Lagertha’s Jewelry: The Norse Symbols Behind the Shieldmaiden’s Power
Lagertha survives primarily as a literary figure later reimagined for television, while archaeology offers separate evidence about women, status, and warfare in the Viking Age. This article distinguishes legend, screen design, artifacts, and modern Norse-inspired jewelry.
Lagertha-inspired jewelry draws mainly on the visual world of the television series Vikings: arm rings, hammer forms, and Norse-inspired motifs that can suggest allegiance, protection, or identity. These are costume and contemporary design references, not a verified inventory of jewelry worn by a historical Lagertha.
Lagertha is known from Saxo Grammaticus’s literary account and its later retellings; whether she existed as a historical individual is uncertain. To choose jewelry inspired by her story, first identify the motif you like, then distinguish its historical background from the meaning the television series gives it. The sections below follow that distinction.
For the archaeological evidence behind Viking women warriors — including the Birka Bj 581 burial and what Viking women actually wore — see Shieldmaiden Jewelry: The Real History Behind Viking Women Warriors. This article focuses on Lagertha as a literary and television figure and on the Norse symbols associated with her story.
Lagertha on Screen: History and Interpretation
The Vikings series draws on Norse visual culture but combines historical references with modern costume design and dramatic storytelling. The show’s jewelry and costume choices are informed by archaeological finds and Norse iconography, but they are not strict reconstructions. Lagertha’s jewelry in the series is often more elaborate and more consistently worn than what archaeology suggests was typical for even high-status Viking women.
What the show captures correctly is the symbolic logic of Norse material culture: that objects communicated identity, status, and allegiance, and that high-status women in the Viking Age wore the same symbolic vocabulary as high-status men in many contexts. Mjölnir pendants are found in graves of both men and women. Arm rings appear in female-associated hoards and burials. Runic objects are documented in female-associated contexts. The specific pieces Lagertha wears on screen are television design; the idea that a woman of her status would wear meaningful, weighted jewelry is historically grounded.
The Symbols Associated with Lagertha — and What They Actually Mean
Thor’s-hammer pendants are among the best-known forms of Viking Age religious jewelry. Archaeological finds of Mjölnir-shaped pendants come from graves of both men and women across Scandinavia, suggesting the symbol was not gender-restricted. In the Vikings series, Lagertha wears hammer-form jewelry as a declaration of allegiance to the Norse gods. This reflects a historically plausible symbolic logic: Mjölnir was an amulet associated with protection and divine connection. Whether it was worn “as frequently by women as men” is a claim that depends on which specific find contexts are counted; what is clear is that it was not exclusively male.
Arm rings in the Viking Age had multiple documented functions. As objects of wealth, they could represent stored silver — bullion worn on the body. As gifts from chieftains to warriors, they created bonds of allegiance: to wear a lord’s ring was to declare loyalty publicly. Literary sources, including the sagas, associate rings with oath-giving and oath-keeping in some contexts. Archaeological arm-ring hoards, including the Teisen hoard shown below, document their role as high-value objects. Not every arm ring was an oath object; the specific function depended on context, relationship, and period.
Runes were a writing system before they were a symbol system. The alphabet dominant in Viking Age Scandinavia was Younger Futhark, a 16-character system — not Elder Futhark, the older 24-character alphabet more commonly seen in modern Norse-inspired jewelry. Runic inscriptions appear on Viking Age objects including weapons, memorial stones, and personal items. Some inscriptions appear in contexts suggesting protective or ritual intent; others are straightforward ownership marks or memorials. The Vikings series uses runic imagery throughout its visual design, drawing on this tradition. Modern rune jewelry often uses later symbolic interpretations of rune names rather than documented Viking Age meanings.
Further reading: For a full explanation of the distinction, see Viking Runes Explained: Why Rune Charts Get The Past Wrong.
Serpent imagery appears throughout Viking Age metalwork — on brooches, pendants, and carved objects. In Norse mythology, Jörmungandr is the World Serpent that encircles the earth. Whether specific serpentine ornaments were intended to represent Jörmungandr specifically depends on context; serpent forms were a widespread decorative and symbolic element in Norse and Germanic art more broadly. Modern jewelry inspired by Norse serpent imagery draws on this visual tradition. It is contemporary design with a historical reference, not a reconstruction of a specific documented practice.
Lagertha-Inspired Jewelry Today
People drawn to Lagertha — and to the shieldmaiden archetype more broadly — are responding to something the Norse world understood: that identity is expressed through chosen symbols, and that the choice of what to wear on your body is a statement about who you are. Modern Norse-inspired jewelry operates on the same logic. The symbols have historical roots. The decision to wear them is entirely contemporary.
The pieces below are modern Norse-inspired jewelry — not reconstructions of what Lagertha historically wore, but designs that draw on the same visual vocabulary: Mjölnir, serpent imagery, runic inscription. Each one is a contemporary object with a historical reference.
