- Urnes style
The Urnes style was the last phase of
Scandinavia n animal art during the second half of the 11th century and in the early 12th century.The article "urnesstil" in "Nationalencyklopedin " (1996).] The preceding phases of Scandinavia'sViking Age animal ornamentation are usually categorized asOseberg style ,Borre style ,Jelling style ,Mammen style andRingerike style .The article "djurornamentik" in "Nationalencyklopedin " (1991).]The Urnes style is named after the northern gate of the
Urnes stave church inNorway , but most objects in the style arerunestone s inUppland ,Sweden , which is why some scholars prefer to call it the "Runestone style".The style is characterized by slim and stylized animals that are interwoven into tight patterns. The animals heads are seen in profile, they have slender almond-shaped eyes and there are upwardly curled appendages on the noses and the necks.
Early Urnes style
The early style has received a dating which is mainly based on runestone U 343, runestone U 344 and a silver bowl from c. 1050, which was found at Lilla Valla. The early version of this style on runestones comprises
England Runestones referring to theDanegeld andCanute the Great and works byÅsmund Kåresson .Fuglesang, S.H. "Swedish runestones of the eleventh century: ornament and dating", Runeninschriften als Quellen interdisziplinärer Forschung (K.Düwel ed.). Göttingen 1998, pp. 197-218. p. 206]Mid-Urnes style
The mid-Urnes style has received a relatively firm dating based on its appearance on coins issued by Harald Hardrada (1047-1066) and by Olav Kyrre (1080-1090). Two wood carvings from
Oslo have been dated to c. 1050-1100 and the Hørning plank is dated bydendrochronology to c. 1060-1070. There is, however, evidence suggesting that the mid-Urnes style was developed before 1050 in the manner it is represented by therunemaster sFot and Balli.Late Urnes style
The mid-Urnes style would stay popular side-by-side with the late Urnes style of the
runemaster Öpir . He is famous for a style in which the animals are extremely thin and make circular patterns in open compositions. This style was not unique to Öpir and Sweden, but it also appears on a plank from Bølstad and on a chair fromTrondheim ,Norway .The
Jarlabanke Runestones show traits both from this late style and from the mid-Urnes style of Fot and Balli, and it was the Fot-Balli type that would mix with the Romanesque style in the 12th century.Fuglesang, S.H. "Swedish runestones of the eleventh century: ornament and dating", Runeninschriften als Quellen interdisziplinärer Forschung (K.Düwel ed.). Göttingen 1998, pp. 197-218. p. 207]Urnes-Romanesque style
The Urnes-Romanesque style does not appear on runestones which suggests that the tradition of making runestones had died out when the mixed style made its appearance since it is well-represented in
Gotland and on the Swedish mainland. The Urnes-Romanesque style can be dated independently of style thanks to representations fromOslo in the period 1100-1175, dendrochronological dating of the Lisbjerg frontal inDenmark to 1135, as well as Irish reliquaries that are dated to the second half of the 12th century.Fuglesang, S.H. "Swedish runestones of the eleventh century: ornament and dating", Runeninschriften als Quellen interdisziplinärer Forschung (K.Düwel ed.). Göttingen 1998, pp. 197-218. p. 208]Notes
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