Banks, Borders and Bodies of Water in a Viking Age Mentality

Abstract In this paper the meanings related to lakes in the Viking Age cognitive landscape are examined through a re-reading of a number of Old Norse sources with a focus on bodies of water and an analysis of depositions of jewellery, weapons, tools and cauldrons from a number of South Scandinavian lakes. It is argued that the finds are not lost accidentally or stored in order to be retrieved, but can be interpreted as the outcome of ritual acts. The relationship between categorisation of landscape and material culture is explored, focusing on metaphorical links between lakes and cauldrons.