Franks Casket; the back and lid

From the front

The Franks Casket (or the Auzon Runic 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.^[1] Generally reckoned to be of Northumbrian origin,^[2] 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.^[3] 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".^[4] 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.^[5]

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, Brioude; it is possible that it was looted during the French Revolution.^[6] 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.

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.^[7] There are other inscriptions, "tituli" identifying some figures, that are not detailed below and appear within the image field.

Lid

The lid of the casket depicts an otherwise lost legend of Egil; Egil fends off an army with bow and arrow while the female behind him may be his wife Olrun.

The lid as it now survives is too small. Leslie Webster has suggested that there may have been relief panels in silver making up the missing areas. The empty round area in the centre probably housed the metal boss for a handle.^[8] 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).

Front panel

The front panel, depicting the Germanic legend of Wayland the Smith and the Christian adoration of the Magi.

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 Niðhad, who has had his hamstrings 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.^[9]

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:

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, depicting Romulus and Remus.

The left panel depicts the mythological twin founders of Rome, Romulus and Remus, 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 // twœgen

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 Rome-chester"

Rear panel

The rear panel, depicting a scene from the First Jewish-Roman War.

The rear panel depicts the Taking of Jerusalem by Titus in the First Jewish-Roman War 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 / Titus 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 was to be sold into slavery. In the right hand scene, the "gisl" or slaves/hostages are led away.

Right panel

The 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 Sigurd (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:

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-.^[10]

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.^[11]

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".^[12]

Interpretations

Becker (1973 and web site) interprets 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 Fylgja, 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. Woden's Valknut (knot of death) and the presence of the Fylgja ensure his way to Valhalla.

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 presents 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 gift) and of the mythical goldsmith (maker of feoh i.e. 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."^[13]

Notes

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Franks Casket

Literature

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

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