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Gosforth Cross

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The Gosforth Cross is a tall, slender Viking High Cross, dating to the first half of the 10th century AD in St Mary's churchyard, Gosforth in the English county of Cumbria. This area was historically part of the kingdom of Northumbria, but was settled by Scandinavians in either the 9th or 10th century. The cross is highly significant in showing the transition from Pagan to Christian beliefs as it carries both Christian and Nordic symbols.

Gosforth High Cross, Cumbria UK.

The dual symbolism of the Cross was first identified following a suggestion in 1881 by the local amateur antiquarian Charles Arundel Parker. Subsequent investigations with Rev. William Slater Calverley and Professor Dr George Stephens of Copenhagen University demonstrated that the cross showed scenes described in the old Norse narrative poems; the Poetic Edda.[1] Since then the Cross has been a source of great interest because of its insight into a dim and poorly documented period in European history.

Description

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The Gosforth Cross has elaborate carvings which have been interpreted as representing characters and scenes from Norse mythology, similarly to how the Jelling stones in Denmark depict Jesus with other Norse mythological characters. Its design is modelled after cross designs that originated during the Christianization of Ireland.[2]

Norse mythological images are:

The Christian Image is the Baldr-Odin or Crucifixion panel, a depiction of the crucifixion of Jesus. These are shown in the following engravings of the cross. The images were engraved by Julius Magnus Petersen (1827 – 1917) first published in 1883 [3] and later by Finnur Jónsson in Goðafræði Norðmanna og Íslendinga eftir Heimildum in 1913. The identifications are those suggested by Jónsson and others.

There is debate whether these images were included out of reverence for traditional Viking beliefs [4] or as a way to parallel Norse mythology (i.e. Ragnarök, the death of Baldr) with Christian beliefs (i.e. the Apocalypse, the crucifixion of Christ).[5] Among the parallels is Loki being bound is allegorical for Satan being bound, the death of Baldr accompanied by Hod and Nanna interchangeable with Christ's death as witnessed by Longinus and Mary Magdalene, and the battle Odin has with Surtr similar to how Christ ultimately conquers the Devil. Another discussion is why the base of the cross has a tree-like design, looking like bark. Is this is a possible parallel between Yggsdrasil and the Tree of Life;[5] both featured heavily in their respective mythologies.

The combination of Christian and Norse pagan symbolism on the cross may be evidence of the use of pagan stories to illustrate Christian teachings.[1] Christ here is depicted as a deity of power, hence why he is absent on the cross on the tip. He was popularly interpreted as a deity of power amongst Viking culture.[4]

The cross is 4.4 metres (14 ft) tall and carved out of red sandstone. It is estimated to date from 920 to 950 and is still in remarkably good condition. Its design shows a strong Anglo-Saxon influence.[6]

Modern identification of carvings

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The modern identification of the carvings started at a meeting in 1881 of the Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society (CWAAS) at Gosforth to view the cross. Dr Charles Arundel Parker, an amateur antiquarian living in the parish, drew attention to the local tradition that the cross had been erected by Danes who had been converted to Christianity[7]. Supporting this, the Revd W S Calverley thought that the west face showed the binding of the god Loki, the Scandinavian Evil One, to a rock. With the poor definition of a lichen-covered surface viewed from below there was divided opinion amongst the antiquarians present. Consequently, in the wet autumn of 1881, which had softened the lichen on the Cross, Calverley and Parker supervised Parker’s coachman in clearing the cross of lichen with a wet brush, and saw the clear emergence of the symbols. The cross was later professionally photographed. This enabled Parker to produce a drawing of the four faces.

The photographs were sent to Professor George Stephens of Copenhagen University, a runic and Scandinavian folklore expert, who travelled to Gosforth to see the cross for himself. He pronounced it to be “one of the costliest olden Roods in Europe” and probably of 7th Century date. There was immediate interest in the discovery, and papers were read before the Royal Archaeological Institute at Carlisle and Oxford by Calverley in 1882. These caused something of a sensation as there had been a strongly held belief that a Christian monument could only have Christian symbols on it. That was now shown to be wrong, and over the next few years other examples came to light elsewhere[8]. In 1883 a paper was written for the CWAAS Transactions authored by Calverley, with drawings, measurements and some details by Parker, and engravings by Professor Magnus Petersen of Copenhagen.

The newly-realised importance of the Gosforth Cross caused the Victoria and Albert Museum to have a cast replica made in 1882 (as well as one of the older Irton Cross),[9] ; both are on display in the Cast Hall at the Museum. In 1887, Calverley commissioned and personally helped to carve a life-sized replica in order to understand the design and carving process, and erected it in the churchyard at St Kentigern's Church, Aspatria, Cumbria.[10] Many papers have since been read for the CWAAS and other organisations and several booklets have been produced by Parker, Calverley and others. As late as 1917 Parker wrote a joint paper with W G Collingwood “A reconsideration of Gosforth Cross” for the CWAAS which examined the cross in the light of stylistic and historical information that had been gathered from other sources since the first modern identification.

Context

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Gosforth church also has important hogback tombs, and what appears to be a fragment of another cross, showing the god Thor fishing.

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Notes

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  1. 1 2 Bailey (1996:86–90).
  2. ↑ DuBois, Thomas (1999). The Coming of the Cross. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania. p. 144. ISBN 0-8122-3511-8.
  3. ↑ "The sculptured cross at Gosforth W Cumberland" CWAAS Article XXXVIII.
  4. 1 2 Melnikova, Elena (2011). "How Christian Were Viking Christians" (PDF). Institute of History of Ukraine. Retrieved 12 December 2018.
  5. 1 2 Berg, Knut (1958). Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes. London: The Warburg Institute. pp. 28–30.
  6. ↑ Bailey, Richard (1996). England's Earliest Sculptors. Toronto: Pontifical Institute of Medieval Studies. p. 80. ISBN 0-88844-905-4.
  7. ↑ "The sculptured cross at Gosforth W Cumberland". Revd W S Calverley, C A Parker M.D. Gosforth. Engravings by Professor Magnus Petersen, Copenhagen. Transactions of the Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society 1883, Article XXXVIII.
  8. ↑ Calverley and Collingwood (1899), Editor's Preface
  9. ↑ See link to V&A site
  10. ↑ Calverley and Collingwood (1899), p.139-167

References

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