A yellow gold Anglo-Saxon ring bearing an image of the ancient god Woden will be showcased at a museum in Essex for the first time in May. Read all about this fascinating find below.
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Elaborately decorated with beaded scrolls and embellished with gemstones set into the shape of a Woden bird, the yellow gold Anglo-Saxon ring looks every bit like a piece of ancient buried treasure.
And yet, when Dean Young’s metal detector first began pinging at a site close to Matching Green in Essex back in 2023, he initially believed he’d found “a piece of tin foil”.
“It was not until I picked it up and by the weight of it, I knew it was gold,” he recounted to the BBC. “My friend could see from my face I’d found something really good.”
Officially declared ‘a treasure’ by a coroner who examined Young’s find, the ring has now been acquired by Epping Forest District Museum in Waltham Abbey, Essex, and will soon be on display for the public to admire.
At its centre, the ring bears a cloisonné set garnet and quartz gemstone bird, which is thought to be a reference to Woden, the one-eyed Saxon god of war, wisdom and poetry – the equivalent of the Norse god Odin – who was accompanied often by two ravens, linked to Thought and Memory.
One of the most important figures in traditional Anglo-Saxon folklore, Woden was considered a charismatic shaman, the leader of ‘wild hunt’ and an ‘Allfather’ to the ancient English. Indeed, he became so integral to ancient English culture, his name lives on today in the names of many towns and in the word ‘Wednesday‘.
According to Ian Channell, manager of the Epping Forest District Museum, the ring’s depiction of a bird may suggest that “the wearer could be seeking the protection of Woden and his raven god persona”.
Thanks to funds from Arts Council England/V&A Purchase Grant, the Headley Trust, the Art Fund, the West Essex Archaeological Group, the Essex Society for History and Archaeology, and the Waltham Abbey Historical Society, as well as private donations, this Anglo Saxon treasure will now be safeguarded and kept in England for future generations to enjoy.
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