Around the World: Odin and Christianity on the Same Coin
A rare Anglo-Saxon thrymsa depicts Odin with a Christian cross, offering striking evidence of pagan and Christian traditions blending in early East Anglia’s royal coinage.
The ancient Norse pagan god Odin is recorded in such sources as the “Poetic Edda,” the “Ynglinga saga,” and the “Prose Edda.” In Norse mythology, Odin is associated with symbols such as a spear, ring, and triple horn, the ravens Huginn and Muninn, the wolves Geri and Freki, and the eight-legged horse Sleipnir, but never a Christian cross…until now. The image of Odin with a cross has been discovered on a recently found Anglo-Saxon coin.
The coin was discovered near Norwich by an individual with a metal detector, and it is likely from the early Anglo-Saxon period. According to experts, the coin dates from between 640 and 660 and is the oldest known coin from East Anglia. The earliest coins attributed to East Anglia in Spink’s “Coins of England” are sceats, issued around 749 by King Æthelbert and around 758 by King Beonna. These coins feature either a portrait of the king or pellets. A coin of Beonna features runic writing around a cross.
The recently discovered coin is a thrymsa, an early form of an Anglo-Saxon shilling. The obverse depicts a male figure appearing to dance while holding a Christian cross above a valknut. A valknut is three interlocking triangles associated with Odin and the afterlife. The reverse depicts a quatrefoil around a cross, accompanied by an imitation Latin inscription made by what was likely a non-literate die cutter.
East Anglia was ruled by the initially pagan Wuffingas Dynasty through 749. The name of the dynastic founder, King Wuffa, means “descendants of the wolf.” King Rædwald was baptized in 604. Rædwald maintained a Christian altar but continued to worship pagan gods at the same time. It appears that Christianity prevailed during the reign of Sigeberht (about 754–756), who had been baptized in Francia.
Pagan and Christian iconography continued to overlap and blend during the time of major religious transformation throughout England. In 865, the Danish Great Heathen Army invaded East Anglia; however, Christianity eventually prevailed. The recently discovered coin is physical evidence of how these two spiritual worlds coexisted and influenced one another during the 7th century.
Norfolk Historic Environment Service numismatist Dr. Adrian Marsden called the coin “massively significant… It’s the first of its type. New shilling designs almost never turn up, and this one uniquely bridges the pagan and Christian eras.”
Marsden explained, “It’s plain from looking at the letters that whoever made the die wasn’t literate; the letters don’t bear much resemblance to Latin—they’re garbage really.”
Marsden cautioned that the reverse symbol could be a cross. However, it could be the swastika used as a symbol of good luck. The swastika may have been used to represent the pagan god Thor, who was associated with thunder. A swastika appears on a sixth-century hilt and sword belt found in a grave in Kent.
The coin is composed of between 56% and 60% gold, which is a high purity compared to other known coins from the same period. Marsden has suggested that the gold purity and the regal portrait suggest this was part of an early East Anglian royal coinage, possibly minted just before the kingdom fully adopted Christianity.
The coin originates from the period following the well-known archaeological site of Sutton Hoo. This site is an Anglo-Saxon royal ship burial, likely dating from 624 or 625, and was discovered near Woodbridge, Suffolk. The Sutton Hoo find is the richest burial ever found in northern Europe.
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