Viking Raiders Turned English King's Prayer Coins into Jewelry

Two extremely rare 'Lamb of God' pennies minted by English king Aethelred II around 1009 to ward off Viking invaders have been discovered in Denmark by metal detectorists. The coins, part of a religious penance ordered by Aethelred after Thorkell the Tall's siege, feature a lamb pierced by a cross and a dove symbolizing the Holy Spirit. Only about 30 such coins are known to survive, mostly found in Scandinavia and the Baltics rather than England. Many have holes indicating Vikings wore them as amulets. Gitte Tarnow Ingvardson, curator at the National Museum of Denmark, notes the irony: the coins meant to protect against Vikings were instead admired, turned into jewelry, and even copied. The discovery highlights how Vikings adopted Christian symbols and English monetary systems, with Viking kings like Harald Hardrada later minting their own coins. Aethelred's penance failed to stop the invasion; he lost his throne to Sweyn Forkbeard in 1013.