---
title: Urnes Style Disc Brooch
author: The Trustees of the British Museum
source: https://www.worldhistory.org/image/15043/urnes-style-disc-brooch/
format: machine-readable-alternate
license: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/)
updated: 1970-01-01
---

# Urnes Style Disc Brooch

_Authored by The Trustees of the British Museum_

## Image File

[![Urnes Style Disc Brooch](https://www.worldhistory.org/uploads/images/15043.jpg)](https://www.worldhistory.org/uploads/images/15043.jpg)

## Image Caption

Dished gilt [copper](https://www.worldhistory.org/copper/)-alloy disc brooch, Urnes style, from Pitney, Somerset, c. 11th century.

The British Museum, London.

Within a scalloped border, the convex surface of the circular brooch bears an openwork design of a coiled, ribbon animal in combat with a snake. The head has a pronounced lentoid eye, and an S-shaped lappet on the upper jaw. The creature bites its own body, which is composed of a plain and a beaded band. It has spiral hips; the sharply angled foreleg terminates in a three-toed foot and the hind leg divides into two tendrils. A snake's head with two prominent eyes, seen from above, bites the animal's neck.

## Cite This Work

### APA
Museum, T. T. o. t. B. (2021, December 20). Urnes Style Disc Brooch. *World History Encyclopedia*. <https://www.worldhistory.org/image/15043/urnes-style-disc-brooch/>
### Chicago
Museum, The Trustees of the British. "Urnes Style Disc Brooch." *World History Encyclopedia*, December 20, 2021. <https://www.worldhistory.org/image/15043/urnes-style-disc-brooch/>.
### MLA
Museum, The Trustees of the British. "Urnes Style Disc Brooch." *World History Encyclopedia*, 20 Dec 2021, <https://www.worldhistory.org/image/15043/urnes-style-disc-brooch/>.

## License & Copyright

The British Museum has released this image under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International ([CC BY-NC-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/)) license. You can read more about the British Museum and Creative Commons [here](https://www.britishmuseum.org/about_this_site/terms_of_use/copyright_and_permissions.aspx). [Original image](https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/H_1979-1101-1) by [**The Trustees of the British Museum**](https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/H_1979-1101-1). Submitted by [Irina-Maria Manea](https://www.worldhistory.org/user/irinamaria.manea/ "User Page: Irina-Maria Manea"), published on 20 December 2021. The copyright holder has published this content under the following license: [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/deed.en). This license lets others remix, tweak, and build upon this content non-commercially, as long as they credit the author and license their new creations under the identical terms. When republishing on the web a hyperlink back to the original content source URL must be included. Please note that content linked from this page may have different licensing terms.