Franks Casket
Encyclopedia
The Franks Casket is a small Anglo-Saxon
whalebone chest from the seventh century, now in the British Museum
. The casket is densely decorated with knife-cut narrative scenes in flat two-dimensional low-relief
and with inscriptions mostly in Anglo-Saxon runes. Both identifying the images and interpreting the runic inscriptions has generated a considerable amount of scholarship. Generally reckoned to be of Northumbria
n origin, it is of unique importance for the insight it gives into early Anglo-Saxon culture.
The imagery is very diverse in its subject matter and derivations, and includes a single Christian image, the Adoration of the Magi, along with images derived from Roman history
(Emperor Titus) and Roman mythology
(Romulus and Remus
), as well as depictions of legends indigenous to the Germanic peoples
: the Germanic legend
of Weyland the Smith, an episode from the Sigurd
legend, and a legend that is apparently an otherwise lost episode from the life of Weyland's brother Egil
. The inscriptions "display a deliberate linguistic and alphabetic virtuosity; though they are mostly written in Old English and in runes, they shift into Latin and the Roman alphabet; then back into runes while still writing Latin". Some are written upside down or back to front. The chest is clearly modelled on Late Antique ivory caskets such as one at Brescia
; the Veroli Casket
in the V&A Museum is a Byzantine interpretation of the style, in revived classical style, from about 1000.
; it is possible that it was looted during the French Revolution. It was then in the possession of a family in Auzon
, a village in Haute Loire (upper Loire region) France
. It served as a sewing box until the silver hinges and fittings joining the panels were traded for a silver ring. Without the support of these the casket fell apart. The parts were shown to a Professor Mathieu from nearby Clermont-Ferrand
, who sold them to an antique shop in Paris
, where they were bought in 1857 by Sir Augustus Wollaston Franks
, who subsequently donated the panels in 1867 to the British Museum, where he was Keeper of the British and Medieval collections. The missing right end panel was later found in a drawer by the family in Auzon and sold to the Bargello Museum, Florence
, where it was identified as part of the casket in 1890. The British Museum display includes a cast of it.
" identifying some figures, that are not detailed below and appear within the image field.
panels in silver making up the missing areas. The empty round area in the centre probably housed the metal boss for a handle.
The lid shows a scene of an archer, labelled Ægili, single-handedly defending a fortress against a troop of attackers, who from their larger size may be giants. A lady who is probably his wife or lover is also shown within the fortress. In Norse mythology
, Egil
is named as a brother of Weyland
, who is shown on the front panel of the casket. The Þiðrekssaga depicts Egil as a master archer and the Völundarkviða
tells that he was the husband of the swan maiden Olrun. The Pforzen buckle
inscription, dating to about the same period as the casket, also makes reference to the couple Egil and Olrun (Áigil andi Áilrun).
, who has had his hamstring
s cut to hobble him. Below the forge is the headless body of Niðhad's son, who Wayland has killed, making a goblet from his skull; his head is probably the object held in the tongs in Wayland's hand. With his other hand Wayland offers the goblet, containing drugged beer, to Bodvild, Niðhad's daughter, who he then rapes when she is unconscious. Another female figure is shown in the centre; perhaps Wayland's helper, or Bodvild again. To the right of the scene Wayland (or his brother) catches birds; he then makes wings from their feathers, with which he is able to escape.
In a sharp contrast of theme, the right-hand scene shows one of the commonest Christian subjects depicted in the art of the period. The Three Magi, identified by an inscription ("magi"), led by the large star, approach the enthroned Madonna and Child bearing the traditional gifts. A goose
-like bird by the feet of the leading magus may represent the Holy Spirit
, usually shown as a dove
, or an angel
. The human figures, at least, form a composition very comparable to those in other depictions of the period.
Around the panel runs the following inscription, which does not relate to the scenes but is a riddle
on the origin of the casket itself as whalebone:
Which may be interpreted as:
The two alliterating lines constitute the oldest piece of Anglo-Saxon poetry:
, being suckled by a wolf lying on her back at the bottom of the scene. The same wolf, or another, stands above, and there are two men with spears approaching from each side. The inscription reads:
Which may be interpreted as:
by Titus
in the First Jewish-Roman War
and contains the inscription:
Which may be interpreted as:
At left in the upper register the Romans, led by Titus(?) in a helm with a sword, attack a domed building, probably the Temple of Jerusalem, in the centre. At right ("HIC FUGIANT HIERUSALIM") the Jewish population flee, casting glances backwards. In the lower register at left, a throned figure, probably Titus, announces the "doom" or fate of the defeated Jews, which as recounted in Josephus
was to be sold into slavery
. In the right hand scene, the "gisl" or slaves/hostages are led away.
