---
title: The Heggen Weather Vane
author: Kulturhistorisk museum
source: https://www.worldhistory.org/image/15085/the-heggen-weather-vane/
format: machine-readable-alternate
license: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/)
updated: 1970-01-01
---

# The Heggen Weather Vane

_Authored by Kulturhistorisk museum_

## Image File

[![The Heggen Weather Vane](https://www.worldhistory.org/uploads/images/15085.jpg)](https://www.worldhistory.org/uploads/images/15085.jpg)

## Image Caption

This wind vane (Old Norse *veðrviti*) glittered at the prow of a longship in the 11th century. Such vanes are very decorative - here a motif of the great beast - and [mark](https://www.worldhistory.org/disambiguation/Mark/) of high status in the [Viking Age](https://www.worldhistory.org/collection/29/the-viking-age/) and Early Middle Ages, not only simple indicators of the wind's direction. It was repurposed as a weather vane on the spire of the Heggen church, Norway.

## Cite This Work

### APA
museum, K. (2022, January 05). The Heggen Weather Vane. *World History Encyclopedia*. <https://www.worldhistory.org/image/15085/the-heggen-weather-vane/>
### Chicago
museum, Kulturhistorisk. "The Heggen Weather Vane." *World History Encyclopedia*, January 05, 2022. <https://www.worldhistory.org/image/15085/the-heggen-weather-vane/>.
### MLA
museum, Kulturhistorisk. "The Heggen Weather Vane." *World History Encyclopedia*, 05 Jan 2022, <https://www.worldhistory.org/image/15085/the-heggen-weather-vane/>.

## License & Copyright

[![copyright source](/images/partners/logo-smarthistory-sm.gif)](https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/medieval-world/x4b0eb531:viking-age-art/x4b0eb531:beginners-art-of-the-viking-age/a/art-of-the-viking-age)This content is provided by [Smarthistory](https://smarthistory.org/) under a content sharing agreement. [Original image](https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/medieval-world/x4b0eb531:viking-age-art/x4b0eb531:beginners-art-of-the-viking-age/a/art-of-the-viking-age) by [**Kulturhistorisk museum**](https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/medieval-world/x4b0eb531:viking-age-art/x4b0eb531:beginners-art-of-the-viking-age/a/art-of-the-viking-age). Submitted by [Irina-Maria Manea](https://www.worldhistory.org/user/irinamaria.manea/ "User Page: Irina-Maria Manea"), published on 05 January 2022. 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.