Norge, Hordaland, Granvin, Trå, 97 Find No. B6657 9th-10th Century Norway (Kaland), Photo by Svein Skare

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THLady Cailleach Dhe ingen Chiarain

MKA Karyn L Driscoll

220249@members.eastkingdom.org

Pennsic LI A&S War Point, August 8, 2024

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Abstract

On a random evening, in early 2021, I scrolled through Pinterest and found this gorgeous, and very unusual, bead and chain set that fascinated me.  My goal was to reproduce this entire extant Norway set as close to color, feel, and scale, as I possibly could.  I chose to recreate this piece using primarily modern tools, as that is what I have at my disposal, but in the spirit of guiding me to have that “medieval moment” upon its completion, and its ability to be worn with the honor due to its history. 

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My research includes details on the grave, the type of woman who was believed to have worn this item, the materials as they would have been used in period, as well as a detailed description of how I created my reproduction.

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For my strand, I used Effetre glass, COE 104 lampworking glass rods, and different gauges of commercially drawn Fine Silver Wire.  I was able to source and translate the excavation notes, and have included details from that report within my write-up.

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This reproduction was a labor of love that began on April 24, 2021 and was completed May 8, 2023.Though it appears simplistic in its presentation, it required me to hone the craft of lampworking finer than I’d previously been able, because, as I stated above, it’s nearly impossible to gauge the exact sizing of molten glass.  I am with the results, and thank you for joining me on this journey.

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Project Overview and Research:

As many of us who enjoy historical artwork do, I was scrolling through random Pinterest pages one evening where sleep eluded me.  I enjoy traipsing through an endless stream of ancient beads, chainmaille bits, “Viking bling”, as I’m intrigued as to how these items were brought to life, using tools and materials that were nothing like what we use now.  Every once in a while, I come across an extant find that haunts me with its beauty.  This strand was one of them.

 

This stunning find has been dated to the 9th or 10th Century, found in a woman’s grave, in Trå, Granvin, Norway.  Seeing the photograph from the title page, I was entranced, and decided then and there, that I wanted to create this by my own hand.  It was found in what is believed to be a complete grave, that includes a set of turtle brooches, from which I believe this strand may have hung.  The contents of the majority of this grave have been published, which is absolutely thrilling, and informative to a point where I am able to form a mental image of the woman to whom these pieces belong. Due to bad weather, the burial site was never fully excavated.

 

According to Fett (1956: 33 (Bora), “When they buried her in the same place where there was an earlier grave, the long lineages became past – present and the future of the clan pointed out.  {…} there were 6-7 burial mounds scattered over the current yard (Fett 1956: 33). From one of these mounds are where the aforementioned woman's grave came from”.  I now begin to wonder if this stunning strand may have been a type of heirloom, or a jewelry piece worn for status and/or protection.

 

The extant piece was made with eleven beads across (from left to right: green, white with black and green dots, dark red, lighter green, orange, dark red, swirled blue with yellow dot, dark red, orange, dark red and yellow), connecting eleven rings made of silver.  There are three dangling rings also comprised of twisted silver wire rings, and three more elaborate focal-points, one of which also holds two dark red beads.  I can imagine that weather and minerals from the earth may have changed the colors slightly over time, and so my representation is made using colors as close to the museum’s photograph as I can find available.  Now that I have completed the piece, I realize that the woman who this strand belonged to was slighter in build than myself, based on the actual length of the strand.

