Large rounded form, 2 3/4” height, probably for sturgeon which have mouths on the bottom of the head. Barbed, with broad flat opposite with a centered V, to which the line was lashed but allowing the hook to cut the line and break away before breaking the line. Vikings produced nails by the millions and the additional labor to forge a fish hook would have been negligible. The production of a line capable of landing a sturgeon (the record is 3400 pounds-24’ length) would be very labor intensive from spinning the string to braiding the cord and a line broken short would be a significant loss. The breakaway hook is an ingenious device to sacrifice the hook while preserving the line. We found no reference anywhere of a comparable example. Historic and important.
