"Valknútr": A Viking-Age Design of Uncertain Meaning
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 14 ต.ค. 2024
- Viking-Age artifacts and carvings feature a design with three interlocking triangles that might have been associated with Odin. But we don't know that for sure, nor do we have any reason to think that the "valknut" name was applied to it back then.
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Cowboy with a PhD. explains the meaning of old Viking runes*, what a time to be alive. Thank you, Professor, for your work and dedication
Edit : symbols
First thirty seconds: "This symbol exists, we don't know what it means." I almost thought that was the whole thing, and the rest of the video would be closing credits. 🤣
The mystery of this design is part of the appeal imo.
I keep on seeing claims online that it has nothing to do with the "vikings" but I trust Dr Crawford's judgement than the other "expert's"
I have a valknutr tattoo, got it many years ago while on deployment. Had it done by a buddy who was from sweden, he was the one that taught me about norse paganism(he hated the asatru movement). He told me it symbolised the intertwine in death, between the man, the warrior, and odin. Not sure if there's any truth to that, but now i've got it on for life 😅
It means infinity, so before, now and after, as far as I know, which would easily translate to man and his lineage, the warrior here in this realm and Odin, or the afterlife. As far as I know. I'm not an expert, but I don't think the guy in this video is either; he sounds like he's from California.
Hes definitely an expert from California. Research his background. Crawford is legit.@ellen4956
As someone doing a doctorate focused on Early Medieval England, I thought I’d add that this symbol is also known from Anglo-Saxon art as well. Interestingly, it is used in contexts that relate to death. It appears a few times on the Franks Casket, once next to a horse and burial mound and again behind the third Magi Balthazar on the nativity scene. Balthazar is well known for bringing the gift of myrrh, which was used for embalming and was said to fortell Christ’s death.
Those look more like a Triquetra than an actual Valknutr. Not an expert, just my layman's take.
The symbol seems to be (at least the ones shown on the video) an angular version of the "Borromean rings", where three rings are interlocked and inseparable, yet any two of them are not linked to each other.
Its the cool "S" of the vikings
Lol
Future historians 1000 years from now will thank you for explaining the meaning and symbology behind your ring, 'it just looks cool I guess' 😂
Thank you for your unbiased presentations doc, you truly are a gem!
Dr. Crawford, I've been watching your videos for many years now. But I can honestly say that I never get tired of listening to you speak old Norse. Thanks for another informative video!
The best historical content is definitely this kind where you get both the possible interpretations and the reasons for them. Thank you for a great video!
Being three triangles, maybe it just means 'nine' and whatever is associated with that number.
Or it could represent the sound of thunder, like the thundering of a horse's hooves in the picture. That might have something to do with Hrungnir.
This is so interesting. I totally like the idea of a symbol being just a decorative element, just for the Viking age people's aesthetics; I just wonder why the artist would include it like this into an otherwise meaningful, story telling scene.
"See, my carving is done. What do you think?"
"I like it. Just... What's with the blank space over there?"
"It's just blank space..."
"Well, just fill it."
"Fill it with what?"
"Huh... Oh, wait. Do you remember the funny little triangular design on Hjordis' ring? The one, Irmhild brought her from Heiðabýr? Carve that!"
Hi Dr. Crawford! I've just came across your videos about ancient runes. Thank you for sharing your knowledge with us, I apprecciate it a lot. What I love about your videos, and what drew my attention to your content is that you are not yet another "real runes expert" dressed in "viking" clothes telling others nonsense about "how glorious, exeptional and magical" all the symbols were centuries ago. People tend to forget that the prose of life and simple explanations like "I wear this pendant because I like this design and there is no meaning behind it" also referres to ancient times.
I have a master degree in Arts, but my thesis was about duality in one's nature based on my example- I'm an artist and symultaneously a huge history enthusiast, mostly cyrcling around mythologies and a history of medicine (Black Plague, leprosy, history of king Baldwin IV, first facial reconstructions performed by my hero- Dr Harold Gillies).... I've been bullied by many people that somebody like me "can't know things", because I'm Polish and I live nowhere near UK or Scandinavia, and I'm just a graphic artist, not a historian (who cares that I've read all the books about Black Plague in 17th Cent avaiable in my country; translated some from French and German to my own purpose and that I've researched databases of main cities in Europe towards still remaining artefacts of the Black Death)... So It's truly comforting to see, as a previous speaker rightly noted, a cowboy with a PhD teaching about ancient runes. Can't wait for next videos, I listen to your lectures when I go to work by train, I will eventually catch up :-) Once again big thanks, and a huge chapeau bas!
