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Text and photo: Laila Durán

It is a glittering winter day when I visit the Löfgren family in Solna, outside

Stockholm, to see their marvelous collection of costume silver. Anna Löfgren who

you met in the last issue of BUNAD has brought forth a lot of silver ornaments,

some pieces as old as late medieval age.

Her husband Anders Löfgren has been a passionate collector since young age. When,

at the age of 15, his first own salary was going to be spent, he bought a pair of

specially made shoe buckles from the master smith Christer Tonnby in Oscarström,

which was the beginning of a friendship lasting for 25 years.

On the table the silver is spread out, looking like a treasure from a fairy tale. Big

coins decorated with hanging leaves, antique chains and then a small plain

medallion hanging from a cord of red woolen yarn. This is Ellakorset – the elf cross.

A cross with elegant letters is engraved in the silver: Jesu Herrans Son Hjelp Mig-

Help Me Jesus Son of the Lord. It is a very special pendant, Anders tells me. The

Ellakors was worn as protection against elves and particularly Näcken – a super-

natural creature living in running water. The woolen cord had the function that it

would break if the water elf tried to drag humans into the water, because he would

first grab after the silver.

Ellakors, Sållakorsoch Penningakors- the power and meaning of costume silver

t was a complicated task tomake the silver powerful. To geta protection against supernatu-ral creatures the silver should be

a gift. You asked friends and family membersfor small bits of silver (called tigge-silver -begging-silver), and when you had collectedenough for a pendant you could go to the sil-ver smith. Coming to the smith’s house youdid not to mention the subject of your visit.You sat down and talked about commonthings as weather and wind. It was importantto get information of how the crop was gro-wing if the hens were laying and the cow gavegood milk. If the smith then complainedabout the hens you knew what was lacking inthe house. Now you put the silver on thetable under the tablecloth and stood up todrink snaps. When you sat down again youswitched places and the smith placed himselfwhere the silver was hidden. The business

was now sett, and you thanked and said goodbye.

Some weeks later it was time to fetch theEllacross, and the same procedure was repea-ted. You placed the eggs on the table and satdown to talk. After getting up for the snapsthe places were switched and under the table-cloth lied the finished cross. In this way thesmith got the eggs and the cross has a newowner. To gain power in the silver, the crosshas to be taken to the church. There it wassecretly hidden under the altar cloth and hadto rest there during three Sundays, preferablywith communion. After this, a cord wasmade from red wool and the cross was wornconcealed under your clothing. In this wayyou were protected against Näcken and otherevil elves.

If you needed protection against illness,amber (rav - in southern Swedish dialect) wasrecommended. The healing properties of

amber had been appreciated in all Europe forcenturies, and amber was exported fromScandinavia all the way to theMediterranean. Besides protection againstcold, phthisis and tuberculosis, amber wasused against the evil eye. If you had a shinyand polished piece of amber, the stone coulddefend and reflect curses from malevolentpersons.

Anna Löfgren origins from Skåne, the sout-hernmost part of Sweden and her husbandhas eagerly collected local silver in form ofIHS-crosses. The letters mean IesusHominem Salvator, but the 16th centurypeasants, who knew no Latin, understood itas Jesus Herrans Son – Jesus Son of the Lord,and this is how the cross still is called.

We see three different crosses, all decoratedwith letters for the virgin Mary or pendantleaves as symbols for the holy Trinity. Mostcommon is Pengakorsen- the coin crosses,

I1. The three silver balls symbolize the holy Trinity, and atbelow is the letter M for Virgin Mary. The amber hart is hollow and could be filled with a perfumed sponge or a pieceof textile.2. The IHS-cross from Skåne is dated to the 16th century. The letters mean Iesus Hominem Salvator, translated by thepeasants as Jesus Son of the Lord.

3. Sållakorset has three Mary monograms combined with theletters IHS cut out in a design remaining of a sieve (såll inSwedish).4. Around the big amber hart hangs three M for Virgin Maryalso symbolizing the holy Trinity. The heart is a symbol forlove between man and woman as well as the love betweenGod and humans.

Ellakorset with the inscription «Jesu Herrans Son Hjelp Mig» - Help Me Jesus Son of the Lord, was worn as protection against Näcken and evilelves. The woolen cord was a security, when Näcken tried to drag humans into the water he grasped the silver and the cord would break.

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1. One mark silver. The reverse of Carlolus XI´s coin from theend of the 17th century. The round leaves indicate the southSwedish origin of the cross. 2. 1 Riksdaler silver from 1782 with the profile of Gustavus III.3. Penningakorset with Maria Theresia is a silverthaler. Theword Thaler origins from the German Joachimsthaler, which isthe name of the big Bohemian silver mine where the first

thaler coins were minted. In Sweden the word was pronounceddaler and it also is the root for American Dollar.4.Gilded cross made from a four mark silver coin of 1693decorated with five rhomboid leaves. This type was commonnorth of the Mälar valley in central Sweden, whereas roundcoins were common in southern Sweden.

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The picture over: 1741, the same year when Sweden under French pressure declared war against Russia, Fredrik I minted this coin with his device«Gud Mitt Hopp» - My hope is in God, on the face side. The picture beneath: The oldest Penningakors in the Löfgren family collection is madefrom a two mark silver coin from the reign of Carolus X in 1664.

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who appear in different variations all over theworld. The crosses were made from coins,medallions or kastpenningar - coins that werethrown out at coronations, royal tours of thecountry, royal weddings and funerals. Coinshave been used in this way since theMigration Age, as protective amulets or sym-bols of status. Among the rarities in theLöfgren silver collection is a gilded crossmade from a four mark silver coin of 1693,decorated with five rhomboid hanging leaves.These rhomboid leaves are characteristicnorth of the Mälar valley in central Sweden,while the round leaves are common in sout-hern Sweden. Another Pengakors made froma four mark silver coin of 1692 has theseround leaves. At the 18th century, in thereign of Gustavus III, Swedish Riksdalercoins were minted adjusted to international

monetary standard. The beautiful Pengakorswith the portrait and monogram is dated1782.

Anders Löfgren has his silver neatly storedin small and bigger boxes. As the photo sessi-on progresses new astonishing silverworkkeeps appearing. I get speechless in sight ofsome big crosses with pagan symbols, but wedecide to meet again to hear the history aboutthese precious things. This would be anotherarticle for Bunad magazine. It is however truethat the six members of the Löfgren familyhave enough silver to protect themselvesagainst all elves, witches, sickness and curses.We thank for the visit and hope that themagic power of the amber stone and the ring-ing sound from the silver leaves will give luckand prosperity to the family.