But for this purpose, it may also have been a magical symbol used as part of Seidr magic. I also think that this may have been a symbol that marked the dead as living in Valhalla. The association with not just death, but Odin, points in this direction. It is my view that the Valknut should be associated with Valhalla, the warrior afterlife where all Vikings hoped to find themselves. The symbol has also been associated with ecstatic Seidr magic, of which Odin was a master. The nine points of the triangle have been associated with the nine worlds of Norse mythology, and the three interconnected triangles have been said to reflect the connection between Earth, Heaven and Hell. Some scholars have suggested that it was a symbol for reincarnation, others that it protected the dead soul against evil. Several theories have been suggested for the meaning of the Valknut. Nevertheless, most scholars have dismissed this interpretation in favour of an association with Odin. This also makes sense within the context of death, and Hrungnir was a spirit of night, winter, darkness and the grave. He describes the heart as made from stone and having three sharp corners. It has also been suggested that the Valknut is Hrungnir’s Heart, a symbol that Snurri Sturluson mentioned in the Prose Edda. This was a reference to the story of Odin hanging himself from Yggdrasil, the Tree of Life, for nine days and nine nights pierced by his own spear in order to gain the knowledge of the runes. This is another reference to Odin, as the Vikings often sacrificed their enemies to their god of war in this way. The two ravens are his companion ravens Huginn and Muninn (thought and memory).īehind the burial mound there is also shown a warrior hanging from a tree. The man with the spear is almost certainly Odin, carrying his enchanted spear Gungnir. Standing nearby is a man with a spear, accompanied by another raven. The stone shows the image of the Valknut above what seems to be a burial mound, and below a raven. The Gotland memorial stone is the best example of an association between Odin and the Valknut. There they were said to drink, fight and make merry until the arrival of Ragnarok, when they would be called on to fight again, this time alongside the gods in the final battle. The Vikings also believed that warriors who died bravely in battle were taken by Odin’s servants, the Valkyrie, to live in Valhalla, Odin’s hall in Asgard. Odin was the god of war and was thought to be responsible for granting victory or causing defeat. Similar symbols also appear on contemporary Anglo-Saxon funeral urns and on the grave goods of some Germanic people closely related to the Vikings, confirming the association between the Valknut symbol and death.īut more than being associated with just death, it appears to have been associated with a warrior’s death, as the Valknut almost always appears alongside images of Odin, or symbols of Odin. It appears on a pictorial memorial stone found on the Swedish island of Gotland, and on grave goods included in the Oseberg ship burial in Norway, where it is inscribed on a bedpost, and appears on a tapestry, though the surviving image is extremely fragmentary.

This name was chosen as the Valknut appears to be associated with the dead, and with Odin, the god of war and the dead.Įxamples of the Valknut mainly survive on a number of Viking runestones, and in association with burials. It combines the words for slain warrior, “valr”, and knot “knut”, to mean “knot of slain warriors”. The name Valknut is not a traditional Viking name, but a modern Norwegian title given to the symbol.

It is generally though that these are variations of the same symbol, as archaeologically, they appear in the same contexts. The Borromean form is three interlocking but separate triangles, while the unicursal form is drawn using a single line. It is known from the Viking world in two forms. The Valknut symbol involves three interlocking triangles. So, what is the likely meaning of the Valknut symbol? This means that we have to infer its meaning from what we know about the Vikings in general. It appears in association with death and burials throughout the Viking world, but none of the surviving literary sources makes mention of it. One of the most common but enigmatic symbols that the Vikings used was the Valknut. As well as expressing the world, the Vikings believed that symbols, when made by the right hands, had the power to shape the world. Not only were they a powerful way to express ideas, but the Vikings also thought that symbols had power.

Vegvisir valknut ring