Bibliotheca Arnamagnæana. Supplementum - 01.06.2000, Blaðsíða 19

SUMMARY CHAP. I
Iceland's rich heritage of minor art-work on
horn, bone and walrus ivory.
The question is raised as to who the horn
carvers were and whether horn carving in the
Roman Catholic Middle Ages could have been
done in the monasteries. Those who commis-
sioned the work would not only have been
prominent members of society, but also the
communities attached to sees and monastic
houses.
The subject-matter of the carving tells us
something about the use of the horns. As well
as pure ornament, the decoration comprises
inscriptions and figurative scenes. The inscrip-
tions include prayers to God and saints, while
the figures are biblical or other holy men and
women. This suggests that the horns were used
for commemorative drinking. Just as the
Nordic people, according to the sagas, in pagan
times drank to the memory of Odin and the
other Nordic gods, in the Christian Middle
Ages they drank to the Trinity of God, Christ
and the Holy Ghost, and to the Virgin Mary,
apostles and saints. Religious ceremonies asso-
ciated with drinking in social gatherings were a
common tradition throughout Europe.
With regard to the carving technique, reference
is made to the written sources describing the
tools that were used and how the horn was
softened prior to carving.
The majority of the carving is in low relief,
but the horns are very different due to the great
variation in subject-matter. However, they have
one feature in common: the division of the sur-
face area into bands or zones. Figurative scenes
fill relatively wide zones, separated from each
other by narrower, raised bands decorated with
interlacing, vine-scrolls or ornamental inscrip-
tions. The decorative scheme is the same as on
many early medieval oliphants from southern
Europe with their more or less Byzantine style.
When drinking customs changed and there
was a need for horns for drinking spirits, many
of the old drinking horns sadly had the tip cut
off and some were even cut at both ends regard-
less of the decoration. Originally intended for
ale, mead or wine, the horn was open at the
wide end; but now a wooden base was inserted
here and a hole made at the narrow end so that
they could be used like bottles. Some were con-
verted to powder horns in a similar manner.
These conversions, which happened especially
during the 18th century, are the reason why
only about 25% of the known horns have sur-
vived in their original length.
Later, especially in the 19th century, the out-
side world became interested in old Icelandic
drinking horns, particularly on account of the
carving. The majority of those that have sur-
vived were saved because they became highly
valued objects in museums and collections out-
side Iceland. The catalogue, pp 120-164, gives
details of the present location of every horn and
also shows that many of the silver mounts are
secondary and of foreign origin.