Golden Horns of Gallehus

The Golden Horns of Gallehus (DR 12 †U) were two horns made of gold, one shorter than the other, discovered in Gallehus, north of Tønder in South Jutland, Denmark. [http://www.dr.dk/Nyheder/Indland/2007/12/20/114905.htm?rss=true Official Danish news (DR) page with fact box regarding the subject] da icon] The longer horn of the two was found in 1639, and the second in 1734, 15-20 meters apart from the first discovery. The horns are believed to have dated to the fifth century and depict mythological figures of uncertain origin. The smaller of the two bore a Proto-Norse Elder Futhark inscription.

The original horns were stolen and melted down. However, copies based on illustrations of the original horns were produced and are exhibited at the National Museum of Denmark, Copenhagen, Denmark and the Moesgaard Museum, near Aarhus, Denmark. Since then, copies of the horns have been stolen (and retrieved) twice.

Description

Both horns were made of solid gold and constructed from rings, each covered with figures soldered onto the rings, with yet more figures carved into the rings between the larger figures. These figures may depict events from Germanic mythology that are otherwise unrecorded. However, the illustrations may also be derived from Celtic mythology rather than Germanic: the illustrations on the horns portrayed a man with horns and a necklace, very similar in appearance to the Celtic god Cernunnos (especially as compared to the Cernunnos portrait on the Gundestrup cauldron, which also was found in Denmark), as well as several additional iconographic elements, such as a he-goat, snakes, and deer, animals commonly associated with Cernunnos.

Both horns were once the same length, but a segment of the narrow end of the second (shorter) horn, which was missing when it was found (1734), had already been plowed up and recovered prior to 1639. It also was subsequently melted down and lost. The longer horn (intact one) was 75.8 cm. long, as measured along the outer perimeter; the opening diameter was 10.4 cm., and the horn weighed 3.2 kg.

Origin

The horns are believed to have originated from Jutlandic tribes, specifically Cimbri and Iutae, but several theories of their specific origins exist. The horns were probably used for ritual drinking and then subsequently sacrificed in the earth or buried as a treasure, though this is also uncertain. Similar horns of wood, glass, bone, and bronze have been found in the same area, some of them having obviously been used for trumpeting signals rather than for drinking.

Discovery

First horn

The longer horn was discovered on July 20 1639 by a peasant girl named Kirsten Svendsdatter in the village of Gallehus, near Møgeltønder, Denmark when she saw it protrude above the ground. She wrote a letter to King Christian IV of Denmark who retrieved it and in turn gave it to the Danish prince (also named Christian), who refurbished it into a drinking-horn. The Danish antiquarian Olaus Wormius wrote a treatise named "De aureo cornu" on the first Golden Horn in 1641. The first preserved sketch of the horn comes from this treatise. In 1678 it was described in the scientific journal "Journal de Savants".

econd horn

About 100 years later on April 21, 1734 the other (shorter, damaged) horn was found by Erich Lassen not far from the first horn. He gave it to the count of Schackenborg who in turn delivered it to the king Christian VI of Denmark and received 200 rigsdaler in return. From this moment both horns were stored at "Det kongelige Kunstkammer" (The Royal Chamber of Art) at Christiansborg, currently the Danish Rigsarkivet (national archive). The shorter horn was described in a treatise by archivist Richard Joachim Paulli in the same year.

Inscription

This second horn bore the following Elder Futhark inscription::ᛖᚲ ᚺᛚᛖᚹᚨᚷᚨᛊᛏᛁᛉ ᚺᛟᛚᛏᛁᛃᚨᛉ ᚺᛟᚱᚾᚨ ᛏᚨᚹᛁᛞᛟ (Runic Unicode)

Latin character transliteration::"ek hlewagastiz holtijaz horna tawidō"

English translation::"I Hlewagastiz Holtijaz (of Holt, Holti's son) made the horn"

The meaning of "Hlewagastiz" is debated and may mean either "lee guest" or "reputation guest". This inscription is one of the earliest inscriptions in the Elder Futhark, and a line of alliterative verse.

Burglary and destruction

Original horns

On May 4 1802, the horns were stolen by a goldsmith and watchmaker named Niels Heidenreich, who entered a storage area containing the horns using forged keys. Heidenreich took the horns home and melted it down to recycle the gold. The theft was discovered the next day and a bounty of 1,000 rigsdaler was advertised in the papers.

The grandmaster of the goldsmiths guild, Andreas Holm, suspected that Heidenreich had been involved, since he had tried to sell Holm forged “pagodas” (Indian coins with god motifs), made from bad gold mixed with brass. Holm and his colleagues had kept watch on Heidenreich and seen him dump coin stamps in the town moat. He was arrested on April 27 1803, and confessed on April 30. On June 10 Heidenreich was sentenced to prison, and not released until 1840. He died four years later. His buyers returned the recycled gold, which ended up in coins, not copies of the horns.

However, a set of plaster casts of the horns had been made for a cardinal in Rome, but they had already been lost in a shipwreck off the Corsican coast. Approximate copies were instead created from sketches. The horns pictured above are newer copies, made in 1980.

Copies

In 1993, a set of copies of the horns were was stolen from Moesgaard Museum, which was shortly after recovered ditched in a forest near Hasselager. These copies are made of gilded brass. [ [http://jp.dk/indland/krimi/article1092023.ece Moesgaard udstiller guldhorn] ]

On September 17, 2007, a set of modern gilded silver copies were stolen from Kongernes Jelling museum on at 4:30 in the morning, [ [http://jp.dk/indland/krimi/article1091371.ece Professionelle bag tyveri af guldhorn] ] but were recovered shortly after on September 19, 2007.

Interpretation

Willy Hartner, professor of History of Science, was one of many scientists who have been interpreting the figures and inscriptions of the horns. Hartner said that these horns had been made because of the eclipse of the sun of 413 AD. The horns were magic devices to prevent the imminent end of the world.

Literature

* Willy Hartner: "Die Goldhörner von Gallehus". In: "Bild der Wissenschaft", Stuttgart 1972,11,1210-1216.
* Willy Hartner: "Die Goldhörner von Gallehus". F. Steiner, Stuttgart 1998. ISBN 351500078X

References

External links

* [http://www.sa.dk/lak/saxo/horn/text/tyveri.htm Tyveri af guldhorn]