Norum
Results: 26 records
B01: representations ~ gods, demi-gods, heroes etc. (Germanic and Scandinavian religions) - Gunnar - Gunnar in the serpents' pit
![[cf. Font notes]](/static-50478a99ec6f36a15d6234548c59f63da52304e5/compressed/1061121002_compressed.png)
Scene Description: [cf. Font notes]
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Baptisteria Sacra Index, 2023
Image Source: digital image of a photograph taken 18 June 1997 by BSI
Copyright Instructions: CC-BY-NC-ND-4.0
B01: inscription
![Runic text identifying Sven, the artist (?) or sponsor (?) [cf. FontNotes]](/static-50478a99ec6f36a15d6234548c59f63da52304e5/compressed/1061121001_compressed.png)
Scene Description: Runic text identifying Sven, the artist (?) or sponsor (?) [cf. FontNotes]
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Baptisteria Sacra Index, 2023
Image Source: photographed 18 June 1997 by BSI
Copyright Instructions: CC-BY-NC-ND-4.0
B01: view of basin - side 1
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © [in the public domain]
Image Source: digital image of an illustration in Montelius & Brusewitz (1878)
Copyright Instructions: PD
B02: symbol - cross - Latin - 2
Scene Description: inside the arches of the arcade
B02: design element - architectural - arcade - round arches - 2
Scene Description: with a Latin cross in each
B02: view of basin - side 2
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © [in the public domain]
Image Source: digital image of an illustration in Montelius & Brusewitz (1878)
Copyright Instructions: PD
B03: animal - reptile - snake or dragon - 2
Scene Description: two (?) reptiles with multiple scrolls
B03: view of basin - side 3
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © [in the public domain]
Image Source: digital image of an illustration in Montelius & Brusewitz (1878)
Copyright Instructions: PD
B04: design element - motifs - scroll
Scene Description: below the interlace
B04: design element - patterns - interlace
B04: view of basin - side 4
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © [in the public domain]
Image Source: digital image of an illustration in Montelius & Brusewitz (1878)
Copyright Instructions: PD
view of font - sides 3-4
view of basin
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Statens Historiska Museum, Stockholm, 2011
Image Source: digital image of a photograph taken 19 May 1995 by Lennart Karlsson [http://mis.historiska.se/mis/sok/fid.asp?fid=46162] [accessed 9 October 2012]
Copyright Instructions: CC-BY-NC-ND-4.0
view of church exterior - south view
![[NB: original image edited for lens distortion correction]](/static-50478a99ec6f36a15d6234548c59f63da52304e5/compressed/1121009008_compressed.png)
Scene Description: [NB: original image edited for lens distortion correction]
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © [in the public domain]
Image Source: digital photograph taken 9 Sugust 2007 by D.O.G.A. [http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Norums_kyrka_7.jpg] [accessed 9 October 2012]
Copyright Instructions: PD-self
information
Scene Description: archival notes on this font at the SHM p.10; with B&W photograph
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Statens Historiska Museum, Stockholm, 2011
Image Source: scanned image of the archival notes at the SHM [http://mis.historiska.se/mis/sok/fid.asp?fid=46162] [accessed 9 October 2012]
Copyright Instructions: CC-BY-NC-ND-4.0
information
Scene Description: archival notes on this font at the SHM p.9
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Statens Historiska Museum, Stockholm, 2011
Image Source: scanned image of the archival notes at the SHM [http://mis.historiska.se/mis/sok/fid.asp?fid=46162] [accessed 9 October 2012]
Copyright Instructions: CC-BY-NC-ND-4.0
information
Scene Description: archival notes on this font at the SHM p.8
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Statens Historiska Museum, Stockholm, 2011
Image Source: scanned image of the archival notes at the SHM [http://mis.historiska.se/mis/sok/fid.asp?fid=46162] [accessed 9 October 2012]
Copyright Instructions: CC-BY-NC-ND-4.0
information
Scene Description: archival notes on this font at the SHM p.7
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Statens Historiska Museum, Stockholm, 2011
Image Source: scanned image of the archival notes at the SHM [http://mis.historiska.se/mis/sok/fid.asp?fid=46162] [accessed 9 October 2012]
Copyright Instructions: CC-BY-NC-ND-4.0
information
Scene Description: archival notes on this font at the SHM p.6
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Statens Historiska Museum, Stockholm, 2011
Image Source: scanned image of the archival notes at the SHM [http://mis.historiska.se/mis/sok/fid.asp?fid=46162] [accessed 9 October 2012]
Copyright Instructions: CC-BY-NC-ND-4.0
information
Scene Description: archival notes on this font at the SHM p.5
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Statens Historiska Museum, Stockholm, 2011
Image Source: scanned image of the archival notes at the SHM [http://mis.historiska.se/mis/sok/fid.asp?fid=46162] [accessed 9 October 2012]
Copyright Instructions: CC-BY-NC-ND-4.0
information
Scene Description: archival notes on this font at the SHM p.4
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Statens Historiska Museum, Stockholm, 2011