 

The excavation report details the beaded chain as, “Necklace of silver rings connected with glass beads. The chain consists of 11 rings, 1.5-2 cm. in cross-section, all of double-twisted thread, except one which is of whole, cross-ribbed silver thread; they are connected so that two and two rings are passed through a bead. There are 11 pearls, four of opaque red mass, two opaque orange, one opaque green and one yellow, one fluted clear, greenish and two multicolored.  Attached to the ring is a small wound of silver, a flat smooth silver ring, and a silver ring on which hang two small pearls and a narrow piece of silver ribbon with eight holes; at three other of the rings in the chain hang small twisted silver rings and a similar small ring is loose. The length of the chain is 19 cm.  In comparison with this composition of pearls and silver rings can be mentioned {…} chains composed of silver rings and other links (admittedly not pearls) are found in Finland.“ (bora.uib.noa) 

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(https://www.unimus.no/felles/arkeologi/index_katalog.php?museum=um&museumsnr=B6657)

 

The report goes on to provide further detail, which includes information about a set of brooches, from which it is speculated this festoon was strung.  It states, “Two oval, bowl-shaped buckles of bronze, quite similar, of the type.  The fixed buds are richer in design; whether the rim is imposed two circumferential, twisted silver threads and silver threads are preserved in the grooves between the buds.  The loose buds are hemispherical with shells of silver tin and filled with lead; on the outside they have a spiral pattern of soldered silver wire and traces of light gilding. The needle attachment is double, the needle made of iron.”

 

Historically, glass was made of soda-lime, and sand, as it was a readily available, raw material.  The impurities and salts found within the melted substance created a number of different colors (Kirkjian), and not all of these were consistent, or predictable.  Typically, glassmakers added the elements of iron, copper, manganese, potassium and later cobalt.

 

Over time, creators wanted to improve upon the substance being used to one that was more uniform, and where its properties were able to be consistent.  This led to a switch of using silicate, rather than the soda-lime.  This allowed them to add different oxides to produce particular colors: a process still used today.

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To create my reproduction:

 

I made the conscious decision to use modern materials, while I am sure that I could find a source for historical-based compositions of both the glass and the metal, they would not be financially feasible at this time, and may prove to be toxic – a risk I am not willing to take.

 

As was done as far back as one can go, I, the glass artist, purchased my glass from a glass maker, and my pre-forged, fine silver wire from a commercial metalsmith by the name of RioGrande.com.  Then, I printed a scaled photograph of the extant find so I could most accurately echo the sizes and shapes of the elements within this chain.  I carefully measured (and remeasured!) the height and width of each bead, each circle of wire. 

 

Comparing my modern materials with the scaled photograph, I speculated an approximated 1/8” mandrel based upon hole size visible in bead 6.I confirmed with being able to string two of my spiraled loops through beads I had made with that mandrel previously.

 

I dug through my stash of glass rods and changed my mind multiple times before settling on the final choices of colors I used.  Studies have been done to determine what glass could have looked like prior to environmental degradation (Liao), and this piece could have appeared completely different when it was originally created. I elected to create the colors I see now, with what I think the beads looked like before being weathered by the environment, rather than mimicking the smoothed out, broken edges, and pockmarked surfaces.

 

To create the beads, I used COE 104 glass rods with a modern MAP gas torch, and very carefully measured the extant beads in millimeters.  Unlike a pyramid-shaped bead furnace that would have been used in period, this type of torch allows me to adjust the heat needed for different modern glass’ heat requirements, and have a consistent temperature, and a consistent flame that did not need tending, as a fire hearth would. The melting point of the type of glass I used begins at 1200F, where it becomes soft, and it is workable anywhere from 1400F to 1700F (edhoy.com).The beads I created were then annealed at 940F, to remove any stress from the glass, after it was worked.  With these consistencies, I was better able to predict the behavior of my glass, and thereby achieve the result I was attempting with less concern of breakage or waste.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Photo: Kicking Ash, Viking Glass Bead Making (exarc.net)

 

A bead furnace was made from combining clay with horse manure (Peterson), then formed into a conical shape with a hole at the top.  The inside of the cone would hold a fire.  The top of the cone would be open, focusing the heat, and this is where the bead would be made.  The fire would begin to burn around 700F, and remain combustible to 2100F (sciencing.com).  Depending on the materials used, the fire would have a different temperature, leading to an inconsistency that I am not yet ready to handle, when tackling a project that requires this level of precision.

