Free or Framed? : The shifting ecospheres of guldgubbar

This paper explores guldgubbar, small gold foil figures from Vendel Period Scandinavia (c. 550–800 CE), through a new materialist lens, moving beyond representational interpretations rooted in Cartesian thought, that usually frames images to be in stasis. Instead of seeking a singular meaning, the study focuses on the figures' materiality, affective qualities, and ontological openness. Drawing on Karen Barad's agential realism, guldgubbar are approached as relational participants within entangled ecologies of matter and meaning. Agency and affect are treated not as fixed attributes, but as effects of intra-actions between bodies, materials, environments and material-discursive elements. A folded gold foil figure from Tørring, Denmark, is one example that demonstrate how these objects invite multisensory engagement, transformation, and play, fostering what Hustak and Myers term "affective ecologies." The paper argues that the figures' small scale, malleability, and aesthetic diversity enabled ongoing reconfigurations and social entanglements. Rather than static images, guldgubbar are seen as dynamic agents in the making of past worlds.