Copper-alloy, 1.6 Kg, 192.60 mm. Circa 10th century AD. An excessively rare neck-ring or torc consisting of a pair of graduated coiled rods in seven circuits; the outer rod is wound about the inner to give a ropework surface effect. The outer band terminates in a loop while the inner tapers to a shallow point. The fact that both terminals are in proximity implies that the piece may have been intended to form a single, continuous coiled neck-ring although the weight and dimensions of the piece would form an unwieldy personal ornament; it may therefore have been used as a display piece recalling the monstrous serpent, , which in Scandinavian cosmology encircled Miðgarðr, the world of men. Reference: for coiled torcs, see Lehtosalo-Hilander, P-L.,Luistari (Finland), A History of Weapons and Ornaments, Helsinki, 2000. Very fine condition