(D'Ardenne) to the Nativity of Jesus
(Simmons), and of the right-hand scene from the three Norns
(Becker) to the Arrest of Jesus
(Simmons).
The inscription contains three more alliterating lines:
A definite translation of the lines has met with difficulty. Usually her hos sitæþ is read, "here sits the horse". Becker reads herh os, "the god of the wood". særden has various interpretations.
Which is dependent upon the translation of:
This he translates, "The idol sits far off on the dire hill, suffers abasement in sorrow and heart-rage as the den of pain had ordained for it." Linguistically, the segment os- represents the verbal prefix oþ- assimilated to the following sibilant, while in the b-verse of the second line er "before" is an independent word before a three-member verbal compound, tae-gi-sgraf. The first member tae- is a rare form of the particle-prefix to-.
The inscription refers specifically to the scene on the left end of the casket's right side. The 'idol' (herh) is Satan
in the form of an ass, being tortured by a personified Hell in helmet. The scene is a reference to the apocryphon Decensus ad Inferos
, a popular medieval text translated into Anglo-Saxon. In one version of the story, a personified Hell blames Satan for having brought about the Crucifixion
, which has allowed Christ to descend to Hell's kingdom and free the imprisoned souls. Therefore, Hell tortures Satan in retribution. Simmons separates the other scenes on the right side and interprets them as depictions of the Nativity
and the Passion
.
L. Peeters comments (translated): "The figure to the left of the crowded panel looks like a kind of monster. Scholars have voiced the opinion that its head is that of a horse. They are prepared to emendate the first word of the runic text, hos, into horse to fit the picture. Hos remains for them a mystery in an equally mysterious context of the panel's interpretation. Every step of this procedure is prone to be part of a vicious cycle. Others are convinced, that even without reference to the text, the monster's head belongs to a horse".
, the picture and inscription on the left panel (r) meant to protect the hero on his way to war, the back panel (t) documenting the peak of a warrior-king's life is glory won by victory over his enemies, the right panel (s) alluding to a heroic death in battle.
The lid (æ) shows the Wayland brother Egil and his companion, a Valkyrie
, defending Valhalla against the frost giants. Each scene corresponds with a certain rune in a definite position (f, g, r, t, s, æ, producing a value of 3 x 24). Becker also attempts a numerological analysis of the inscriptions, counting a total of 288 or 12 x 24 signs (runes, Latin letters and punctuation). The number of runes refers to a ten-year solar calendar while their value produces a lunar calendar. The mainly Latin formula ‘HIC FUGIANT HIERUSALIM’ produces a perfect Metonic cycle
with all its leap years indicated by rune-like symbols.
As the two alliterating runes 'f' (feoh) and 'g' (gift) on the front panel can be understood as Old English feogift (bounty, largesse) and as the pictures of the Magi (bringers of "gifts") and of the mythical goldsmith (maker of trinkets etc.) express the same, the box may have served a king as his hoard box from which he handed out his gifts to his followers in the hall. As the magic intention points to pagan practice, this ruler may have been the Northumbrian King Edwin
(586-633). Both the numerological analysis and the interpretation that pagan or royal practice is indicated are highly speculative and accepted by few scholars.
Marijane Osborn in an article titled "The Seventy-Two Gentile Nations and the Theme of the Franks Casket" says that "several scholars have observed that the number of runes plus dots in the inscriptions on the front and the two sides of the casket in each case adds up to seventy-two, the number of the futhoric or rune-list multiplied by three. Whereas Alfred Becker sees this as indicating pagan magic, I see it as another example of the Franks Casket artist turning his pagan materials to a Christian evangelical purpose. As he is manipulating his runes very carefully, on the left side and front supplementing their numbers with dots and on the right side reducing their number with a Roman letter and a bindrune, so that each of the three inscriptions contains precisely seventy-two items, there can be no question here of us introducing a symbolism that was not intended. But it may be misinterpreted."
Anglo-Saxon
Anglo-Saxon may refer to:* Anglo-Saxons, a group that invaded Britain** Old English, their language** Anglo-Saxon England, their history, one of various ships* White Anglo-Saxon Protestant, an ethnicity* Anglo-Saxon economy, modern macroeconomic term...
whalebone chest from the seventh century, now in the British Museum
British Museum
The British Museum is a museum of human history and culture in London. Its collections, which number more than seven million objects, are amongst the largest and most comprehensive in the world and originate from all continents, illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from its...
