The Leeds Cross is an assembly of fragments of a tenth-century stone sculpture that has been reassembled into a cross, now on display in Leeds Minster .
46-443: The cross is located below Leeds Minister's pulpit. Made primarily out of sandstone, the cross has an older base and an artistic style consistent with Anglo-Scandinavian and Anglo Saxon sculpture. The uppermost part of the sculpture is a brighter stone, a visual indicator of additions made in the reconstruction.The rectangular shape of the pillar allows for panel-based figural imagery on the front and floral embellishment carvings on
92-563: A Neolithic long barrow mound known as Wayland's Smithy , close to the Uffington White Horse in Oxfordshire. If a horse to be shod, or any broken tool, were left with a sixpenny piece at the entrance of the barrow the repairs would be executed. The Old English poem Deor , which recounts the famous sufferings of various figures before turning to those of Deor, its author, begins with "Welund": Weland had fashioned
138-408: A representation of the commissioner of the sculpture. Evidence for the iconography being a cherub, as proposed by James T. Lang, consists of the wings depicted on the figure. This would contrast with the depictions of Weland, due to the lack of Christian imagery typically associated with him. As for the possibility of it being an angel, scholars such as McGuire and Clark believe that the folds within
184-632: A similar gift to Child Horn . English literature was also aware of the character Wade , whose name is similar to that of Vaði, the father of Wayland in Þiðreks saga . Wayland is known by the name Wieland in line 965 of the Latin epic Waltharius , a literary composition based on Old High German oral tradition, as the smith who made the poem's eponymous protagonist's armor: : Et nisi duratis Wielandia fabrica giris Obstaret, spisso penetraverit ilia ligno. And had not Weland's work obstructed with hardened rings, He would have pierced his guts with
230-519: A version of the story of Wayland ( Old Norse : Velent ). This part of the saga is sometimes called Velents þáttr smiðs . The events described at King Niðung 's court (identifiable with Niðhad in the Eddic lay) broadly follow the version in the Poetic Edda (though in the saga his brother, Egil the archer, is present to help him to make his wings and to help Velent escape ). However, the rest of
276-701: A winged cloak and flying away. A number of other visual and textual sources clearly allude to similar stories, most prominently the Old English poem Deor and the Franks Casket . Wayland is also mentioned in passing in a wide range of texts, such as the Old English Waldere and Beowulf , as the maker of weapons and armour. He is mentioned in the German poems about Theoderic the Great as
322-582: Is a master blacksmith originating in Germanic heroic legend , described by Jessie Weston as "the weird and malicious craftsman, Weyland". Wayland's story is most clearly told in the Old Norse sources Völundarkviða (a poem in the Poetic Edda ) and Þiðreks saga . In them, Wayland is a smith who is enslaved by a king. Wayland takes revenge by killing the king's sons and then escapes by crafting
368-490: Is commonly used as a heraldic figure, often associated with victory. This symbolism is rooted in the mythical figure's quest to gather the stone that assured King Nithad’s victory, with depictions of him on carvings such as the Leeds Cross usually referring to a recent military victory. Weland's presence upon this carving likens him and Christ as fellow heroes in a culturally significant attempt to draw similarities between
414-432: Is difficult to define the Leeds Cross precisely as one or the other. This hybridization of the art styles leads scholars such as Robert Halstead to believe that the item was originally meant to bring the cultures together via their shared similarities, hence the stylistic choices and the addition of shared mythological figures. This is indicative of an Anglo-Scandinavian cultural takeover of the priorly Anglo-Saxon region, with
460-400: Is known for certain about the history of the Leeds Cross. The history of the city of Leeds during this period is poorly documented, causing difficulty in clarification of the dominant culture of the area within the time of the creation of the Leeds Cross. What is assumed, due to archeological evidence, is that Anglo-Saxon and Anglo Scandinavian culture mixed during this time, which can be seen in
506-549: Is present throughout the entire early medieval period, two major concentrations of Scandinavian settlement are evident: the creation of the Danelaw during the mid-ninth century, and the conquest of Sweyn Forkbeard and Cnut in the 1010s. There are a number of artefact types that appear only within Scandinavian-occupied England, and thus appear to be exclusively 'Anglo-Scandinavian'. Norse bells, like
SECTION 10