Thor’s Hammer Signet Ring – Mjölnir
Mjölnir in a clean signet silhouette. Thor’s-hammer pendants are among the best-documented forms of Viking Age religious jewelry, found in graves of both men and women across Scandinavia. A modern piece with a well-grounded historical reference — substantial visual weight, dark finish.
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Viking Serpent Scale Rune Ring – Jörmungandr
Oxidized black stainless steel with scale texture and rune border. Inspired by Jörmungandr, the World Serpent of Norse mythology. A modern design drawing on Norse serpent imagery — strong visual weight, dark finish, readable surface detail.
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Elder Futhark Rune Ring
A modern Norse-inspired band using the full 24-character Elder Futhark — the older runic alphabet that has become central to contemporary Norse jewelry design. Oxidized stainless steel, double-row inscription. Elder Futhark-inspired, not a Viking Age replica.
View Ring →Frequently Asked Questions
Was Lagertha a real person?
Lagertha appears in Saxo Grammaticus’s Gesta Danorum, written around 1200 CE — roughly three centuries after the Viking Age. Saxo describes her as a shieldmaiden who fought alongside Ragnar Lothbrok. Historians debate how literally to read this account, as Saxo was drawing on oral traditions already layered with legend. Whether a historical Lagertha existed is uncertain; she is best understood as a literary figure. Archaeological evidence for women buried with warrior status — including the Birka Bj 581 burial — shows that women holding martial identity did exist in the Viking Age, but does not confirm Lagertha specifically.
What jewelry does Lagertha wear in Vikings?
In the Vikings TV series, Lagertha wears arm rings, hammer-form pendants, and various Norse-inspired pieces. The show draws on archaeological finds and Norse iconography while making choices that serve the visual narrative and modern costume design. The specific pieces are television props; the symbolic vocabulary they draw from — Mjölnir, runes, serpent motifs, arm rings — has historical grounding.
How historically accurate is Lagertha’s jewelry in the show?
The Vikings series draws on Norse visual culture but combines historical references with modern costume design and dramatic storytelling. The symbolic vocabulary is historically grounded; the specific pieces are more elaborate and consistently worn than what archaeology suggests was typical. The show is historical drama, not documentary reconstruction.
What jewelry did Viking women actually wear?
Archaeological finds document oval brooches, bead strings, silver and bronze pendants, rings, and arm rings. Thor’s-hammer pendants are found in graves of both men and women. Runic objects appear in female-associated contexts. Jewelry could communicate wealth, status, dress, and personal identity — but specific symbolic meanings varied by object and context. For a full overview of the archaeological evidence, see Shieldmaiden Jewelry: The Real History Behind Viking Women Warriors.
Did Viking women wear Thor’s-hammer pendants?
Yes. Mjölnir-shaped pendants are found in graves of both men and women across Scandinavia. Thor’s-hammer pendants are among the best-documented forms of Viking Age religious jewelry and were not restricted to male burials.
Are the runes in modern Viking jewelry historically accurate?
Modern rune jewelry most commonly uses Elder Futhark, a 24-character alphabet primarily associated with earlier Germanic and Proto-Norse contexts, predating the Viking Age. The alphabet dominant in Viking Age Scandinavia was Younger Futhark, a 16-character system. Modern rune meanings often draw on later symbolic interpretations rather than documented Viking Age definitions. For a full explanation, see Viking Runes Explained: Why Rune Charts Get The Past Wrong.
Carry the Norse Story Forward
Jewelry drawn from Viking Age visual culture, Norse mythology, and the shieldmaiden tradition.
Explore Norse Legends →Sources & Further Reading
- Saxo Grammaticus — Gesta Danorum, translated by Peter Fisher, edited by Hilda Ellis Davidson, D.S. Brewer (1979). Primary literary source for Lagertha; written c. 1200 CE, drawing on earlier oral tradition.
- Hedenstierna-Jonson, Charlotte et al. — “A Female Viking Warrior Confirmed by Genomics,” American Journal of Physical Anthropology 164(4), 2017. Primary academic publication on the Bj 581 DNA analysis.
- Jesch, Judith — Women in the Viking Age, Boydell Press (1991). Academic study of Viking Age women drawing on literary, archaeological, and runic evidence.
- Cultural History Museum, Oslo — VIKINGR Norwegian Viking-Age Exhibition. khm.uio.no. Source for the Teisen arm-ring hoard and Viking Age material culture.
- The Swedish History Museum (Historiska museet) — historiska.se. Holds significant collections of Viking Age jewelry and burial finds including Birka material.
- Barnes, Michael P. — Runes: A Handbook, Boydell Press (2012). Scholarly reference for Elder Futhark, Younger Futhark, and the distinction between historical and modern rune meanings.
How We Research
VEILHINGE Journal separates medieval literary figures, archaeological evidence, television interpretation, and modern jewelry design. Lagertha is treated as a literary figure whose historical existence remains uncertain, while archaeological claims about Viking women and jewelry are based on museum records and established scholarship. Modern jewelry is presented as Norse-inspired design rather than reconstruction of Lagertha’s personal possessions.