 

Molten glass is nearly impossible to maneuver to an exactness, but I believe I got pretty close to the original sizing. I kept my marked-up photograph by my side, and a metal ruler nearby, knowing that I would have only seconds to check my work as I went, so as to not have my bead suffer from thermal shock.

 

To create the extra-small dots on bead #2, I learned to pull extremely thin stringers of glass from a full glass rod.

• Bead 1: Dark green, 10x6mm; Petroleum Green, Wale Apparatus, 40-6218

• Bead 2: White with green dot, black dot, both with another white dot, 9x5mm; White/Black dots/Petroleum Green dots, Wale Apparatus, 40-6218

• Bead 3: Dark red, 10x7mm; Dark Red, Frantz Art Glass 791436

• Bead 4: Translucent light green, 11x8mm; Green Nile, Frantz Art Glass 591214 (this was the closest color I had available at the time of this creation)

• Bead 5: Dark yellow, 10x8mm; Tangerine Dark Yellow, Frantz Art Glass, 591412-T

• Bead 6: Dark red ,11x8-9mm; Dark Red, Frantz Art Glass 791436

• Bead 7: Swirled blue-teal and white, with yellow dots,; White/Turquoise Medium, Frantz Art Glass 591352/Yellow Dark dots, Frantz Art Glass 791412

• Bead 8: Dark red, 11x8mm, chipped; Dark Red, Frantz Art Glass 791436

• Bead 9: Dark yellow, 9x5-6mm; Tangerine Dark Yellow, Frantz Art Glass, 591412-T

• Bead 10: Dark red, 10x8mm; Dark Red, Frantz Art Glass 791436

• Bead 11: Bright yellow, 8x6mm; Yellow Dark, Frantz Art Glass 791412

• Bead 12: 6x2-4mm (top bead); Dark Red, Frantz Art Glass 791436

• Bead 13: 8x3-5mm (Bottom bead); Dark Red, Frantz Art Glass 791436

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I determined the gauge of the wire used by laying scraps of different wires over the photograph.I matched as closely as I was able to, using commercially made wire, as I have no access to a forge to create my own from ingot.I chose 22awg gauge fine silver wire, twisted two strands together by hand, then wound them around my fingers to form the circles, before carefully knotting them to match the directional details found in the photo as best as able.The sizing of the rings are surprisingly more uniform than one would expect: the smallest is 13mm and the largest about 20mm diameter, making me curious as to what type of mandrel or tool they may have used to create their loops. The original metal is also likely much darker now than it was at its creation, and based upon an informal conversation I had with a metal artist, he believes that is a result of it having a higher tin content than the fine silver I have used.I am fascinated in the changes wrought by the earth.

 

The hanging, decorative rings are also made from doubled, twisted, 22awg .999 Fine Silver wire.

 

• Ring one (on connector three): 9mm

• Ring two (on connector four): 11mm

• Ring three (on connector eleven): 8mm

 

• Snake spiral on connector five was created from 12swg .925 Sterling Silver wire

  • One end tapered, goes over-top the rest of the spiral, has markings echoing a snake face. 

  • I created this using a hammer on anvil, then making the indentations with an iron nail.

  • The snake has a defined texture on a convex surface, that was likely stamped before twisting the wire into shape, as the detailed photo shows that pattern underneath the snake head, without a break in pattern.

  • I created a similar texture using a modern tool.

  • The snake is connected with a double-wrapped, knotted wire, rather than a jump ring like the other two dangling elements.

 

• Ring, hoop, beads, and spike on connector nine

  • Hoop connected with a smooth jump ring style circle that doesn’t appear to be connected to the dangling ring – I used 16swg wire that I hammered to resemble the shape in the photograph.

