Characteristic ornament of this period is shown at Fig. 65, which are parts of a harness in gilt bronze from a tomb in Gotland; the patterns are composed of corrupted animal and bird forms.
Fig. 66.—Fibula in Gilt Bronze, Gotland. (Scand. Arts.)
Fig. 67.—Fibula in Gilt Bronze, Gotland. (Scand. Arts.)
Figs. 66 to 68 are fibula decorations of the interlacing animal forms, which are characteristic of the more attenuated and later development of Scandinavian art.
Fig. 68.—Part of Rim of Fig. 67.
The series of designs, Figs. 69 to 73, are of great interest in showing the development of patterns from lion forms to the twisted snake ornament. The figures are taken from Hildebrand’s “Scandinavian Arts.” According to that author, Fig. 69 is a Scandinavian copy or adaptation of a Roman design, which consists of two lions couchant. The other patterns (Figs. 70 to 73) are further developments of corrupted lion forms. It is quite possible that the peculiar interlacings of Scandinavian ornament may have been the result of imperfect copying of lion and bird forms. They were never intended for snake forms, as many of these have legs and feet, and serpents and snakes were unknown in the north. Many stranger derivatives of ornament have existed in the ornament of savage tribes.[[A]] When the Gotlandic artist had reduced his lion forms to snakes he carried his work to the verge of monotony with interminable interlacings.
[A]. See Haddon’s “Evolution of Ornamental Art,” 1895.