…oc láti svá Óðinn flein fliúga… The ‘Spear of Death’ in the Iconography of the Gotland Picture Stones: New Considerations Based on Digital Imaging Techniques

On some Gotlandic picture stones dating to the Migration Period and the Viking Age, a spear flying above either a boat/ship or a horseman is depicted. Two of these monuments additionally show the human figure throwing the spear. Based on digital imaging techniques (3D modelling and Reflectance Transformation Imaging) and the study of Old Norse literary sources, it is argued that the spear in these images is connected with a military ritual for dedicating the enemy slain to the god Óðinn, by throwing a spear over the hostile army. According to Old Norse poetry, the god of the dead himself participates in throwing the spear and by doing so determines the warriors’ doom. The spear on the picture stones is to be regarded as a symbol, indicating the sphere of death and the presence of the god of the slain.