. The casket is densely decorated with knife-cut narrative scenes in flat two-dimensional low-relief
Relief
Relief is a sculptural technique. The term relief is from the Latin verb levo, to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is thus to give the impression that the sculpted material has been raised above the background plane...
and with inscriptions mostly in Anglo-Saxon runes. Both identifying the images and interpreting the runic inscriptions has generated a considerable amount of scholarship. Generally reckoned to be of Northumbria
Northumbria
Northumbria was a medieval kingdom of the Angles, in what is now Northern England and South-East Scotland, becoming subsequently an earldom in a united Anglo-Saxon kingdom of England. The name reflects the approximate southern limit to the kingdom's territory, the Humber Estuary.Northumbria was...
n origin, it is of unique importance for the insight it gives into early Anglo-Saxon culture.
The imagery is very diverse in its subject matter and derivations, and includes a single Christian image, the Adoration of the Magi, along with images derived from Roman history
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
(Emperor Titus) and Roman mythology
Roman mythology
Roman mythology is the body of traditional stories pertaining to ancient Rome's legendary origins and religious system, as represented in the literature and visual arts of the Romans...
(Romulus and Remus
Romulus and Remus
Romulus and Remus are Rome's twin founders in its traditional foundation myth, although the former is sometimes said to be the sole founder...
), as well as depictions of legends indigenous to the Germanic peoples
Germanic peoples
The Germanic peoples are an Indo-European ethno-linguistic group of Northern European origin, identified by their use of the Indo-European Germanic languages which diversified out of Proto-Germanic during the Pre-Roman Iron Age.Originating about 1800 BCE from the Corded Ware Culture on the North...
: the Germanic legend
Germanic paganism
Germanic paganism refers to the theology and religious practices of the Germanic peoples of north-western Europe from the Iron Age until their Christianization during the Medieval period...
of Weyland the Smith, an episode from the Sigurd
Sigurd
Sigurd is a legendary hero of Norse mythology, as well as the central character in the Völsunga saga. The earliest extant representations for his legend come in pictorial form from seven runestones in Sweden and most notably the Ramsund carving Sigurd (Old Norse: Sigurðr) is a legendary hero of...
legend, and a legend that is apparently an otherwise lost episode from the life of Weyland's brother Egil
Agilaz
Egil is a legendary hero of the Völundarkviða and the Thidreks saga. The name is from Proto-Germanic *Agilaz, and the same legend is reflected in Old English Ægil of the Franks Casket and Alamannic Aigil of the Pforzen buckle....
. The inscriptions "display a deliberate linguistic and alphabetic virtuosity; though they are mostly written in Old English and in runes, they shift into Latin and the Roman alphabet; then back into runes while still writing Latin". Some are written upside down or back to front. The chest is clearly modelled on Late Antique ivory caskets such as one at Brescia
Brescia
Brescia is a city and comune in the region of Lombardy in northern Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, between the Mella and the Naviglio, with a population of around 197,000. It is the second largest city in Lombardy, after the capital, Milan...
; the Veroli Casket
Veroli casket
The Veroli Casket is an ivory and metal casket, made in Constantinople in the late tenth or early eleventh century, and now in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London. It is thought to have been made for a person close to the Imperial Court of Constantinople, the capital of the Byzantine Empire,...
in the V&A Museum is a Byzantine interpretation of the style, in revived classical style, from about 1000.
History
The history of the casket before the mid-19th century was unknown until relatively recently, when investigations by W.H.J. Weale revealed that the casket had belonged to the church of Saint-Julien, BrioudeBrioude
Brioude is a commune in the Haute-Loire department in the Auvergne region in south-central France. It lies on the banks of the River Allier, a tributary of the Loire.-History:...
; it is possible that it was looted during the French Revolution. It was then in the possession of a family in Auzon
Auzon
Auzon is a commune in the Haute-Loire department in south-central France....
, a village in Haute Loire (upper Loire region) France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. It served as a sewing box until the silver hinges and fittings joining the panels were traded for a silver ring. Without the support of these the casket fell apart. The parts were shown to a Professor Mathieu from nearby Clermont-Ferrand
Clermont-Ferrand
Clermont-Ferrand is a city and commune of France, in the Auvergne region, with a population of 140,700 . Its metropolitan area had 409,558 inhabitants at the 1999 census. It is the prefecture of the Puy-de-Dôme department...
, who sold them to an antique shop in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, where they were bought in 1857 by Sir Augustus Wollaston Franks
Augustus Wollaston Franks
Sir Augustus Wollaston Franks KCB was an English antiquary and museum administrator. Franks was described by Marjorie Caygill, historian of the British Museum, as "arguably the most important collector in the history of the British Museum, and one of the greatest collectors of his age".-Early...
, who subsequently donated the panels in 1867 to the British Museum, where he was Keeper of the British and Medieval collections. The missing right end panel was later found in a drawer by the family in Auzon and sold to the Bargello Museum, Florence
Florence
Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....
, where it was identified as part of the casket in 1890. The British Museum display includes a cast of it.
