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Charms, amulets and pendants — and the setting where antiquity claims are least reliable.
Worn symbols carry a commercial description far more often than a documented one. Where a charm has a real tradition behind it Symbolwise names the culture, the geography and the period; where the popular attribution is wrong it says so and gives the evidence.
The Vegvísir and the Ægishjálmur are the clearest cases: both are attested in Icelandic manuscripts of the nineteenth century and both are sold worldwide as Viking symbols. There is no Viking-Age evidence for either.
These records say so themselves — the setting appears in the symbol's own reviewed description or in one of its documented meanings.
A word written repeatedly with one letter dropped each line, forming a triangle.
Its summary places it there: “…physician Serenus Sammonicus in the third century as an amulet against fever, on the reasoning that the illness…”
Two Hebrew letters read as the word for 'living', worn as a pendant.
Its description places it there: “…letters read as the word for 'living', worn as a pendant”
A twisted horn-shaped pendant, usually red, worn against the evil eye.
Its a documented meaning places it there: “Worn as a pendant in southern Italy and among Italian diaspora…”
A loop of prayer beads, conventionally 108 with a larger head bead.
Its a documented meaning places it there: “Is worn as jewellery far beyond the practices it comes from, and a…”
A closed fist with the thumb pushed between index and middle finger.
Its a documented meaning places it there: “…protruding between the index and middle fingers, worn as an amulet and made as a gesture against the evil eye in…”
A red string or thread worn on the wrist as protection.
Its description places it there: “A red string or thread worn on the wrist as protection”
A star on a decoration — the commonest award motif, and the least transferable.
Its visual description places it there: “A star of five or more points, worked either as a pendant hanging from a ribbon or as a larger flat plaque…”
A three-pronged spear head, the attribute of Shiva.
Its summary places it there: “…planted at shrines, drawn on temple walls and worn as jewellery, and a Western reader meeting it out of context…”
An eight-armed Icelandic stave, each arm ending in a different device.
Its a documented meaning places it there: “Widely worn as jewellery and as a tattoo, and used as an emblem of Icelandic…”
These carry an editorial context assigned during review that places them here.
Gemstones set in order so that their initials spell a word.
An eight-armed Icelandic stave with trident-like terminals.
A raised open palm with a wheel at its centre, bearing the word ahimsa.
An upward-pointing triangle, the alchemical sign for fire.
An ancient Egyptian hieroglyphic sign shaped like a cross with a looped top, signifying life.
A set of eight auspicious marks drawn together in Buddhist, Hindu and Jain traditions.
A small emblem identifying which office tested and marked the article.
A seated figure of Britannia marking the higher 958 silver standard.
999.9, or 24K — how pure the metal is, stamped on the bar.
Numbers marking gold purity — 375, 585, 750, 916 — and what carats mean.
Two hands holding a crowned heart, an Irish emblem of love and loyalty.
Optional extra marks struck to mark a national occasion.
A balance-scale mark recognised across the Vienna Convention countries.
A single letter recording the year of assay — and readable only per office.
A monarch's head marking that excise duty had been paid.
A closed lattice of interwoven right-angled lines with no beginning and no end.
Two right hands clasped, a betrothal motif on European rings.
A number in a shaped surround giving the metal's purity in parts per thousand.
An open right-hand palm, often with an eye motif, used across Jewish, Muslim, Christian and secular Middle Eastern/North African traditions as a protective symbol.
A written Gurmukhi phrase used as an emblem, opening the Sikh scripture.
A distinct assay office mark showing an article was hallmarked on import.
A sideways figure-eight (∞) denoting an unbounded quantity in mathematics, and used more broadly as a symbol of endlessness.
A walking lion marking sterling silver in England.
A circle with an arrow pointing up and right — Mars, the male sign, and iron.
A skull, coffin or hourglass on a ring, worn as a reminder of mortality.
A string of thirty-three or ninety-nine beads used for counting recitations.
A trident — Neptune.
Fineness numbers for the two later-hallmarked precious metals.
A short verse or motto engraved inside a ring's band.
The row of small stamped marks on gold and silver, and what each position in the row tells you.
A letter or number stamped inside a band, giving its size in a national scale.
A loop of beads in five groups of ten, with a short pendant tail ending in a crucifix.
A device cut in reverse into a ring's face, to be read in its impression.
Initials in a shaped punch, identifying who submitted the article.
Nine interlocking triangles in a lotus ring, used as a focus for meditation.
A circle above a cross — Venus, the female sign, and copper.
If you can describe what you saw as well as where, say both: “winged skull on a gravestone” narrows a list of 45 to a handful.