Post by John Parry on Sept 10, 2008 14:48:01 GMT -5
Had to take the car in for its MOT (government annual safety checkup). So I had an hour to kill, and a camera in my pocket. I went to the local church (the pubs weren't open!), where there is some pretty amazing stuff. To give you the background, the church is at Gosforth in Cumbria. Now the name Cumbria actually means "Welsh", but it seems that before the Norman invasion in 1066 there was quite a lot of 'mix and match' going on. While the county as a whole was welsh-speaking in those days, there were Anglo-Saxon and Viking settlements happily living side by side at the same time.
The local Celts were Christians since Roman times, and converted the later invaders. But at the time of the carvings in Gosforth church, the Vikings were still steeped in the tradition of the old Norse gods, while paying lip service to the new faith. See what you think...
Viking (Norse) Cross - Gosforth Churchyard
Detail: The bottom figure is Loki, bound to a rock, and the upside down horseman is Odin himself (and this stuff is on a cross in a churchyard!)
The intertwined patterns are serpents, symbols of the earth's wickedness. They crop up everywhere.
Carved wooden replica made by the local Boy Scouts for the Queen's Coronation in 1953
Regards - John
The local Celts were Christians since Roman times, and converted the later invaders. But at the time of the carvings in Gosforth church, the Vikings were still steeped in the tradition of the old Norse gods, while paying lip service to the new faith. See what you think...
Viking (Norse) Cross - Gosforth Churchyard
Detail: The bottom figure is Loki, bound to a rock, and the upside down horseman is Odin himself (and this stuff is on a cross in a churchyard!)
The intertwined patterns are serpents, symbols of the earth's wickedness. They crop up everywhere.
Carved wooden replica made by the local Boy Scouts for the Queen's Coronation in 1953
Regards - John
