Everything about Vendel totally explained
» For the commune in France, see Vendel, Ille-et-Vilaine.
Vendel is a parish in the Swedish province of
Uppland.
The village overlooks a long inland stretch of water, Vendelsjön, near which the Vendel river has its confluence with the river Fyris. The church was established in 1310.
Vendel is the site of an ancient royal estate (part of a network of royal estates that have been the property of the Swedish kings since the
Iron Age, called
Uppsala öd).
Vendel cemetery
In 1881-1883 a series of excavations by Hjalmar Stolpe revealed 14 graves in and just beyond the south-east corner of Vendel churchyard. Several of the burials were contained in boats up to 9 metres long, and were richly furnished with assemblages of weapons (including fine swords), helmets, cauldrons and chains, beads, shields, tools, etc. The helmets from Graves 1, 12 and 14 bear close comparison to the helmet from the early 7th century ship-burial at
Sutton Hoo, Suffolk, England, with die-stamped plaques depicting scenes of warriors. The shield from Grave 12 at Vendel is also very comparable to the Sutton Hoo shield, and has a stamped metal strip mount which is actually die-linked to an equivalent piece at Sutton Hoo. The Vendel boats were identified by the presence of many ship-rivets, and accompanied by many animal sacrifices (mainly horses) within the burials. A later grave (Grave 3) contained an important set of bridle-mounts for a horse. These graves date between the later 6th to 8th centuries.
At Husby near Vendel there's a large
mound which local tradition calls
Ottarshögen (
the mound of Ohthere, associated with the person of that name in the epic
Beowulf). An excavation in
1917 revealed the remains of a powerful man who was buried at the beginning of the
6th century, the time of Ohthere. Other graves of similar date, associated with Ohthere's family, are at
Old Uppsala.
Vendel has given its name to a period (the
Vendel Age) in the
Scandinavian Iron Age, and to the corresponding style in Art (the
Vendel Style). It has often been suggested that the Germanic
Vandals, or at least their kings or rulers, were connected to the site. In this it's coupled with the name of a companion site at
Valsgärde in the same region. The close comparisons with the 27 metre ship-burial grave at
Sutton Hoo show a direct connection between the armourers producing work found at the two sites, a connection central to the understanding of both. The Sutton Hoo grave is often associated with King
Raedwald of East Anglia, (ruled c 599-624), who in his later reign (c 616-624) was most powerful among the rulers of the English kingdoms.
Further Information
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