Description
The casket is 22.9 cm long, 19 cm wide and 10.9 cm high - 9 x 7½ by 5⅛ inches, and dateable from the language of its inscriptions and other features to the first half of the eighth century AD. There are other inscriptions, "tituliTitulus (inscription)
Titulus is a term used for the labels or captions naming figures or subjects in art, which were commonly added in classical and medieval art, and remain conventional in Eastern Orthodox icons...
" identifying some figures, that are not detailed below and appear within the image field.
Lid
The lid as it now survives is too small. Leslie Webster has suggested that there may have been reliefRelief
Relief is a sculptural technique. The term relief is from the Latin verb levo, to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is thus to give the impression that the sculpted material has been raised above the background plane...
panels in silver making up the missing areas. The empty round area in the centre probably housed the metal boss for a handle.
The lid shows a scene of an archer, labelled Ægili, single-handedly defending a fortress against a troop of attackers, who from their larger size may be giants. A lady who is probably his wife or lover is also shown within the fortress. In Norse mythology
Norse mythology
Norse mythology, a subset of Germanic mythology, is the overall term for the myths, legends and beliefs about supernatural beings of Norse pagans. It flourished prior to the Christianization of Scandinavia, during the Early Middle Ages, and passed into Nordic folklore, with some aspects surviving...
, Egil
Agilaz
Egil is a legendary hero of the Völundarkviða and the Thidreks saga. The name is from Proto-Germanic *Agilaz, and the same legend is reflected in Old English Ægil of the Franks Casket and Alamannic Aigil of the Pforzen buckle....
is named as a brother of Weyland
Weyland
In Germanic and Norse mythology, Wayland the Smith is a legendary master blacksmith. In Old Norse sources, Völundr appears in Völundarkviða, a poem in the Poetic Edda, and in Þiðrekssaga, and his legend is also depicted on the Ardre image stone VIII...
, who is shown on the front panel of the casket. The Þiðrekssaga depicts Egil as a master archer and the Völundarkviða
Völundarkviða
Völundarkviða is one of the mythological poems of the Poetic Edda...
tells that he was the husband of the swan maiden Olrun. The Pforzen buckle
Pforzen buckle
The Pforzen buckle is a silver belt buckle found in Pforzen, Ostallgäu in 1992. The Alemannic grave in which it was found dates to the end of the 6th century and was presumably that of a warrior, as it also contained a lance, spatha, seax and shield...
inscription, dating to about the same period as the casket, also makes reference to the couple Egil and Olrun (Áigil andi Áilrun).
Front panel
The front panel, which originally had a lock fitted, depicts elements from the Germanic legend of Wayland the Smith in the left-hand scene, and the Adoration of the Magi on the right. Wayland stands at the extreme left in the forge where he is held as a slave by King NiðhadNiðhad
King Niðhad, Níðuðr or Niðung was a cruel king in Germanic legend.He appears as Níðuðr in the Old Norse Völundarkviða, as Niðung in the Þiðrekssaga, and as Niðhad in the Anglo-Saxon poems Deor and Waldere....
, who has had his hamstring
Hamstring
In human anatomy, the hamstring refers to any one of the three posterior thigh muscles, or to the tendons that make up the borders of the space behind the knee. In modern anatomical contexts, however, they usually refer to the posterior thigh muscles, or the tendons of the semitendinosus, the...
s cut to hobble him. Below the forge is the headless body of Niðhad's son, who Wayland has killed, making a goblet from his skull; his head is probably the object held in the tongs in Wayland's hand. With his other hand Wayland offers the goblet, containing drugged beer, to Bodvild, Niðhad's daughter, who he then rapes when she is unconscious. Another female figure is shown in the centre; perhaps Wayland's helper, or Bodvild again. To the right of the scene Wayland (or his brother) catches birds; he then makes wings from their feathers, with which he is able to escape.
In a sharp contrast of theme, the right-hand scene shows one of the commonest Christian subjects depicted in the art of the period. The Three Magi, identified by an inscription ("magi"), led by the large star, approach the enthroned Madonna and Child bearing the traditional gifts. A goose
Goose
The word goose is the English name for a group of waterfowl, belonging to the family Anatidae. This family also includes swans, most of which are larger than true geese, and ducks, which are smaller....
-like bird by the feet of the leading magus may represent the Holy Spirit
Holy Spirit
Holy Spirit is a term introduced in English translations of the Hebrew Bible, but understood differently in the main Abrahamic religions.While the general concept of a "Spirit" that permeates the cosmos has been used in various religions Holy Spirit is a term introduced in English translations of...
, usually shown as a dove
Dove
Pigeons and doves constitute the bird family Columbidae within the order Columbiformes, which include some 300 species of near passerines. In general terms "dove" and "pigeon" are used somewhat interchangeably...
