valknut

valknut, Old Norse symbol composed of three interlocking triangles. One version of the valknut, called tricursal, features the three separate triangle shapes linked together, and another, called unicursal, uses a single line to form all three triangles. The appearance of the valknut in the archeological record is highly open to interpretation, and its meaning remains a subject of debate. Since the mid-20th century many far-right groups have appropriated the symbol as their own.

A few historians have suggested that the valknut appears on a number of objects found in Scandinavia and England. The oldest examples are said to be inscribed on a few picture stones, large limestone slabs found primarily on Gotland, an island in the Baltic Sea, off Sweden’s eastern coast. Picture stones are usually incised with bands of figurative scenes on one side. Some scholars have interpreted symbols that appear on the picture stones from Stora Hammars and from Tängelgårda (both on Gotland) as valknuts, though others describe the emblems as triquetras, a similar triangular symbol comprising three intersecting arcs. Another example of the valknut is thought to appear on a gold Anglo-Saxon ring in the collection of the British Museum; Anglo-Saxons are another Germanic people. The ring was discovered in 1855 by an eel fisherman in Peterborough, England. In addition, the famed Oseberg ship, the largely intact Viking ship from a burial mound on the Oseberg farm in Tønsberg, Norway, contained a couple of items that may display the valknut. Inside the ship was a bed with a symbol resembling the valknut etched into one of its posts, as well as a bucket with a similar emblem on its lid.

The term valknut is a modern Norwegian compound word meaning “knot of those fallen in battle,” referring partly to the theory that the symbol was associated with death. Similar emblems appear on several Anglo-Saxon cremation urns. Moreover, the valknut is said to often accompany symbols and possibly depictions of the god Odin, whose roles in Norse mythology include ferrying the dead to the afterlife. The middle band of a picture stone from Tängelgårda, for example, has been interpreted as a depiction of a fallen warrior leading a procession into Odin’s hall, Valhalla, with three icons resembling a valknut displayed between the horse’s legs.

Another theory suggests that the valknut represents the heart of Hrungnir, a jötun (“giant”) made entirely of stone. Hrungnir appears in the Prose, or Younger, Edda, a text recounting the legends of Norse mythology by Icelandic writer Snorri Sturluson, who lived during the 12th and 13th centuries. He describes Hrungnir’s heart as being “made of hard stone and pointed with three corners, just like the carved symbol which has been called Hrungnir’s heart ever since.” While some historians think that the symbol Sturluson refers to is the valknut, others believe that he is talking about the triquetra.

Since the mid-20th century, the valknut has been adopted as a symbol by white supremacists, anti-government extremists, and Neo-Pagan racists, such as Odinists (sometimes called Wotanists). In countries where the swastika is outlawed, Neo-Nazis use the valknut as a socially acceptable substitute. The valknut, however, is also employed for more innocuous purposes. It has been claimed, for example, by practitioners of Ásatrú, a Neo-Pagan religion that insists a proper interpretation of the Prose, or Younger, Edda leads to respect and tolerance for all.