This series of posts explains where to find the handful of runic objects which still exist in Britain today. We'll begin with the most impressive of them all - the Ruthwell Cross.
This cross is an absolute national treasure. As with so much else from the early Middle Ages, it is one of Britain's least known yet most significant works of art. If, as is widely believed, it dates from the early eighth century, then it contains the oldest written example of English prose or poetry anywhere in the world. Even if it doesn't, it is still the most impressive runic monument in Britain, and the finest pre-viking cross in the land.
The cross stands eighteen feet tall and has runic inscriptions on its east and west faces, wrapped around carvings of birds and beasts in a climbing plant. This style of decoration - known as 'inhabited vine scroll' - is typical of the period. The north and south faces show scenes from the Bible with captions in Latin. At the time of its making, the English were not yet fully Christian, and heathen beliefs would have been widespread away from the centres of power. The cross was most likely a preaching point to help with the process of conversion.
The runes on the sides spell out the verses of a poem called The Dream of The Rood, which is recorded independently in a tenth-century book. Like Beowulf, The Dream of the Rood is a traditional Germanic tale in which a hero faces his Wyrd and embraces death for the good of his kin. The hero in this case is Christ, and his kin is all of mankind. The rood (Old English for 'cross') narrates the poem and describes how it is his task to support his lord in his hour of need. Supporting your lord to the last lay at the very heart of what it meant to be a Germanic warrior. The Ruthwell Cross thus takes the best of English tradition and applies it to the incoming faith.
The cross was taken down and broken up in the seventeenth century. This was part of a wider campaign against pre-reformation images, statues and monuments across the country. In the early nineteenth century, the pieces were reassembled and a new cross head was added, leading some to question whether the column had originally been a cross at all. The jury is still out on this, though the monument continues to be known as the Ruthwell Cross.
The cross stands inside Ruthwell church, a few miles south of the A75 in Dumfriesshire. Nowadays, Ruthwell is in Scotland, but when the cross was carved it was part of the English kingdom of Northumbria. Neither England nor Scotland existed back then, and the area would have been Welsh-speaking before the arrival of the English. With two languages, two alphabets and elements of two competing faiths, the cross sums up perfectly the transitional nature of the time.
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