY-SA 4.0
Finger ring (T16351:e) from Gimse, Melhus. It has been dated to the Late Roman period. This ring is made from gold and is truly beautiful in its simplicity. It has on braided line in the middle, going around the whole ring.
Photo: Ole Bjørn Pedersen, NTNU Vitenskapsmuseet, CC BY-SA 4.0
Finger ring (T22409) from Berg Østre, Levanger. It has been dated to the Late Roman Period/ Migration Period. This ring is made from gold and it has three lines around it.
Finger ring (T8529) from Bakkan, Skaun. It has been dated to the Viking age. The ring is made from silver and it is simple without any large decorative elements, except for the way it is joined. The metal is tied together to make the ring, giving it a rosette-like detail.
Photo: Ole Bjørn Pedersen, NTNU Vitenskapsmuseet, CC BY-SA 4.0
Finger ring (T26734) from Reins monastery, Indre Fosen. It has been dated to the Medieval period. The ring is made from gold and is a so-called signet ring. It may have been used to sign or seal papers, documents, letters and other important things. On the mounting of the ring there is a a four-leafed rose shaped like a cross carved into the metal. There is a frame around the flower in which there are more crosses and the letters H, V, I and N.
Photo: Ole Bjørn Pedersen, NTNU Vitenskapsmuseet, CC BY-SA 4.0
Finger ring (T18240:b) from Værnes church. It has been dated to the Medieval period. The ring is made from gilded silver. It has a narrow shape with a hat-shaped button attached to it. It is adorned with a series of vertical lines at the bottom delimited at the top by two horizontal lines. At the top, the button has a simple cross-like figure.
Photo: Åge Hojem, NTNU Vitenskapsmuseet, CC BY-SA 4.0
Finger ring (T16864) from Uthaug, Ørland. It has been dated to the Medieval period. The ring is made from gold. It has a square plate in which a stone once was included. The original stone was sadly damaged and replaced with a modern one in 1950. On the four sloping sides surrounding the stone itself, the initials M A N are engraved in capital letters, on the fourth side a small circle ornament. Based on the letter shapes, the ring can be dated to the early 14th century.
Photo: Grete Irene Solvold, NTNU Vitenskapsmuseet, CC BY-SA 4.0
Finger ring (T13890) from Trondheim. It has been dated to the Medieval period, perhaps around 1100’s or early 1300’s. The ring is made from silver. This is a solid ring with a framed large, blue glass flux. Below the setting, on the shoulders of the ring, is engraved three rune-like signs on both sides.
Photo: Ole Bjørn Pedersen, NTNU Vitenskapsmuseet, CC BY-SA 4.0
Tonje Rogersdatter - My historical life 