  • Spike Beads #12 and #13 are both dark red, and all hung on a single wire that appears to be hammered flatter, but with a smooth flat surface. I liked the unevenness of the extant beads, and attempted to keep that aesthetic.

 

• Spike 4x36, loop at top overlaps 5mm down, was created from .925 Sterling Silver wire, which I made by hammering 12swg wire on an anvil to form the general width and shape of the spike.  I purposely did NOT add the holes that were in the original attempt, as in my initial attempt, it distorted the metal and I would much rather have the overall feel of the piece, than to have that detail on my completed piece.  Since then, I have learned that annealing the spike, prior to punching holes into it, will counteract the spreading of the metal, and allow for the spike to maintain its structural integrity, and will create a new spike accordingly.

 

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• For connector 10 I again used 12swg gauge wire, hammered flat, for the accent on connector ten, which is also connected with what appears to be a roughly oval jump ring. Admittedly, I struggled with this.  I would need to forge the wire down way thinner at the ends to wrap it as the extant shows, and the metal showed me that it was unwilling to do that.

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Norway - Extant Find​

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Cailleach's Reproduction

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What I noticed:

 

• The original red and dark yellow beads are pitted with divots, more consistently than the other colors.

• Bead #9 is indented on the visible side, like something may have fallen on the molten glass or chipped it very smoothly afterward.

• The dotted beads (#2 and #7) are smooth and nearly flawless to this day.

• The wire used was likely forged from ingot and tapered to wrap around itself, as evident by the slight inconsistency in thickness, and the ability to use it to securely wrap the ends around itself on the focal pieces.

• There are no obvious pokey ends on the wire rings, which may be due to friction during its time underground, but also may show the artist’s ability to file the wire down to a smoothness.

 

What I wonder:

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Beads:

• Beads #1 and #4 are matte – did they start out that way, or was it from environmental impact?

• Bead #4 is the only translucent – why?!  Was that a condition that happened with weathering, climate and erosion, or was that the actual color of glass available?  If that was available, why is it vastly different from bead #1?

• Why were so many dark red – was it the artist’s preference or material availability?  Per Liao’s study, which specifically mentioned the colors blue, green and black, how would this red originally compare to what it is modern-day?

• Was the spike a drawplate as speculated?  If so, with the hypothesis that this woman was a homemaker, what would she have used it for: recreational artistry, or day-to-day function for a particular purpose?

 

Spiral:

• From examining the extraordinary high-resolution photograph (link in works cited) available through the museum’s website, I was able to determine that the spiral was a snake!  There were even indentations for the eyes and nose!  Were these created using rocks, or a specialty tool to make decorative indentations?

• Spirals are found throughout the Norse time period, in myriad geography.  Snakes and dragons were images that were found widely, and often.  Did this signify and represent a sort of symbolism?  The excavation report points to the snake as a “worm” that “stood for both fertility and the evil forces of the universe, good and evil, life and death. When the worm is coiled represents the latent forces of life.”  Modernly, snakes equate to evil, or the devil.

 

Spike:

• From my own lived-world as an artist of many types of craft, I imagine that this spike is a drawplate, not unlike what would have been used to work-harden wire, or to provide an even, smooth thickness in a length of wire.  The report of the Tra grave speculates that it is symbolic of a spear.  I question why a spear would have holes like this.  I’m left to wonder would the holes not weaken the striking strength upon impact?

 

Connecting Wires:

• Connector six appears to be a single wire but with a wrapped ghost image, rather than the obvious twist that comprised each of the other rings – was it melted down?  Was this a chosen decision or was it an “oops” that resulted in not wanting to waste materials?  Why was this one so different in aesthetics and workmanship?  Not having access to a forge hot enough to melt silver, I have left mine simply wound around a solid wire core.

• I wonder if the wire rings hanging from the third, fourth and eleventh larger wire rings originally held beads, or other ornamentation.  Were they indicative of some other superstition or belief, such as our infinity symbol?  Were they perhaps a form of currency?

