A Viking Sword Chape and the Hávamál Story of Odin's Self-sacrifice
![Image](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgw0UIyOMWc0RQheLFV2wDUWSIQk7A2-rLV40REuZIk7ByuiLWhWYBda6D63fnkLekC17MAb4peK6MFWJ3JCMuM0cIAEQI011Lxkin5Dv9jHFDT-zDabGFBVIjNK_-dgA6Jr9BOXLNavCk/s640/Borre+sword+chape+a.jpg)
A distinctive style of 10th century Viking sword chape is decorated with a wonderful piece of Borre-style art. An anthropomorphic figure is intertwined with a living tree, hands together at its own throat, its mask-like face having ears at the top (like a bear). The design is repeated on both sides of the chape. The human/animal face mask suggests a shamanic character. Sword chape, copper alloy, 69 mm, Paulsen (1953) type B, 10th C. An anthropomorphic figure is intertwined with a living tree, hands together at its own throat, its mask-like face having ears at the top (like a bear). This form is discussed at length in Hedenstierna-Jonson (2002). The closest published match is an example from Koroston, Ukraine (Figure 4, 2 in Hedenstierna-Jonson 2002). Photographs of this well known example (from "Igor's grave") have been recently published in Androshchuk & Zotsenko (2012, pg 155) and in Williams et al. (2014, pg 107). Hedenstierna-Jonson writes that the