Image Source: scanned image of the archival notes at the SHM [http://mis.historiska.se/mis/sok/fid.asp?fid=46162] [accessed 9 October 2012]
Copyright Instructions: CC-BY-NC-ND-4.0
information
Scene Description: archival notes on this font at the SHM p.3
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Statens Historiska Museum, Stockholm, 2011
Image Source: scanned image of the archival notes at the SHM [http://mis.historiska.se/mis/sok/fid.asp?fid=46162] [accessed 9 October 2012]
Copyright Instructions: CC-BY-NC-ND-4.0
information
Scene Description: archival notes on this font at the SHM p.2
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Statens Historiska Museum, Stockholm, 2011
Image Source: scanned image of the archival notes at the SHM [http://mis.historiska.se/mis/sok/fid.asp?fid=46162] [accessed 9 October 2012]
Copyright Instructions: CC-BY-NC-ND-4.0
information
Scene Description: archival notes on this font at the SHM p.1
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Statens Historiska Museum, Stockholm, 2011
Image Source: scanned image of the archival notes at the SHM [http://mis.historiska.se/mis/sok/fid.asp?fid=46162] [accessed 9 October 2012]
Copyright Instructions: CC-BY-NC-ND-4.0
information
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Baptisteria Sacra Index, 2023
Image Source: on-site notes taken 28 August 2012 by BSI
Copyright Instructions: CC-BY-NC-ND-4.0
information
Copyright Statement: Image copyright © Baptisteria Sacra Index, 2023
Image Source: on-site notes taken 28 August 2012 by BSI
Copyright Instructions: CC-BY-NC-ND-4.0
INFORMATION
Font ID: 00171NOR
Object Type: Baptismal Font1
Date Visited: 1997-06-18; 2012-08-28
Font Century and Period/Style: 12th century (mid?), Romanesque
Workshop/Group/Artisan: Master Sven
Cognate Fonts: a similar one at nearby Kareby kyrka-- replica copy of the font now used in the church
Museum: Statens Historiska museum, Stockholm, Inv.# 1700
Church / Chapel Name: [originally from Norums Kyrka]
Font Location in Church: [in a museum]
Church Notes: 12thC church; expanded mid-19thC -- the present font at Norums Kyrka is a later wooden one used between 1865 and 1962, until a copy of the old font was installed in the church
Church Address: Kyrkenorumsvägen 204, 444 91 Stenungsund, Sweden -- Tel.: +46 303 660 00
Site Location: Bohuslän, Västra Götalands län, Sweden, Europe
Directions to Site: Norum is located off (NW) the E6, 2-3 km SE of Stenungsund -- The Statens Historiska museum is in the Stockholm city centre
Ecclesiastic Region: Göteborgs stift
Historical Region: Inlands nordre härad
Additional Comments: disused font -- damaged font
Font Notes:
Click to view
Noted and illustrated in Montelius & Brusewitz (1878), a basin similar in shape, but smaller, to the one from Harestad; closer to that at Kareby; this source dwells in detail with the Runic inscription on this and other fonts of the area. Romilly Allen (1883-1884) notes that "a man between four serpents occurs on a font with a Runic inscription in Norum". Noted and illustrated by Gustaf Munthe, in Roosval (1917). Noted and illustrated in Hallbäck (1961) who reports a Runic inscription giving the name of the maker as Sven, and a scene believed to refer to the legend of Gunnar in the snake pit, with crosses and loop onaments on the other sides; the font, says the author, was discovered in the churchyard in 1847, sold to Stockholm, later to make its way back to the SHM via the British Museum of London. Hallbäck (ibid.) further notes that a copy was made of this font in 1962 and it is now in use in the church, replacing in 1962 a wooden font that had been in use in the church since 1895; also reported are two baptismal dishes, one 15th-century, the other of 1634. Nordström (1984) notes that there is a scene of Gunnar in the Serpents' Den on this font. Jansson (1987) cites the Runic inscription giving the name of the maker, "Sven" and mentions the below the inscription "there is a picture of Gunnar in the snake-pen, playing his harp with his feet", a motif he describes that has been "extremely tenacious of survival in the pictorial art of Scandinavia" (ibid.). Described and illustrated in Andersson & Regner (2008) with date towards the late-11th or early-12th century; this source, which also identifies the scene on the figurative panel as Gunnar in the serpent pit, notes the ease with which the early Scandinavian priests equated Gunnar with the biblical Daniel, and treated both as symbols of Christ's death and resurrection. The SHM site records 1851 as the date of accession of the font into their collections. The type of stone appears to be uncertain, different sources identifying it differently: granite [mica gneiss], soapstone [steatite / soaprock], etc.] On-site notes: only the basin remains now, its bottom is broken off and missing; one side shows a human surrounded by serpents [cf. supra; the next side [L -> R] has two Latin crosses inside and arcade of two round arches; the next side has two elaborate reptiles, perhaps snakes, though one resembles a dragon, executed in fanciful scrolls; the fourth side has a fairly simple interlace with a couple of scrolls below. The upper rim of the font shows an indentation all around that must have accommodated a cover originally.
