This is an Asatru Ritual Oathring, inspired by sea serpent motifs found in some archaelogical Viking arts and ships, although I opted to make my sea serpent very cute.

I cut this baby out with a jeweler's saw from genuine silver sheet metal. I used an aquatint method and acid etch to achieve the depth and texture of the scales, and then hammered and annealed this baby to shape. He sports a garnet eye, and a repetitve pattern of the 24 runes inscribed as his underbelly. I was really wanting to go for the effect of this being some ancient found object so I opted to forego using a polish, and allow it to tarnish. Every once in a while when the tarnish gets a bit too dark I'll buff lightly with fine grade steel wool.

The first oathring found in Norse mythology is draupnir, given to Odin. The ring was said to drop 9 rings a day from it, and is the forefather of all other oathrings. Oathrings were used in antiquity and are still used today among practitioners, as a sacred symbol over which oaths are sworn in ritual settings. Since I'm lazy, here's a nice little quoted excerpt from Alfta Svanni Lothursdottir's The Religious Practices of the Pre-Christian and Viking Age North citing sources and historical usage:

"The oath was normally sworn on an object. Many times this object was the oath ring and this oath ring was a holy item in the hof. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle gives an example of the oath ring being used by the Danes (255) in 876 and there is an account of a ring called Thor's ring on which oaths were sworn. Thor presided over the Assembly, which opened on Thursday (Thor's Day) in Iceland. (256) In Eyrbyggja Saga the oath ring was described as being 20 ounces of silver. When not in use it lay on the stalli and during feasts the gothi wore it on his arm. (257) In the description of Thórólf's hof in Iceland, the ring is described as being 2 ounces and was worn on the finger of the gothi during all assemblies. Like the description in Eyrbyggja Saga, this ring laid on the stalli of the hof when not in use. (258)

In Landnámabók we have a very good description of the oath ring and its use. It was to be at least two ounces or more and when not in use it would lay on the stalli. As in the previous examples it was to be worn by the hof-gothi at all assemblies and here we find out that it was to be reddened by blood from the sacrificial animal before hand. Here also we find the basis for the modern practice of taking an oath on the Christian Bible in courts of law for every man who had a case in the Thing (law assembly) was required to swear an oath on this ring and name two witnesses. The oath was worded thusly: "I name [the two witnesses] witnesses herein, that I take an oath on the ring, a lawful oath, ---so help me Frey and Njörd and the Almighty Ás (Othinn), as I shall pursue (or defend) this suit, or bear witness, or give verdict or judgment, according to what I know to be most right and true and in accordance with the law." The example we have in Víga-Glúms Saga agrees very closely with this account. The man taking the oath was to take it on a silver ring not less than three ounces that had been dipped in the blood of a sacrificed ox. Glúm used the following words to swear his oath: "I take a temple-oath on the ring, and I say to the god,' etc. " Freyr and Njörth are not used in this oath, instead only 'the god' is mentioned. (259) The above examples that list the ring as being 2 ounces may be a mistranslation. For examples the description given in Eyrbyggja Saga listed above gives the ring as being 2 ounces. The actual text for this is 20 eyrar which Davidson says is about 550 grams or roughly 17.5 ounces. This would be a more logical weight for a ring that was worn on the arm. (260)"