Maeshowe Dragon Pendant
Maeshowe Dragon Pendant

PDT-SIL-00024-18C

Maeshowe Dragon Pendant

£135.00
£135.00
Sold Out

This marvellous creature was carved by Vikings 900 years ago on the wall of Orkney's great Neolithic monument, Maeshowe.

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In stock

Customer Reviews

Based on 6 reviews
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C
Cindy Smith
Maeshowe in my heart

I received this gorgeous piece of Orkney's finest jewellery as a birthday gift. I LOVE it so much. This is now the second piece of Ola Gorie I own with plans to own many more in my future. The detail of this iconic dragon is superb - and the pendant bail is solidly constructed to account for any possible wear from the chain. During lockdown we may not be able to travel there but we ca bring a little piece of hand crafted Orkney to us in the southern hemisphere. Thank you - i can feel the energy through it that was put into making it.

R
Rebecca Fielder
Fab

Really have fallen in love with Scotland from reading and watching all things Outlander! Was on a Viking podcast and there it was, the Cairn of Maises Howe (hope the spelling is correct) with the drawing or scratched in surface of a Dragon! Then I Googled it and found your website! Absolutely love my necklace and it gets all kinds of attention! Sooo very unique and finely crafted! Thank you for a fabulous find!

S
Skarðaborg
Wonderful craft!

This is a beautiful necklace. Over the past few years I’ve bought one for my mother, my wife, and my daughter. Just lovely to look at, and wonderful that Ola Gorie is sharing this through her craft. Our kin were from Orkney a very long time ago, and this is a great piece for us to recognize this memory. Cheers!

F
Fiona
Beautiful

Ordered yesterday and delivered today and I love it. The detail is very fine and intricate. I am sure I will enjoy wearing it. I would like to thank the person who helped me make the order. Outstanding service.

E
EFG
Product Review

This is a delight! I bought it when visiting the Orkneys and it will always remind me of that beautiful place. I wear this such a lot and it is a real conversation piece as people always want to know about the unusual design, so it makes me smile and I ha

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Dimensions: 22mm x 23mm

Chain: 18" curb chain

Maeshowe Dragon

It was Christmas, 1153. Earl Harald Maddadsson led his men eastwards from Hamnavoe towards the Bay of Firth. Perhaps they were heading for the tiny island of Damsay, and its great drinking hall and winter residence.


But half-way through the journey, a wild blizzard blew up. Fearing they’d be smoored under snow and frozen to death, Harald directed his Vikings to the nearest shelter. This turned out not to be a warm and welcoming farmhouse, but a mysterious stony mound rising out of a banked enclosure. Orkahaugr, the Norse called it. Now we know it as Maeshowe.

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Once sheltering inside, the Norsemen amused themselves by carving messages in twig-like runes on the walls. One particularly skilled carver left behind this striking dragon with its fierce grimace and wings ready for flight. Not a friendly-looking beast, but a suitably impressive Viking emblem!


Nine centuries later, Ola Gorie, freshly graduated, remembered what was at the time a little-known image hidden at the back of a dark mound. She crawled inside Maeshowe with torch and sketchbook and created her first ever jewellery design.


Launched in 1960, and still a favourite, this collection marks the birth of modern Orkney jewellery. But it’s also a direct link with our distant Viking past and their midwinter adventure.