#1732773373584552-697: Is shown in the centre; perhaps Wayland's helper, brother Egil, or Böðvildr again. To the right of the scene his brother) catches birds, which he then makes wings from with their feathers, so he is able to escape. During the Viking Age in northern England , Wayland is depicted in his smithy, surrounded by his tools, at Halton, Lancashire , and fleeing from his royal captor by clinging to a flying bird, on crosses at Leeds , West Yorkshire , and at Sherburn-in-Elmet and Bedale , both in North Yorkshire . English local tradition placed Wayland's forge in
598-474: Is the manufacturer of the magic sword Gram (also named Balmung and Nothung ) and the magic ring that Þorsteinn retrieves. The Franks Casket is one of a number of other early English references to Wayland, whose story was evidently well known and popular, although no extended version in Old English has survived. In the front panel of the Franks Casket, incongruously paired with an Adoration of
644-597: The mail shirt worn by Beowulf according to lines 450–455 of the epic poem of the same name : The reference in Waldere is similar to that in Beowulf – the hero's sword was made by Weland – while Alfred the Great in his translation of Boethius asks plaintively: "What now are the bones of Wayland, the goldsmith preeminently wise?" Swords fashioned by Wayland are regular properties of medieval romance . King Rhydderch Hael gave one to Merlin , and Rimenhild made
690-467: The swan maiden Hervör, and they had a son, Heime, but Hervör later left Völundr. In both versions, his love left him with a ring . In the former myth, he forged seven hundred duplicates of this ring. Later, King Niðhad captured Völundr in his sleep in Nerike and ordered him hamstrung and imprisoned on the island of Sævarstöð. There Völundr was forced to forge items for the king. Völundr's wife's ring
736-549: The Evangelists are slightly more certain, with the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove being the clearest familiar icon. The north-faced panel's iconography is debated due to its fragmented and eroded nature. It is difficult to properly discern what specifically being represented.The leading theories are that the figure is a cherub, an angel or that the figure is either is lacking Christian significance and could be simply
782-669: The Holy spirit, citing the similarities of associating it with the Virgin Mary and Weland's depiction on the Franks Casket . Anglo-Scandinavian Anglo-Scandinavian is an academic term referring to the hybridisation between Norse and Anglo-Saxon cultures in Britain during the early medieval period. It remains a term and concept often used by historians and archaeologists, and in linguistic spheres. Although evidence for interconnection between Scandinavia and England
828-419: The Leeds Cross working as a symbolic conjoining of the cultures. Leeds Cross can be seen as an important transition between both the cultures and not as an imitative sculptures of Anglo-Saxon tradition. This being backed up with the few written records that remain as well as similar sculptures within the area made during the time period. Despite modern reconstruction and erosion not aiding in the identification of
874-402: The Leeds Cross. In addition, the matter of assembly raises questions about the validity and whether or not the final form of the Leeds Cross is the proper and original representation of the item, especially since modern reconstruction seemingly obscured several parts of the iconography. A few fragments that were found were not assembled with the Leeds Cross, despite their likely association with
920-539: The Magi , 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, whom 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 to Böðvildr, Niðhad's daughter. Another female figure
966-401: The church, the architect, Robert Chantrell , noticed a collection of carved stones built into the medieval architecture, some of them forming the cross. The Leeds Cross was found due to a policy Chantrell enacted while demolishing the old church, which was to pay particular attention to finding and attempting to save stones with carvings on them. When the Leeds Cross was found, Chantrell rewarded
SECTION 20
#17327733735841012-747: The creation of new cultural identities' Lewis-Simpson has advanced the argument that Danelaw personal names are a direct reflection of this process of hybridity. Wayland the Smith In Germanic mythology , Wayland the Smith ( Old English : Wēland ; Old Norse : Vǫlundr [ˈvɔlundr̩] , Velent [ˈvelent] ; Old Frisian : Wela(n)du; German : Wieland der Schmied ; Old High German : Wiolant ; Galans ( Galant ) in Old French ; Proto-Germanic : * Wēlandaz from * Wilą-ndz , lit. "crafting one" )
1058-519: The danger. Oh yes, he knew. That’s why he scattered them, and for hundreds of years they remained apart. Two of them were buried. Others lost in battle, and some so cunningly hidden that none had knowledge of them, except the Cauldron of Lucifer. They knew. The search took many years, many lives. - Morgwyn of Ravenscar" Of the seven, the protagonist Robin of Loxley is gifted Albion by Herne the Hunter at
1104-844: The examples found at Cottam B, are found nowhere in Scandinavia and only within Norse colonies. The hogback form of stone grave markers is unattested in the rest of the Scandinavian world. An argument for hybridity has also been constructed from the varying range of burial practices evident within the Danelaw, rather than the more standardised diagnostic patterns of burial we see in Scandinavia: Richards has suggested that 'rather than searching for burial-types that can be matched in Scandinavia we should therefore be looking for