, or an angel
Angel
Angels are mythical beings often depicted as messengers of God in the Hebrew and Christian Bibles along with the Quran. The English word angel is derived from the Greek ἄγγελος, a translation of in the Hebrew Bible ; a similar term, ملائكة , is used in the Qur'an...
. The human figures, at least, form a composition very comparable to those in other depictions of the period.
Around the panel runs the following inscription, which does not relate to the scenes but is a riddle
Riddle
A riddle is a statement or question or phrase having a double or veiled meaning, put forth as a puzzle to be solved. Riddles are of two types: enigmas, which are problems generally expressed in metaphorical or allegorical language that require ingenuity and careful thinking for their solution, and...
on the origin of the casket itself as whalebone:
- hronæs ban
- fisc . flodu . ahof on ferg (compound continued on next line)
- enberig
- warþ ga:sric grorn þær he on greut giswom
Which may be interpreted as:
- "whalebone
- fish flood hove on mountain
- The ghost-king was rueful when he swam onto the grit"
The two alliterating lines constitute the oldest piece of Anglo-Saxon poetry:
- fisc flodu / ahof on fergenberig
- warþ gasric grorn / þær he on greut giswom
Left panel
The left panel depicts the mythological twin founders of Rome, Romulus and RemusRomulus and Remus
Romulus and Remus are Rome's twin founders in its traditional foundation myth, although the former is sometimes said to be the sole founder...
, being suckled by a wolf lying on her back at the bottom of the scene. The same wolf, or another, stands above, and there are two men with spears approaching from each side. The inscription reads:
- oÞlæ unneg //
- Romwalus and Reumwalus // twoegen
- gibroðær
- a // fœddæ hiæ wylif // in Romæcæstri:.
Which may be interpreted as:
- "far from home / Romulus and Remus, twain brothers / the she-wolf fed them in RomeRomeRome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
-chester"
Rear panel
The rear panel depicts the Taking of JerusalemSiege of Jerusalem (70)
The Siege of Jerusalem in the year 70 AD was the decisive event of the First Jewish-Roman War. The Roman army, led by the future Emperor Titus, with Tiberius Julius Alexander as his second-in-command, besieged and conquered the city of Jerusalem, which had been occupied by its Jewish defenders in...
by Titus
Titus
Titus , was Roman Emperor from 79 to 81. A member of the Flavian dynasty, Titus succeeded his father Vespasian upon his death, thus becoming the first Roman Emperor to come to the throne after his own father....
in the First Jewish-Roman War
First Jewish-Roman War
The First Jewish–Roman War , sometimes called The Great Revolt , was the first of three major rebellions by the Jews of Judaea Province , against the Roman Empire...
and contains the inscription:
- her fegtaþ
- +titus end giuþeasu HIC FUGIANT HIERUSALIM
- afitatores
- dom / gisl [below depictions of figures]
Which may be interpreted as:
- "Here fight / TitusTitusTitus , was Roman Emperor from 79 to 81. A member of the Flavian dynasty, Titus succeeded his father Vespasian upon his death, thus becoming the first Roman Emperor to come to the throne after his own father....
and the Jews — here the inhabitants of Jerusalem flee / doom / hostage"
At left in the upper register the Romans, led by Titus(?) in a helm with a sword, attack a domed building, probably the Temple of Jerusalem, in the centre. At right ("HIC FUGIANT HIERUSALIM") the Jewish population flee, casting glances backwards. In the lower register at left, a throned figure, probably Titus, announces the "doom" or fate of the defeated Jews, which as recounted in Josephus
Josephus
Titus Flavius Josephus , also called Joseph ben Matityahu , was a 1st-century Romano-Jewish historian and hagiographer of priestly and royal ancestry who recorded Jewish history, with special emphasis on the 1st century AD and the First Jewish–Roman War, which resulted in the Destruction of...
was to be sold into slavery
Slavery
Slavery is a system under which people are treated as property to be bought and sold, and are forced to work. Slaves can be held against their will from the time of their capture, purchase or birth, and deprived of the right to leave, to refuse to work, or to demand compensation...
. In the right hand scene, the "gisl" or slaves/hostages are led away.
Right panel
This, the Bargello panel, has produced the most divergent readings of both text and images, and no reading of either has achieved general acceptance. At left an animal figure sits on a small rounded mound, confronted by an armed and helmeted warrior. In the centre a standing animal, usually seen as a horse, faces a figure, holding a stick or sword, who stands over something defined by a curved line. At right are three figures; the two outer ones perhaps hold fast the one in the middle. Interpretations of the central scene range from The Burial of SigurdSigurd
Sigurd is a legendary hero of Norse mythology, as well as the central character in the Völsunga saga. The earliest extant representations for his legend come in pictorial form from seven runestones in Sweden and most notably the Ramsund carving Sigurd (Old Norse: Sigurðr) is a legendary hero of...
