Fjellborg Vikings

Lodin's Gallery:


A Viking Chest

Birch Viking Chest I built this Viking chest from birch and hand forged the hardware. The boards are nailed with wooden nails. The chest has a finish made of fish oil, linseed and asphaltum. The hinges are nailed on with hand forged nails which were then clinched on the backside. I've since made another repair to a loose joint with a forged nail. (This adds character.)

Hinge Detail Here is one of the hinges as seen from the back of the chest.

Hinge Detail This is one of the pair of handles I made. I need to make the hasp next.
Comment on it's authenticity:

Most of the elements are typical of the period...but... this box does not represent anything that has been found. The handles on the ends are similar to ones found in Birka but they were used on the top/center of a box and not the ends. I was going to carve it... Nope! Sorry, the Vikings carved lots of stuff but the Hedeby chest is the closest thing we have to a "carved" Viking box. It only has parallel inscribed lines around the edge.

Return to the Previous Page