Credit and Acknowledgements: We are grateful to Lennart Karlsson, formerly of the SHM, to the curator of the Medieval collections and to the staff at the Statens Historiska Museum, Stockholm, for their help in documenting this font during our two visits
COORDINATES
UTM: 32V 668351 6438201
Latitude & Longitude (Decimal): 58.053294, 11.852894
Latitude & Longitude (DMS): 58° 3′ 11.86″ N, 11° 51′ 10.42″ E
MEDIUM AND MEASUREMENTS
Material: stone, soapstone (steatite, soaprock)
Number of Pieces: one
Font Shape: rectangular, unmounted
Basin Interior Shape: rectangular
Basin Exterior Shape: rectangular
Drainage System: no drainage system
Drainage Notes: no lining
Rim Thickness: 5-5.5 cm*
Diameter (inside rim): 42 x 43 cm*
Basin Depth: 31 cm* [approximate, as bottom is missing]
Height of Basin Side: 33 cm*
Basin Total Height: 33 cm* / 35.56 cm** / 35 cm***
Font Height (less Plinth): 33 cm*
Trapezoidal Basin: 53-54 x 51-52 cm* (top); 36 x 41 cm* (bottom) / 53
Notes on Measurements: * BSI on-site / ** Montelius & Brusewitz (1878) give the breadth at the basin top as 1.8 Swedish foot [=29.69 cm] / *** SHM gives 53 cm square at the top
INSCRIPTION
Inscription Language: runes
Inscription Location: on the side of the basin, above Sigurd`s scene
Inscription Text: [Transcription of Runic inscription: "Sven gjorde mig" [= Sven made me]]
Inscription Notes: Jansson's source (1987) includes the Runic text and the transliteration [cf. ImagesArea for the Runic text]
Inscription Source: SHM label; Jansson (1987: 170)
LID INFORMATION
Notes: [cf. FontNotes]
REFERENCES
- Allen, J. Romilly, "Notes on Early Christian Symbolism", N.S., VI, Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, 1884, pp. 380-464; p. 437fn2
- Andersson, Gunnar, "Suède, la longue christianisation", Celtes et Scandinaves: recontres artistiques, VIIIe-XIIe siècle, Paris: Musée de Cluny - Musée national du Moyen-Age, 2008, p. 82-83
- Hallbäck, Sven Axel, Medeltida dopfuntar i Bohuslän, 1961, p. 15
- Jansson, Sven B. F., Runes in Sweden, Gidlunds, Sweden: Royal Academy of Letters, History and Antiquities, Central Board of National Antiquiries, 1987, p. 170
- Montelius, Oscar, Bohuslänska dopfuntar, Stockholm: P.A. Norstedt & Söner, 1878, p. 6-7, 21-22 and figs. 2a-d
- Nordström, Folke, Mediaeval Baptismal Fonts: An Iconographical Study, Stockholm: Universitetet i Umeå, 1984, p. 60-62, 356, Fig. 37
- Pudelko, Georg, Romanische Taufsteine, Berlin: Wurfel Verlag, 1932, p. 124
- Roosval, Johnny, Die Steinmeister Gottlands: Eine Geschichte der führenden Taufsteinwerkstätte des schwedischen Mittlealters, ihre Voraussetzungen und Begleit-Erscheinungen, Stockholm: A.-B. C.E. Fritzes K. Hofbokhandel, 1918, p. 215
- Roosval, Johnny, Die Steinmeister Gottlands: Eine Geschichte der führenden Taufsteinwerkstätte des schwedischen Mittlealters, ihre Voraussetzungen und Begleit-Erscheinungen, Stockholm: A.-B. C.E. Fritzes K. Hofbokhandel, 1918, p. 216, 217
- Roosval, Johnny, Dopfuntar i Statens Historiska Museum, 1917, p. 9-11, fig. 2-4
- Svanberg, Jan, "Stenskulpturen", Den Romanska Konsten, Lund: Bokförlaget Signum, 1995, p. 220