(D'Ardenne) to the Nativity of Jesus
Nativity of Jesus in art
The Nativity of Jesus has been a major subject of Christian art since the 4th century. The artistic depictions of the Nativity or birth of Jesus, celebrated at Christmas, are based on the narratives in the Bible, in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, and further elaborated by written, oral and...
(Simmons), and of the right-hand scene from the three Norns
Norns
The Norns in Norse mythology are female beings who rule the destiny of gods and men, a kind of dísir comparable to the Fates in classical mythology....
(Becker) to the Arrest of Jesus
Arrest of Jesus
The arrest of Jesus is a pivotal event recorded in the Canonical gospels. The event ultimately leads, in the Gospel accounts, to Jesus' crucifixion...
(Simmons).
The inscription contains three more alliterating lines:
- herh os sitæþ on hærmberge
- agl(ac) drigiþ swa hir i erta e gisgraf
- særden sorgæ and sefa tornæ
A definite translation of the lines has met with difficulty. Usually her hos sitæþ is read, "here sits the horse". Becker reads herh os, "the god of the wood". særden has various interpretations.
Webster
Leslie Webster translates the panels inscription as follows:- "Here Hos sits on the sorrow mound"
- "She suffers distress as Ertae had imposed it upon her"
- "A wretched den (?wood) of sorrows and torments of mind".
Becker
Becker attempts the translation:- "the wood-god sits on harm's mountain"
- "causing ill fortune, as Erta demanded" (W. Krause)
- "they cause sorrow and heartache".
Which is dependent upon the translation of:
- risci / wudu / bita
- "twig / wood / biter"
- Risci means rush or elk sedge in the runic poem, the type of plant that marks the valkyrie and stands for the white swan (OED), one form of valkyrian appearance. - Wudu can be understood as a poetic name for spear. The Valkyrie flings a twig at her victim, a twig which turns into a spear. As a fatal weapon it turns into a bita (sting or wound), just like the staff of the lady at the grave blends into a spear, the spearhead formed by the rune for t. A similar event is reflected in the Gautreksaga: "Then Starkathr thrust at the king with the wand and said: 'Now I give thee to Othinn.' Then Starkathr let gto the fir bough. The wand became a spear and pierced through the king."
Simmons
Austin Simmons (Jan. 2010) parses the frame inscription into the following segments:- herh os-sitæþ on hærm-bergæ
- agl drigiþ swæ hiri er tae-gi-sgraf
- sær-den sorgæ and sefa-tornæ
This he translates, "The idol sits far off on the dire hill, suffers abasement in sorrow and heart-rage as the den of pain had ordained for it." Linguistically, the segment os- represents the verbal prefix oþ- assimilated to the following sibilant, while in the b-verse of the second line er "before" is an independent word before a three-member verbal compound, tae-gi-sgraf. The first member tae- is a rare form of the particle-prefix to-.
The inscription refers specifically to the scene on the left end of the casket's right side. The 'idol' (herh) is Satan
Satan
Satan , "the opposer", is the title of various entities, both human and divine, who challenge the faith of humans in the Hebrew Bible...
in the form of an ass, being tortured by a personified Hell in helmet. The scene is a reference to the apocryphon Decensus ad Inferos
Acts of Pilate
The Acts of Pilate , also called the Gospel of Pilate, is a book of New Testament apocrypha. The dates of its accreted sections are uncertain, but scholars agree in assigning the resulting work to the middle of the fourth century...
, a popular medieval text translated into Anglo-Saxon. In one version of the story, a personified Hell blames Satan for having brought about the Crucifixion
Crucifixion of Jesus
The crucifixion of Jesus and his ensuing death is an event that occurred during the 1st century AD. Jesus, who Christians believe is the Son of God as well as the Messiah, was arrested, tried, and sentenced by Pontius Pilate to be scourged, and finally executed on a cross...
, which has allowed Christ to descend to Hell's kingdom and free the imprisoned souls. Therefore, Hell tortures Satan in retribution. Simmons separates the other scenes on the right side and interprets them as depictions of the Nativity
Nativity of Jesus
The Nativity of Jesus, or simply The Nativity, refers to the accounts of the birth of Jesus in two of the Canonical gospels and in various apocryphal texts....
and the Passion
Passion (Christianity)
The Passion is the Christian theological term used for the events and suffering – physical, spiritual, and mental – of Jesus in the hours before and including his trial and execution by crucifixion...
.
L. Peeters comments (translated): "The figure to the left of the crowded panel looks like a kind of monster. Scholars have voiced the opinion that its head is that of a horse. They are prepared to emendate the first word of the runic text, hos, into horse to fit the picture. Hos remains for them a mystery in an equally mysterious context of the panel's interpretation. Every step of this procedure is prone to be part of a vicious cycle. Others are convinced, that even without reference to the text, the monster's head belongs to a horse".
