Borre Style Brooches – Anglesdottir Arts

I am born and bred in the county of Norfolk, the ‘bump’ in the east of Great Britain. There is a wealth of Anglo Saxon and Scandinavian history in this area which is no surprise given its proximity to the European land mass.

Quite often I look at the local archeological record for inspiration and on this particular occasion I started looking at the 9th Century brooches most commonly found in the Eastern Counties and its nearby neighbours.

There are two designs that have been found in significant numbers in the area, one is a relatively simple Borre style knot work design and the other of a charming looking animal most often described as the ‘Backwards Facing Beast’. It is unclear exactly what type of animal it is; with its spiky mane and cheerful looking face, but one thing is for sure, both these designs of brooch have been found in the hundreds throughout the East Anglian area. Some have been found as far afield as Yorkshire, but due to the sheer numbers, it is easy to speculate that they were produced or originated in East Anglia.

My version of the ‘Backwards Facing Beast’ Brooch

The ‘Borre’ style brooch. The graphic style I used in this drawing shows the beauty in the simple design beautifully.

No one knows why these two designs were particularly favoured over others in this area, some have even suggested that it may identify two distinct ‘factions’ within the population of the 10th Century – the Borre design wearing ‘Anglo-Scandinavians’ and the Beast design wearing ‘Anglo-Saxons’ who wore them to identify their allegiance to the kings of the old Danelaw as the new kings of England were absorbing East Anglia into their unified kingdom. Whatever the reasons behind the decision to wear one or the other, both are stunning in their simplicity and were fabulous studies to draw from.

A ‘Heat Map’ showing the distribution of ‘Beast brooches’ – it makes for compelling evidence that East Anglia is it’s point of origin.

The Backwards Facing Beast Brooch. Such a characterful beastie!

Thanks for reading this far. If you are interested in finding out more about the two brooches you can find some information here and even how to make your own brooches here as you find out about the different disc brooch styles, but the book ‘Viking East Anglia’ by Tim Pestell – published by the Norfolk Museums Trust, has more information particularly on the finds and artefacts that have been uncovered in the area.

In Frith

Lørna