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DJ
Egentlige hestesko kom hos os først i brug langt ned i
tiden.
sig overhovedet neppe før midten af det 8de hundredaar!),
De kjendtes heller ikke hos Romerne og vise
medens de sees overalt paa broderiet i Bayeux*.
For fuldstændigheds skyld maa jeg sluttelig tilføje,
at der, efterat jeg var kommen tilbage til haugen fra
transporten af skibets sidste del, blev rakt mig en bronse-
ring, som sagdes for et øjeblik siden at være funden i
blaaleret omtrent derunder, hvor gravkammerets bagerste
stykke havde staaet. At ringen virkelig var funden paa dette
sted, maa imidlertid højlig betviles, da den aabenbart til-
hører en forholdsvis ny tid. Den er 5.5 cm. i ydre tver-
maal og viser formen af en med store skjæl besat slange
som bider sig i halen og har en ringformet hempe paa
hovedet. Det hele stykke er uden stil, aldeles naturali-
stisk behandlet.
tes intet.
Ved en eftergravning paa stedet fand-
Kaste vi nu et blik tilbage over alle de i eller uden-
for skibet fundne gjenstande, er der flere omstændigheder,
som maa være paafaldende. Det var saaledes for det
første her i Norden ikke noget usedvanligt i den yngre
jernalder, ja endog, som en saga?) udtrykker sig, gammel
skik (form sidr), at begrave hunde og heste sammen med
den afdøde person. Dette træffes ogsaa hos os oftere
og navnlig netop ved de tidligere fremkomne skibsfund
i Borre, Dønnæs og Tune*). Men saamange dyr, som
det heromhandlede fund viser, have vi ej noget exempel
paa, Dernæst maa det fremhæves, at der i gravkammeret
ikke saaes spor af vaaben, som vi dog maatte have ven-
tet, og at en stor del af de ting, der havde sin plads
enten i gravkammeret eller andensteds i fartøjet, vidnede
At der ikke fandtes
vaaben, bliver dog let forklarligt, da det netop maa have
om en forsætlig sønderbrydelse.
været dem, gravrøverne især eftersøgte og som de visselig
ogsaa toge med sig, og selve gravkammerets ødelæggelse
(jfr. s. 46) kan meget vel tænkes under den ivrighed,
hvormed gravrøvere huserede. Udenfor kammeret slaar
dog den anførte forklaring ikke til, da der andensteds
i skibet ej var spor af nogen tidligere gravning. Her
maa derfor ødelæggelsen vistnok skrive sig fra den samme
i) LINDENSCHMIDT, Handb. der deutsch. Altherthumsk. I, 295.
blunted.
among us at a much later period; they were not known
Horse-shoes proper, are first brought into use
to the Romans either, and at all events were scarcely
to be seen before the middle of 8» century), but are
everywhere to be seen on the Bayeux tapestry ”).
To make this statement complete, I must add in
conclusison that after the last part of the vessel had
been removed and I had returned to the barrow, a
bronze ring was handed to me, said to have been a
moment before found in the blue clay about under the
spot, where the hindmost part of the sepulchral cham-
ber had stood. It may nevertheless be a matter of great
doubt, whether the ring was actually found on that spot,
since it obviously belongs to a relatively much more
recent date. It is 5.5 cm. ‘in: outer diameter and ex-
hibits the form of a serpent biting its tail, covered with
large scales and carrying on its head a ringformed
loop. The entire thing bears no token of style and is
treated in an altogether naturalistic manner. During
a subsequent excavation of the place, nothing was
dicovered.
If we take a retrospective glance at all the objects
discovered, within and outside of the ship, many facts
must be striking. Thus it was firstly nothing uncommon
in Northern countries during the later iron age — nay — it
was, as stated in one of the saga’s®), ancient custom (for sidr)
to bury horses and dogs together with the deceased person,
We trace this custom in Norway also not unfrequently and,
in especial, just by the previously shipdiscoveries made
in Borre, Dennes and Tune‘). But of so many animals
of the kind stated as are shown in the discovery at Gokstad,
we have no previous instance. Next the fact may be empha-
sized, that inthe sepulchral chamber no vestige of any weapon
was to be seen, though such objects might have been ex-
pected, and that a large portion of the things which
had their place either in the sepulchral chamber itself or
in other parts of the vessel, evinced an intentional brea-
That no weapons were found is readyly
that such were exactly the
king asunder.
explained by the fact,
main object of these tombviolators’ search. Those they
have assuredly carried away, and the destruction (cfr.
pag. 46) of the chamber, can well be imagined from
the fierceness with which these robbers of tombs ravaged.
Without the sepulchral chamber however the adduced
explanation can not avail, for here there was found no
trace of any prior excavation. The destruction here,
must consequently no doubt be due to that sepulchral
2) FOWKE l. cit. 8) Flateyarb. I, 436. 4) N. Fornlevn.
p- 179, 682 (cfr. LORANGE Saml. af Norske Oldsager i Bergens Museum p. 193), Skillingmagaz. 1867 p. 738.
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