BERSERKER SLEEVE
January 18, 2024HANDPOKE BAMBERG WOLF
January 17, 2024
The mask is a very common subject in Viking art, its use in this society is well attested by various finds found throughout Scandinavia. It itself had, in Viking society as in most pre-Christian societies, functions linked to the complex of pagan cults.
Since the archaic age, the mask was an important tool of communication between various worlds, between human and divine, between the living and the dead.
Wearing it, one stripped oneself of the space-time limits of the human being to enter another plane of existence.
In this way, one was able to make a "journey", using the masks as mystical portals, towards other dimensions and new spaces of being.
The mask is a very strong magical symbol, whoever wears it loses their identity to take on others, alienating themselves from this world.
It is important to say that during the Viking era masks were never used to represent gods or particular characters or entities, in various eras and societies they were associated with magical practices of all kinds, funerary rites and medicinal magic, dances, warrior rites and superstitions.
In the Viking chests from Cammin and Bamberg, the masks seem to be represented as portals and animals such as birds or wolves are always placed in their proximity, as if on guard.
