Magic silverball

During the Middle Ages filigree silverballs were used all over Scandinavia as jewellery for the national costume. In the 1700'th century the filigree silverballs were made smaller. Silverballs combined of a smooth and a filigree halv appeared. At the same time completely smooth silverballs , with small rings soldered to it, were produced. Bigger loose rings were mounted into the small rings around the . The loose rings were probably only decoration and had no practical or symbolic meaning. The Sami used the silverballs on the collar of their national costume and they attached the silverballs above the very special sami cradless, komse, thereby they were named komsekule. The Sami hoped that the komsekule would protect the babies against the goblins. They believed that the goblins wanted to exchange their own children for the sami children. The Sami believed that the goblins couldn't even come near the cradles if there were some protective silverballs hung over it. Today these silverballs are popular jewellery, which may still have some symbolic meaning, because they are often used in the Sami areas a gift when the children are baptised .r._en