Roman gold coin (Valentinian), real size, found with fragments of a bronze vessel, glass beads, &c.—Norway. [Illustration: Fig. 1285. ] [Illustration: Fig. 1286.—Reverse. ] Imitation of Roman gold coin, real size, found in a tumulus with charcoal, gold ornaments, glass and amber beads, &c.—Norway. [Illustration: Fig. 1287.—Bracteate from Lögstör, Jutland. Real size. On it are the cross signs and _triskele_ and two birds which recall the Saga about Sigurd Fafnisbani, or Odin and his ravens. A similar one with two birds has been found in Vestergötland. ] [Illustration: Fig. 1288.—Bracteate. Southern Jutland. A warrior, bird, stag, or horse, and dots. Real size. ] Of the hundreds of bracteates[226] which have been discovered, a large number were found together; and those of similar design, which have evidently been struck from the same die, are sometimes found in regions far apart. The bracteates with the peculiar mystic signs above enumerated disappear entirely towards the year 600, and though bracteates are still found they are of quite different designs; for those with representations of dragons, serpents, &c., are of a much later period. Many of these designs may perhaps represent the deeds of great heroes told in ancient songs, such for example as the scene upon the gold bracteate found under the altar in the ancient wooden church of Gudsdal Troen parish in Gudbrandsdal, Norway, on which an armour-clad warrior on horseback fights a dragon. The purity of their gold is as remarkable as the skill of their workmanship. [Illustration: Fig. 1289.—Bracteate. Real size.—Blekinge, Sweden. ] [Illustration: Fig. 1290.—Bracteate. Real size.—Vestergötland, Sweden. ] [Illustration: Fig. 1291.—Bracteate with runic alphabet.—Vadstena, Sweden. Real size. ] The most important bracteate found is one of the two discovered near the little town of Vadstena on the Wettern, in Sweden. It has around its border an inscription in earlier runes, which evidently must be read from right to left. It has been ascertained by the scholars who have made a study of runes that, with the exception of the first division of eight, they represent the runic alphabet in its earliest form, the letter D being, for want of space, the only one missing. [Illustration: Fig. 1292.—Bracteate, Lyngby, Jutland, representing a man with a two-horned animal, surrounded by the _svastika_, the _triskele_, and four dots forming a cross, a circle of men’s heads, and a circle of animals. Real size. ] [Illustration: Fig. 1293.—Bracteate in Copenhagen Museum. Warrior, with a sword, fighting animals. Real size. ] [Illustration: Fig. 1294.—Bracteate found at Hitterdal, Norway, with _svastica_, and dots on it. Warrior’s head with helmet over the face, and crown above the helmet. Real size. ] [Illustration: Fig. 1295.—Bracteate found at Raflunda, Scania. Triangle of heads. Real size. ] [Illustration: