Viking necklace in imitation leather and jewelery like a wolf cross (Petrus cross) approx. 60 mm x 35 mm.
In 1910, the wolf cross was found on a bare patch of land in Foss in Hrunamannahreppur in Árnessýsla, the region of Suðurland in southern Iceland. The find is numbered 6077 in the collections of the National Museum of Iceland. Previously, a miniature ax made of silver had been found in the same place. The wolf cross is usually dated to the 10th century or the Viking Age in general
The silver cross has three equal arms and a fourth longer cross arm with an animal head so that the cross can be hung on a necklace through the animal's mouth. The most common interpretation is that it is a wolf's head, which has given it the name wolf cross. The center of the cross is pierced by another cross. There are divided opinions as to whether to interpret the wolf cross as a cross or as a special Icelandic model of a hammer. As the find is the only one of its kind, it is difficult to put it in an archaeological and historical context. What suggests that it would be a pagan torso hammer is the resemblance to the hammer held by the famous Torse figure from Eyrarland outside Akureyri in northern Iceland. What suggests that it would be a Christian cross is that apart from the wolf's head, the wolf cross has great similarities with Irish crosses from the same period. In terms of form, it is a so-called Peter Cross, that is, an inverted cross. A common perception is therefore that the wolf cross is deliberately designed in an ambiguous way in order to thereby function as both a Christian cross and as a pagan thorshammer. The wolf cross is also used in nationalist circles with the interpretation that the symbol was worn by pagans as a protest against Christianity.
