18. Seal, bronze

From Stora Hellvigs, Fole parish, Gotland, 1300-1361 A. D. The seal is of the type used by six "district judges" on the island. One theory is that one of them lived on the farm at Stora Hellvigs. The fact that the seal is broken indicates that the judge had died. A similar seal has been found on a neighbouring farm, Duss in Bro parish (the small photo to the left). That seal had a Latin inscription: ”+GUTENSES: SIGNO: XPISTV: SIGNATUR: IN: AGNO” which in English would be something like ”I (the seal) signify the Gotlanders, Christ is signified by the lamb”. The figure on the seal is a sheep. SHM 21993:1