Interpretations
Becker (1973 and web site) attempted to interpret the casket as a whole, finding a programme documenting a warrior-king's life and after life, with each of the scenes emblematic of a certain period in life. The front (f and g) panel stands for "birth" and assistance by the FylgjaFylgja
In Norse mythology, a fylgja is a supernatural being or creature which accompanies a person in connection to their fate or fortune...
, the picture and inscription on the left panel (r) meant to protect the hero on his way to war, the back panel (t) documenting the peak of a warrior-king's life is glory won by victory over his enemies, the right panel (s) alluding to a heroic death in battle.
The lid (æ) shows the Wayland brother Egil and his companion, a Valkyrie
Valkyrie
In Norse mythology, a valkyrie is one of a host of female figures who decides who dies in battle. Selecting among half of those who die in battle , the valkyries bring their chosen to the afterlife hall of the slain, Valhalla, ruled over by the god Odin...
, defending Valhalla against the frost giants. Each scene corresponds with a certain rune in a definite position (f, g, r, t, s, æ, producing a value of 3 x 24). Becker also attempts a numerological analysis of the inscriptions, counting a total of 288 or 12 x 24 signs (runes, Latin letters and punctuation). The number of runes refers to a ten-year solar calendar while their value produces a lunar calendar. The mainly Latin formula ‘HIC FUGIANT HIERUSALIM’ produces a perfect Metonic cycle
Metonic cycle
In astronomy and calendar studies, the Metonic cycle or Enneadecaeteris is a period of very close to 19 years which is remarkable for being very nearly a common multiple of the solar year and the synodic month...
with all its leap years indicated by rune-like symbols.
As the two alliterating runes 'f' (feoh) and 'g' (gift) on the front panel can be understood as Old English feogift (bounty, largesse) and as the pictures of the Magi (bringers of "gifts") and of the mythical goldsmith (maker of trinkets etc.) express the same, the box may have served a king as his hoard box from which he handed out his gifts to his followers in the hall. As the magic intention points to pagan practice, this ruler may have been the Northumbrian King Edwin
Edwin of Northumbria
Edwin , also known as Eadwine or Æduini, was the King of Deira and Bernicia – which later became known as Northumbria – from about 616 until his death. He converted to Christianity and was baptised in 627; after he fell at the Battle of Hatfield Chase, he was venerated as a saint.Edwin was the son...
(586-633). Both the numerological analysis and the interpretation that pagan or royal practice is indicated are highly speculative and accepted by few scholars.
Marijane Osborn in an article titled "The Seventy-Two Gentile Nations and the Theme of the Franks Casket" says that "several scholars have observed that the number of runes plus dots in the inscriptions on the front and the two sides of the casket in each case adds up to seventy-two, the number of the futhoric or rune-list multiplied by three. Whereas Alfred Becker sees this as indicating pagan magic, I see it as another example of the Franks Casket artist turning his pagan materials to a Christian evangelical purpose. As he is manipulating his runes very carefully, on the left side and front supplementing their numbers with dots and on the right side reducing their number with a Roman letter and a bindrune, so that each of the three inscriptions contains precisely seventy-two items, there can be no question here of us introducing a symbolism that was not intended. But it may be misinterpreted."
Literature
- Alfred Becker: Franks Casket. Zu den Bildern und Inschriften des Runenkästchens von Auzon (Regensburg 1973)
- Alfred Becker, Franks Casket Revisited," Asterisk, A Quarterly Journal of Historical English Studies, 12/2 (2003), 83-128.
- Alfred Becker, The Virgin and the Vamp," Asterisk, A Quarterly Journal of Historical English Studies, 12/4 (2003), 201-209.
- Alfred Becker, A Magic Spell "powered by" a Lunisolar Calendar," Asterisk, A Quarterly Journal of Historical English Studies, 15 (2006), 55 -73.
- E.G. Clark, "The Right Side of the Franks Casket," PMLA, 45 (1930), pp. 339-353.
- M. Clunies RossMargaret Clunies RossMargaret Clunies Ross is the McCaughey Professor of English Language and Early English Literature and Director of the Centre for Medieval Studies at the University of Sydney. Her main research areas are Old Norse-Icelandic Studies and the history of their study. Since 1997 she has led the project...
, A suggested Interpretation of the Scene depicted on the Right-Hand Side of the Franks Casket, Medieval Archaeology 14 (1970), pp. 148-152. - S.T.R.O. D'Ardenne, "Does the right side of the Franks Casket represent the burial of Sigurd?" Études Germaniques, 21 (1966), pp. 235-242.
