Steel Valknut ring - Steel

Northern Viking Jewelry®-Ring "Steel Valknut". The sides of the ring feature runic inscriptions.

Valknut: The wind sways the ancient pines and spruces. An owl hoots in the forest. The campfire crackles. The oval brooches on the maiden’s dress gleam in the firelight. She closes her eyes and waits.

Suddenly, a swift rustle breaks the silence of the darkness. The maiden opens her eyes. She lights a torch in case of wild beasts and points it toward the edge of the forest: “Who’s there?” she calls. The rustling draws closer and closer.

Then, a man steps into the circle of firelight. The maiden immediately recognizes the cloak, the braided mustache, and the shoes laced by the local tanner. She lets the torch fall from her hand and runs into his arms: “You have returned!”

Later that evening, after the man has told her everything—of Harald Bluetooth’s border waters, the raging sea winds, and the wealth of the conquered monasteries—he asks his maiden to close her eyes and steps behind her.

He moves her long locks aside from her neck and opens his fist. A piece of jewelry slips from his grasp. He fastens it around her neck. The silver of the piece, warmed by his hand, feels pleasant against her skin.

The man speaks: “Accept this jewelry, in memory of the fallen and as a symbol of the bond chosen between us. When you wear it upon your chest, you carry with you courage, truth, honor, loyalty, discipline, hospitality, self-reliance, productivity, and resilience.”

The woman turns and sees the same piece of jewelry hanging upon her husband's chest. And so they sit by the fire until dawn, until the embers glow red, the owl’s hoot fades into silence, and the rising sun chases the stars from the sky.