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The valknut is a symbol consisting of three interlocked triangles forming subliminal triskelion at its center. The term valknut is a modern development; it is not known what term or terms were used to refer to the symbol historically.
Scholars have proposed a variety of explanations for the symbol, sometimes associating it with the god Odin, and it has been compared to the three-horned symbol found on the 9th-century Snoldelev Stone, to which it may be related.
The valknut appears on a wide variety of objects found in areas inhabited by the Germanic peoples. The symbol is prominently featured on the Nene River Ring, an Anglo-Saxon gold finger ring dated to around the 8th to 9th centuries. In 2024, an English shilling showing both the symbol and a person holding a cross was found near Norwich. It has been interpreted as a mixing of religious imagery, with the cross being a Christian symbol and the valknut being heathen. This is consistent with its dating to the 7th century CE, when Christianity was being adopted in England.
A wooden bed in the Viking Age Oseberg Ship buried near Tønsberg, Norway, features a carving of the symbol on an ornately stylized bedpost and the Oseberg tapestry fragments, a partially preserved tapestry found within the ship burial, also features the symbol.
Additionally, the valknut appears prominently on two picture stones from Gotland, Sweden: the Stora Hammars I stone and the Tängelgårda stone.
The historically attested instances of the symbol appear in two traditional, topologically distinct forms. The symbol appears in unicursal form, topologically a trefoil knot also seen in the triquetra. This unicursal form is found, for example, on the Tängelgårda stone. The symbol also appears in tricursal form, consisting of three linked triangles, topologically equivalent to the Borromean rings. This tricursal form can be seen on one of the Stora Hammars stones, as well as upon the Nene River Ring, and on the Oseberg ship bed post. Although other forms are topologically possible, these are the only attested forms found so far.
In Norwegian Bokmål, the term valknute is used for a polygon with a loop on each of its corners. In the English language, the looped, four-cornered symbol is called Saint John's Arms.
Several explanations for the symbol have been proposed:
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The valknut is a symbol consisting of three interlocked triangles forming subliminal triskelion at its center. The term valknut is a modern development; it is not known what term or terms were used to refer to the symbol historically.
Scholars have proposed a variety of explanations for the symbol, sometimes associating it with the god Odin, and it has been compared to the three-horned symbol found on the 9th-century Snoldelev Stone, to which it may be related.
The valknut appears on a wide variety of objects found in areas inhabited by the Germanic peoples. The symbol is prominently featured on the Nene River Ring, an Anglo-Saxon gold finger ring dated to around the 8th to 9th centuries. In 2024, an English shilling showing both the symbol and a person holding a cross was found near Norwich. It has been interpreted as a mixing of religious imagery, with the cross being a Christian symbol and the valknut being heathen. This is consistent with its dating to the 7th century CE, when Christianity was being adopted in England.
A wooden bed in the Viking Age Oseberg Ship buried near Tønsberg, Norway, features a carving of the symbol on an ornately stylized bedpost and the Oseberg tapestry fragments, a partially preserved tapestry found within the ship burial, also features the symbol.
Additionally, the valknut appears prominently on two picture stones from Gotland, Sweden: the Stora Hammars I stone and the Tängelgårda stone.
The historically attested instances of the symbol appear in two traditional, topologically distinct forms. The symbol appears in unicursal form, topologically a trefoil knot also seen in the triquetra. This unicursal form is found, for example, on the Tängelgårda stone. The symbol also appears in tricursal form, consisting of three linked triangles, topologically equivalent to the Borromean rings. This tricursal form can be seen on one of the Stora Hammars stones, as well as upon the Nene River Ring, and on the Oseberg ship bed post. Although other forms are topologically possible, these are the only attested forms found so far.
In Norwegian Bokmål, the term valknute is used for a polygon with a loop on each of its corners. In the English language, the looped, four-cornered symbol is called Saint John's Arms.
Several explanations for the symbol have been proposed:
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