2021/12/13 by Frans‐Arne Stylegar, Ragnar Løken Børsheim · 1 citation
Arts and Humanities · #Historical and Archaeological Studies #Ancient and Medieval Archaeology Studies #Medieval European History and Architecture
paper · doi:10.5617/viking.9089
openalex publication_date 2021/12/13 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/06/11
The Gjermundbu find came to light under difficult, wartime circumstances in 1943. With travel and other restrictions in place, a full-scale rescue excavation was not possible, and the find is poorly documented. What is certain, is that we are dealing with a very rich grave from the end of the 10th century, with few if any parallels outside the milieu of the large ship graves. The cremation grave held some very uncommon objects, like a helmet and a chain mail, as well as five or six horses and one or two sledges. While there are many similarities between the Gjermundbu find and the Vendel and Valsgärde burials in Sweden, the closest parallels to the find are the so-called druzhina burials in present-day Russia and Ukraine, and the authors suggest that the buried man was a petty king, who had served in the retinue of Vladimir the Great or one of his predecessors, together with other warriors from Ringerike.