"Herding dog" is a dog that is used in herding various livestock.
Valllhund means Herding dog in swedish, to "valla" is letting animals graze under supervision in unfenced areas. Many times a landscaped grazing embankment, but can just as easily be done in forest during dry summers.
also valle, from Norse vǫllr, meaning 'embankment'
Yet again the shadowy corners of pseudo-mysticism are lit up in the glare of Jackson's Torch of Knowledge!
Great episode and very relevant for me as i have written a screenplay featuring the valknut
Great video as always!
This is a triangle version something which is called "the Boromean Rings". And it is well known art motive and decoration motive across many different cultures for as long as we can have any material records. It has even got some decent interest in mathemattics.
Thank you, Dr. Crawford.
I'm curious to know when "Valknut" gained prominence in referance to it & what, if anything, it was called by scholars before that.
I bet the Valknút is the medieval Norse version of the cool S thing.
Right, as if vikings raised massive stones, painted their gods and their stories on them, dedicated them to their dead ancestors and then threw in a "cool S" for good measure.
maybe it symbolically represents yggdrasil. 9 worlds existing on 3 planes all linked.
That is the most popular theory amongst many individuals. It also fits nicely into the sacrificial motif since Odinn hung himself on Yggdrasil for 9 days and 9 nights in order to learn the secret of the runes. It is purely speculative and many scholars choose not to draw those conclusions despite being quite compelling.
I feel like the knot pattern is a symbol of an oath or of the fates.
I think your audio is fine the way you currently do it, it just picks up the occasional vehicle. Thank you for this video!
norse symbols made up of straight lines will look great in cyberpunk settings as well as a form of Norse futurism
I think it’s the equivalent of the “S” shape thing we all used to draw in school. No meaning at all. For whatever reason a lot of people just drew it.
I think this is quite possible. Considering the time it must have been quite eye opening to see something like that being painted/carved.
People of all ages tend to include stuff they like or have skills in whenever they paint something out of imagination. Like you see kids painting something they want as a christmas gift randomly while painting a house for example.
Why would they put all the time and effort into carving the symbol into stone if it had no meaning?
@@AmandaFromWisconsin you can’t assume that people in those times only wrote things down in hopes that people now would find them meaningful. I don’t think it’s out of the realm of possibility that people back in those times also “doodled” like people today do.
Ha, possibly!
@@AmandaFromWisconsin People have put a lot of time and effort into carving purely aesthetic things into stone for thousands of years. That shouldn't be surprising. Having cool looking things can make your environment more pleasant, and it can confer you status in your community. Aesthetic flourishes are good for making fancy stuff look fancy.
"Some of [those videos] have quality audio, from a time when I had a mic that worked" LOL! Love your videos, the phone audio has been fine :-)
Great, as always.
It's the triforce!
Lol in other news...just realized how much our fav Norse professor looks like actor Josh Hartnett.
thank you
thanks for the video
Which of your books would you recommend as a starting point for someone with no previous background in Norse Literature but would be interested in reading and learning about Norse Literature and Mythology.
Thanks Dr. Crawford!!
his Havamal
Either a translation of the Eddas, or "Gods and Myths of Northern Europe" by H.R. Ellis Davidson
@@reaperoflife113 thanks!!
So, I have been studying and practicing a clearly reconstructed version of the Northern Spiritual practices. From what I have learned from Asatru, Armenian sects, and a few others. The “Valknut” has been explained to me from these groups to be something you never wear, you never tattoo on yourself, and you only use it when you are attempting to “Invoke” Othinn or his Valkyrie to send you, or put you in a violent situation.
They insinuate that you are essentially offering yourself as a sacrifice if you tattoo it upon your body or wear it on a shirt, jewelry, belt buckle, ring, etc. This could all be very well untrue and wrong, I’m not above accepting that. But, that’s what my studies and conversations on the Valknut have given me as a practitioner of the Norse Animistic culture.
