Stirrup, 975–1075
Anglo-Scandinavian, possibly from southern England
Iron inlaid with copper alloy
Technical Glossary
Anglo-Scandinavian, possibly from southern England
Iron inlaid with copper alloy
10 x 5 1/2 in. (25.4 x 14 cm)
Fletcher Fund, 1947 (47.100.23)
Though the Vikings are best known as seafaring warriors, through contact with Europe they grew ever more adept as cavalrymen. Changes in stirrup design gave a tactical advantage in that they permitted a warrior to shift his weight onto the stirrups and thereby wield his weapons with greater height and force. This stirrup, decorated with a distinctive technique of iron inlay, is of a type found in England and may have been introduced in the renewed Viking attacks at the end of the tenth century.