- G. Henderson, Early Medieval Art, 1972, rev. 1977, Penguin, pp. 156-158
- W. KrauseWolfgang KrauseWolfgang Krause was a German linguist. He specialised initially in Celtic studies and the Tokharians, later in Old Norse and especially runology.-Education and career:...
, "Erta, ein anglischer Gott", Die Sprache 5; Festschrift Havers (1959), 46-54. - W. Krogmann, "Die Verse vom Wal auf dem Runenkästchen von Auzon," Germanisch-Romanische Monatsschrift, N.F. 9 (1959), pp. 88-94.
- J. Lang, "The Imagery of the Franks Casket: Another Approach," in J. Hawkes & S. Mills (ed.) Northumbria’s Golden Age (1999) pp. 247 – 255
- K. MaloneKemp MaloneKemp Malone was a prolific medievalist, etymologist, philologist, and specialist in Chaucer who was lecturer and then professor of English Literature at Johns Hopkins University from 1924 to 1956....
, "The Franks Casket and the Date of Widsith," in A.H. Orrick (ed.), Nordica et Anglica, Studies in Honor of Stefán Einarsson, The Hague 1968, pp. 10-18. - Th. Müller-Braband, Studien zum Runenkästchen von Auzon und zum Schiffsgrab von Sutton Hoo; Göppinger Arbeiten zur Germanistik 728 (2005)
- Jane Hawkes and Susan Mills (editors), Northumbria's Golden Age (1999); with articles by L. Webster, James Lang, C. Neuman de Vegvar on various aspects of the casket.
- M. Osborn, "The Grammar of the Inscription on the Franks Casket, right Side," Neuphilologische Mitteilungen 73 (1972), pp. 663-671.
- M. Osborn, The Picture-Poem on the Front of the Franks Casket, Neuphilologische Mitteilungen 75 (1974), pp. 50-65.
- M. Osborn, "The Lid as Conclusion of the Syncretic Theme of the Franks Casket," in A. Bammesberger (ed.), Old English Runes and their Continental Background, Heidelberg 1991, pp. 249-268.
- K. Schneider, "Zu den Inschriften und Bildern des Franks Casket und einer ae. Version des Mythos von Balders Tod," in Festschrift für Walther Fischer," Heidelberg 1959, pp. 4-20.
- Austin Simmons, The Cipherment of the Franks Casket, Homeric Society of Texas, January 2010.
- Austin Simmons, (October 24, 2009) "The Franks Casket and the Artist's Imagination". Texas Medieval Association Nineteenth Annual Conference. The University of Texas at Austin.
- P. W. Souers, "The Top of the Franks Casket," Harvard Studies and Notes in Philology and Literature, 17 (1935), pp. 163-179.
- P. W. Souers, "The Franks Casket: Left Side," Harvard Studies and Notes in Philology and Literature, 18 (1936), pp. 199-209.
- P. W. Souers, "The Magi on the Franks Casket," Harvard Studies and Notes in Philology and Literature, 19 (1937), pp. 249-254.
- P. W. Souers, "The Wayland Scene on the Franks Casket," Speculum 18 (1943), pp. 104-111.
- K. Spiess, "Das angelsächsische Runenkästchen (die Seite mit der Hos-Inschrift)," in Josef Strzygowski-Festschrift, Klagenfurt 1932, pp. 160-168.
- A.L. Vandersall, "The Date and Provenance of the Franks Casket," Gesta 11, 2 (1972), pp. 9-26.
- L. Webster, "The Franks Casket," in L. Webster - J. Backhouse (eds), The Making of England: Anglo-Saxon Art and Culture, AD 600-900, London 1991, pp. 101-103.
- L. Webster, "The Iconographic Programme of the Franks Casket," in J. Hawkes & S. Mills (ed.) Northumbria’s Golden Age (1999), pp. 227 - 246
- L. Webster, "Stylistic Aspects of the Franks Casket," in R. Farrell (ed.), The Vikings, London 1982, pp. 20-31.
- L. Webster (Blackwell), The Franks Casket, pp. 194-195, The Blackwell encyclopaedia of Anglo-Saxon England (Editors: Michael Lapidge, John Blair, Simon Keynes), Wiley-Blackwell, 2000, ISBN 0631224920, 9780631224921,google books
- L. Webster, The Franks Casket: Objects in Focus, British Museum Press, 2011, ISBN 071412818X, 9780714128184 (forthcoming May 2011)
- A. Wolf, "Franks Casket in literarhistorischer Sicht," Frühmittelalterliche Studien 3 (1969), pp. 227-243.
External links
- The Franks Casket (British Museum page)
- Alfred Becker, * Website on the Franks Casket
- Austin Simmons, The Cipherment of the Franks Casket Simmons' theory, with the best images
- The Cipherment of the Franks Casket on Project Woruldhord, with abstract