I’m happy to FINALLY hear you talk about it Mr. Jackson for some real academic perspective on it. Heil ok sael!
@@josephpercy1558 They do a good job of sticking to the source material on ritual and base cultural customs. Their interpretations are some times.. Odd, to say the least though. I only take this perspective on the Valknut as the “best bet” because of what Jackson himself just stated, that of which lines up with what Asatru and the other sects have stated as well. It’s heavily insinuated with sacrifice of some sort.
@@thorgeistClearly they don't, as all that stuff they told you was fanfiction they made up.
Happenstance took me to take a look at Pennsylvania Dutch hex symbolism often used to decorate the barn, etc.. I think symbolism or what a symbol means isn't universal and can vary from culture to culture. Understanding the past carrying the baggage of our present makes for a strange world.
I'm curious where the name Valknutr originated from. Clearly it wasn't attested by period sources, so who (and when) was the first to coin this term?
I don't actually know the answer, but my guess would be 19th century Swedes who rediscovered some of these picture stones when nationalism and folklore studies began to develop there.
since its positioned centrally in a picture that is obviously telling a story i very much doubt it doesnt mean anything. to me it looks as if its coming out of the mouth of a person bent over backwards on some sort of wooden structure perhaps a funeral pyre? and this guy is being held down and speared by the two men on the sides. which indicates to me the symbol could represent a sacrifice, or the soul leaving the body. especially considering the bird just above it as if its about to catch it. but just a random decoration in this context? hmm, highly unlikely.
Thanks.
Dr crawford are any assignments you created during your time teaching at universities public?
I'm pretty sure the Valknut originally had meaning. Most likely either the person who first made it gave it meaning, or that original artist just thought it looked neat while the ones who would first adapt the symbol were the first to give it meaning..
It is unusual for widespread symbols to at no point had symbolic connotations of any kind.
Some people forget that also in some cultures there are some symbols you are meant to interpret rather than having the story of the symbol explained to you
@@josephpercy1558 why?
@@josephpercy1558 but you can't make assumptions about something you do not know.
@@josephpercy1558 common sense means you don't make an assumption.
@@josephpercy1558 you missed the mark. Read my first comment again.
@@josephpercy1558 dude really?
Being objective about the probabilites means staying anbiased and not jumping to conclusions. Therefore you jumping to conclusions is something else other than that.
It's a variation of an infinity symbol.
It reminds me of a triskelion.
The potential identification with Hrungnir's heart is especially interesting given the Finnish symbol of the heart of Tursas, which often appears as four overlapping/interlocking squares
So in both cases we (potentially) have overlapping simple geometric shapes being identified with the heart of an anti-god of some sort (although it's not clear that Tursas necessarily had strictly negative connotations, as Mikael Agricola in the 16th century says that Tursas was said to bring victory in war). The fact that Tursas gets his name from Germanic þurisaz "giant" also makes a potential symbolic connection more interesting imo
" The fact that Tursas gets his name from Germanic þurisaz "giant"" BS!. This is not a fact! Prehistoric etymologies are never facts. They are just educated guessing.
BTW you are confusing tursas - a generic sea monster with Turisas, the god of war. Turisas is usually associated with Baltic dragon gods ( Tarapita) or Uralic sky gods/ dragon gods (Taarama / Toorum) . Or the origins of the name may even be a real person , Assyrian warrior king Turziz Az. But these things are debatable.
And the four overlapping/interlocking squares is called Mursunsydän - Walrus Heart. - Calling it Tursaansydän would be kind of ok., since walrus is kind of a sea monster.
And the relevant Finnish connection here is Osmonsolmu- the Knot of Osmo - knot of the Lord of Underworld. An endless 3-looped knot or a crossing knot of two loops.
Also first. (Not just the other guy.)
I'm 821st. Beat that!
Is this motif found in the British Isles as well?
yep, on the nene river ring for example
Judgement by gods and men.
3:40 What's the song called in the Grimfrost 'interlude'?
Hindarfjäll - Sól tér Sortna
@@DirtMcStride Thank you!