1150-456: The father of Witige . He is also attributed to have made various swords for Charlemagne and his paladins , namely Curtana , Durendal and Joyeuse . The oldest reference known to Wayland the Smith is possibly a gold solidus with a Frisian runic inscription ᚹᛖᛚᚪᛞᚢ wela[n]du 'wayland'. It is not certain whether the coin depicts the legendary smith or bears the name of a moneyer who happened to be called Wayland (perhaps because he had taken
1196-415: The flying contraption he builds using feathers collected by Egil; the contraption was called the flygil which suggests it was a pair of wings ( German : Flügel ) in the original German version, but conceived of as a fjaðrhamr (feather cloak) by the saga-writers. Wayland here also wears a blood-filled bladder as a prop, instructing Egil to aim his arrow at this bag, thus feigning injury and deceiving
1242-408: The iconography and the sculpture's original purposes, theories proposed by scholars such as Halstead and Lang conclude that the noble-like visages upon the panels suggest that the original construction was a memorial for a relative of the commissioner. The fragments of the cross were found in the fabric of Leeds Minster when the tower of the old church was demolished in 1838. In the reconstruction of
1288-507: The image combined with the wings are confirmation, due to angels typically being characterized with such imagery. In addition, despite its eroded features, Halstead theorizes that it might be possibly holding a scroll on the right hand side. If this theory is correct, it could be in reference to the Book of Revelation sculpted in a similar manner to other anglicic sculptures in Leeds. The theory of
1334-429: The king's sons, fashioned jewelry from their bodies and fathered a child with Böðvild. The crying king laments that his archers and horsemen can't reach Völundr, as the smith flies away never to be seen again. Niðhad summons his daughter, asking her if Völundr's story was true. The poem ends with Böðvild stating that she was unable to protect herself from Völundr as he was too strong for her. Þiðreks saga also includes
1380-433: The king. The saga also tells of the birth of a son, Wideke ( Old Norse : Viðga ), to Wayland and Nidung's daughter. While he was still in captivity, the couple have a conversation, and they vow each other's love; the smith also reveals he has fashioned a weapon and hidden it in the forge for his unborn son. He settles in his native Sjoland and eventually marries the princess with the blessing of her brother who became
1426-496: The lack of Christian significance coined by Halstead draws on the tendency for Anglo-Scandinavian sculpture to rarely depict angels in sculpture, with the lack of a halo aiding the skepticism of the figure's features being angelic in nature. The top two panels on the south face side of the cross depict a heavy amount of Christian iconography. These house, according to Lang, an image of John the Evangelist. The bird depicted above
Leeds Cross - Misplaced Pages Continue
1472-488: The man, the possible book he holds in the partially destroyed side of the panel, as well as a disk-like halo behind his head seemingly confirming this. Evidence of similar evangelist iconography is present elsewhere in the region and book holding are a common in iconography associated with the Evangelists. Halstead debates the validity of this being an Evangelist and believes it to be the Virgin Mary in association with
1518-534: The name of the legendary smith as an epithet). The coin was found near Schweindorf , in the region Ostfriesland in north-west Germany, and is dated AD 575–625. Wayland's legend is depicted on Ardre image stone VIII , and probably on a tenth-century copper mount found in Uppåkra in 2011. A number of other possible visual representations exist in early medieval Scandinavia, but are harder to verify as they do not contain enough distinctive features corresponding to
1564-462: The next king after Niðung's death. This son inherits the sword Mimung, and goes on to become one of Thidrek/Didrik's warriors. In Icelandic manuscripts from the fourteenth century onwards, the terms Labyrinth and Domus Daedali ('home of Daedalus ') are rendered Vǫlundarhús ('house of Vǫlundr'). This shows that Völundr was seen as equivalent to, or even identical with, the classical hero Daedalus. In Þorsteins saga Víkingssonar , Völundr
1610-492: The other fragments and instead, were placed elsewhere by Chantrell, eventually finding a home in Leeds City Museum. The non-assembled fragment depicts the lower half of Weland and Beaduhild. With the aforementioned difficulties surrounding precise records of prior reconstruction to Chantrell's, it is possible that the cross head and some of the visually brighter parts of the sculpture were stripped from other crosses of