• How was this strand actually worn?  Was it kept on via textile that may have eroded, such as to be a necklace, or was it hanging as a festoon from brooches found in the same grave, as the archeologists speculate?

 

What I learned:

 

• I learned how to create a uniform stringer out of a full rod of glass, which will be useful in MANY projects.  I did this by heating a ball of glass on the end of my rod, attaching a steel punty to the end, and carefully pulling it taut as it cooled.  In period, this was shown to be done by melting a chunk of glass in a crucible, then pulling a thin rod from the liquid glass (Peterson).

• I successfully swirled the turquoise glass over a body of white, in the proper scaled size, and added the yellow dots… on my first attempt of this bead!

• Prior to this, I had not cold-forged metal before.  It was fascinating to see how the width changed, and the metal bent as I worked, making it so that I had to hammer both the visible top, and then flip it to the bottom to do the same, so as to not have a warped curve.  It wasn’t until I went to shape the snake and the spike, by hand, that I realized how much the hammering work-hardened the silver to a much stronger temper.

• I have also learned that annealing the metal brings it back to a softer, more workable form, allowing for further decoration of the metal, without obvious distortion.

 

What I would do differently next time:

 

• I would love to attempt to create the beads using a period bead furnace.    I believe this would give me even more of that “medieval moment” than I have already experienced by creating my reproduction.

      

• I'd like to learn metal forging to create my own wire from ingot, then more accurately represent the tapering that was used, and wrapped to close each of the focal pieces.  I would also like to carve and cast the brooches from this grave at a point in the future, as well as create the bracelet found within the same grave – shown on the excavation report, but not displayed with the strand in the museum.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Photos, left-to-right:

- Steel mandrels covered in bead release clay, ready to create beads

- Cailleach, at her torch, making a bead

- Effetre glass rods used in this project

 

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Works Cited:

Kurkjian, Charles R., and William R. Prindle. "Perspectives on the history of glass composition." Journal of the American ceramic society 81.4 (1998): 795-813.

 

Liao, Junchi. "Glass weathering chemical composition prediction model." Highlights in Science, Engineering and Technology 34 (2023): 443-449.

 

https://www.academia.edu/15486278/Glass_on_Fire_Temperatures_in_reconstructed_Viking_Era_bead_furnaces_in_Can_These_Bones_Come_to_Life_Insights_from_Reconstruction_Reenactment_and_Re_creation_Vol_II

            Accessed May 10, 2023 – Glass stringer/rod creation, bead furnace information

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https://bora.uib.no/bora-xmlui/bitstream/handle/1956/11396/kaland-kvinnegraven-fra-tra-i-granvin.pdf?sequence=1

            Accessed May 3, 2021 – Archeology report, translated to English via Google Translate

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https://www.edhoy.com/1556006xc1556006xc.html

            Accessed July 22, 2024 – Effetre glass, COE 104 melting point

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https://exarc.net/issue-2017-4/ea/kicking-ash

            Accessed May 10, 2023 – Bead furnace photograph

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https://sciencing.com/hot-bonfire-8770.html

            Accessed July 22, 2024 – Wood fire temperatures

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https://www.unimus.no/felles/arkeologi/index_katalog.php?museum=um&museumsnr=B6657

Accessed July 11, 2022 – Unimus museum grave information, translated with Google

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https://www.unimus.no/felles/bilder/web_hent_bilde.php?id=13033938&type=jpeg           

Accessed July 11, 2022 - High resolution photo

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http://www.unimus.no/foto/imageviewer.html#/?id=13033938&type=jpeg

Attempted access April 29, 2021 – broken link from Pinterest, showing the thumbnail of the photo that entranced me

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https://www.unimus.no/portal/#/photos/30e3e87d-4000-4ec9-83aa-aff09e1b53ff

            Accessed July 11, 2022 – Unimus museum details of the extant find

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