🙂🙂
You have awesome taste in silver, imo.
It looks like an Eagles beak to me.
I don't know about his ring being a good representation. I wear it because I like it but I don't know what the meaning is since it's not my culture. Usually, the use of the term cultural appropriation is over the top, but it is spot on here.
For some reason I was under the impression the looped square (which most of us know from Apple PCs) was called a valknute 😅
Grain of salt etc: In modern Norwegian (English Wiki specifies Bokmål, Norwegian BM does not, no NN article) "Valknute" refers to any knot with several loops regardless of shape (Like your example) as well as very complicated and/or unsolvable ones. In Sweden it seems to refer to the triangle shape first and foremost, but Valknop (knop is also knot)refers to a knot known in English as Turk's head knot. If it wasn't so late I'd dig deeper.
In my experience, the assumption that, or desire for, a common or distinctive motif to bear symbolic meaning is a rather Christian (and modern) phenomenon.
Since i think the Stora Hammar scenery is a depiction of the Sacrifice of Isaac, like the mosaic in Basilica San Vitale in Ravenna, I guess the valknut symbolises the trinity or God in some way. Note that the figure on the left does not seem to be hanged if you examine it.
Could they be artistic representations of “souls” being “reaped”?
But, if you're wearing it, wannabes will think you're cool and welcome you with open arms
For the Giants, are you saying "Anti-god" or "Ante-god"?
Odin one/three, Thor two/four
Veles, not contemporary pseudo-slavic...
I think It represents hög, jämnhög och den tredje. And I have absolutely no reasons to believe that other than I think there names are kind of funny. To be completely honest, I didn't think it actually were and old thing before I saw this. I thought it ether were some Christian thing or something neopagan, like all the junk my parents have.
The design was just a doodle by some bored young viking teenager sitting around in stone carving class. He also made a funny carving of his teacher with cow horns.
I get into it all the time with new-age pagans about why this symbol isn't "viking" or "Odin's symbol" and they probably shouldn't be tattooing it on themselves.😂
Keep in mind that pagan doesn't mean viking. If the symbol means something to someone, and isn't being used with or as a symbol of have, let it be.
It absolutely is "Viking" if by Viking we mean the Norse culture of the Viking age; and there's no reason to think it *isn't* Odin's symbol, even if there isn't much evidence that it is. So how are you any less overconfident than those neo-pagans?
Mind your own business bro lol
@@slynt_ There's no reason to think it is either, and that's all I say. I only point out that we don't actually know, and they get all pissy because they realize a symbol they didn't properly research is stuck in their skin forever.
@@MikefromTexas1 I disagree that there is "no reason", considering its prominent place in the probably Odinic art Stora Hammars I mentioned in the video.
But regardless, you need to understand that paganism is not a set of unchangeable dogmas like Christianity. It is a set of living traditions where myths and symbols differ and change meanings from place to place and time to time. There is nothing wrong with looking to past symbols and giving them new or altered meanings.
First
Pathetic I know but its the first time
@@dioncrouch3897 congratulations, sir. How does it feel to finally be first?
@k98killer no difference don't know why they make a fuss over it (by the way I always make sure my woman cums first😉😄)
lol
i sense a biblical theme here
"But many that are first shall be last; and the last shall be first." Matthew 19,30
@@embeleco2342 Jesus said in Matthew that his followers ought to bust into heaven, psychic guns blazing. He also had a naked, pubescent boy with him in the sacred grove of Ashera next to a cemetery when he was arrested (Mark 14:51).
The Roman Catholics believe that the Father, Son and Holy Roast, sorry, Ghost are one and the same entity (Holy Trinity-Triangle).According to Chritian Arianism it is the belief that the trinity were seperate entities, thus the convergence of the triangles (Valknut) is the Catholicks pathetic attempt at fusing, forcing the three into one. The RCC loved the Vikings for whatever reason and borrowed a lot of their symbols and incorporated them into their own belief system, as they also, over time, incorporated other religious beliefs and their sybolisms. LIFE.. Death.. Rebirth. A simple symbol that was of Arian Christian origin has since been hijacked by the Roman Catholic Church and has since been discarded as "Sacred" because the Psyop has since run its course.