1656-537: The precise nature of each figure is less than definite, what is agreed upon is that the Cross contains at least one of the Evangelists . However, the exact number and identifications are highly debated by McGuire, Clark, and Halstead. St. John the Evangelist stands out as the most identifiable Evangelist while other figures such as Saint Luke and an angelic presence are debated upon. Celestial figures other than
1702-500: The region. At the time of the cross's original creation, Leeds was a cultural center with a large population of Anglo-Scandinavians. The Leeds Cross is identified as an example of Anglo-Scandinavian sculpture due to its vine scrolls splitting into panels, a common differentiation indicative of a translation of the style from Anglo-Saxon to Anglo Scandinavian. With the similarities in Anglo-Saxon and Anglo-Scandinavian culture, it
1748-897: The rise and fall of the god. Sir Walter Scott includes Wayland Smith as a character in his novel Kenilworth set in 1575. Both the Austrian composer Siegmund von Hausegger (1904) and the Russian composer Leopold van der Pals (1913) used the Wayland saga as inspiration for symphonic poems. In the ITV Series Robin of Sherwood , Wayland the Smith was credited for creating the Seven Swords that were charged with "the Power of Light and Darkness". "Morax, Solas, Orias, Albion, Elidor, Beleth, Flauros. On each of them, words of high magic unspoken since they were made. Wayland knew
1794-419: The same type within the region. The original object may not actually have been a cross. If this is the case, the cross would have been falsely created during the reconstruction. The cross contains the most complete example of a number of depictions of the legendary smith Weland and Beaduhild , the mother of his child, from tenth-century Yorkshire . Weland, in both Scandinavian culture and Anglo-Saxon culture,
1840-590: The story is different. It tells of how Wayland was the son of a giant named Wade ( Old Norse : Vadi ), and how he was taught to smith by two dwarfs. It also tells of how he came to be with King Nidung, crossing the sea in a hollow log, and how he forged the sword Mimung as part of a bet with the king's smith. And it also tells about the argument that led to Nidung's hamstringing of Wayland, and ultimately to Wayland's revenge: Nidung had promised to give Wayland his daughter in marriage and also half his kingdom, and then went back on this promise. The saga elaborates on
1886-639: The story of Wayland found in textual sources. According to Völundarkviða , the king of the Finns (the Old Norse term for the Sámi ) had three sons: Völundr (Wayland) and his two brothers Egil and Slagfiðr . In one version of the myth, the three brothers lived with three Valkyries : Ölrún , Hervör alvitr and Hlaðguðr svanhvít . After nine years, the Valkyries left their lovers. Egil and Slagfiðr followed, never to return. In another version, Völundr married
Leeds Cross - Misplaced Pages Continue
1932-469: The thinner sides.This figural imagery includes Weland and Beaduhild , two figures from Anglican folklore, as well as Christian imagery likely depicting celestial figures or a select few of the Four Evangelists . Overall, the Leeds Cross important example of Anglo-Saxon and Anglo-Scandavian sculpture and stands out as a likely hybrid of the two styles, possibly indicating a cultural shift in
1978-604: The tough wood. Wayland is associated with Wayland's Smithy , a burial mound in the Berkshire Downs . This was named by the English, but the megalithic mound significantly predates them. It is from this association that the folk belief came about that a horse left there overnight with a small silver coin ( groat ) would be shod by morning. This belief is mentioned in the first episode of Puck of Pook's Hill by Rudyard Kipling , "Weland's Sword", which narrates
2024-422: The two. The Leeds Cross contains interlaced vine decor throughout and consistently, but further analysis of the iconography beyond the figure of Weland, remains unclear. Scholars such as McGuire and Clark, as well as James T. Lang, believe there are multiple Christian figures including several Evangelists depicted in the carving, while others, such as Robert Halstead, believe there are fewer Christian figures. While
2070-441: The workers with a bonus from his own funds. His work on Leeds Minister as well as his reconstruction of the Leeds Cross led to him to work on other ecclesiastical projects within the area. According to Chantrell's will, as well as his colleague's notes, he liked the cross so much that he took it when he left Leeds and placed it in his cottage garden until it was returned posthumously. Besides its rediscovery and reformation, not much
2116-523: Was given to the king's daughter, Böðvildr . Niðhad wore Völundr's sword . In revenge, Völundr killed the king's sons when they visited him in secret, and fashioned goblets from their skulls, jewels from their eyes, and a brooch from their teeth. He sent the goblets to the king, the jewels to the queen and the brooch to the king's daughter. When Böðvild takes her ring to Völundr for mending, he tricks and seduces her, and gets her pregnant. Later, he flies to Niðhad's hall where he explains how he has murdered
#583416