About this objectThis small pendant is probably an amuletic figure of a non-Christian god, maybe Woden/Odin. It is made of silver and the face, hands and trousers of the bearded figure are gilded. It was found at Carlton Colville in Suffolk, site of a large Anglo-Saxon settlement and cemetery.
Many of the gods of Britain prior to the medieval conversion to Christianity come from the Germanic tradition, also found in Scandinavia: Woden, for example, was associated by the Romans with their god, Mercury, and in Norse is called Odin. Traces remain in place names across Europe: so Wednesbury in England is Wodin's burgh; Onsholt in Denmark is Odin's Holt (or wood).
This is one of a rare set of amuletic objects dating between 600–650: a similar object was found in the village of Oxborough in Norfolk in 2018.
Date MadeEarly 7th century
PeriodAnglo-Saxon
Subject and Association KeywordsEncounters
Subject and Association DescriptionLearn More: Pestell 2012: 84-5, fig 5.6a; Marzinzik 2013; Webster 2000: 45-6; Lucy et al. 2009b; Rogerson and Ashley 2018: 117-19, fig 6, 27
