Franks Casket - Story of Wayland the Smith, Romulus & Remus, The 1st Roman-Jewish War - 8th Century CE
"Welund tasted misery among snakes.
The stout-hearted hero endured troubles
had sorrow and longing as his companions
cruelty cold as winter - he often found woe
Once Nithad laid restraints on him,
supple sinew-bonds on the better man.
That went by; so can this.
To Beadohilde, her brothers' death was not
so painful to her heart as her own problem
which she had readily perceived
that she was pregnant; nor could she ever
foresee without fear how things would turn out.
That went by, so can this."
-Deor, Codex Exoniensis (The Exeter Book)
The stout-hearted hero endured troubles
had sorrow and longing as his companions
cruelty cold as winter - he often found woe
Once Nithad laid restraints on him,
supple sinew-bonds on the better man.
That went by; so can this.
To Beadohilde, her brothers' death was not
so painful to her heart as her own problem
which she had readily perceived
that she was pregnant; nor could she ever
foresee without fear how things would turn out.
That went by, so can this."
-Deor, Codex Exoniensis (The Exeter Book)
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| The front panel of the casket: The left section of this panel illustrates the story of Wayland the Smith. Wayland (also spelled Weyland, Welund or Vølund) 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. The right side depicts the "adoration of the magi" regarding Yeshua (aka Jesus) from the Jewish bible. |
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| Original of right panel, on display in Bargello Museum, Florence. The subject is unknown, but a possible translation according to wikipedia is: "Here sits Hos on [or in] the high hill [or barrow]; she endures agl[.] as the Jute appointed to her, a sæuden of sorrow and troubles of mind." |
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| The replica right panel in London. |
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| The lid of the casket: said to depict either a lost legend of Egil or a scene of the Trojan War and Achilles. From wikipedia: "The lid as it now survives is incomplete. 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. The lid shows a scene of an archer, labelled ᚫᚷᛁᛚᛁ or Ægili, single-handedly defending a fortress against a troop of attackers, who from their larger size may be giants." |
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| The left panel depicting Romulus and Remus. Possible translation of runes from wikipedia: "Romulus and Remus, two brothers, a she-wolf nourished them in Rome, far from their native land." |
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| From wikipedia: "Each Anglo-Saxon runic letter had an acrophonic Old English name, which gave the rune itself the connotations of the name, as described in the Old English rune poem. The inscriptions on the Franks Casket are alliterative verse, and so give particular emphasis to one or more runes on each side. According to Becker (1973, 2002), these tell a story corresponding to the illustrations, with each of the scenes emblematic of a certain period of the life and afterlife of a warrior-king: The front inscription alliterates on both the F-rune ᚠ feoh (wealth) and the G-rune ᚷ gyfu (gift), corresponding to the jewellery produced by the goldsmith Welund and the gifts of the three Magi. “In this box our warrior hoarded his treasure, golden rings and bands and bracelets, jewellery he had received from his lord, … which he passed to his own retainers… This is feohgift, a gift not only for the keep of this or that follower, but also to honour him in front of his comrade-in-arms in the hall.” The Romulus and Remus inscription alliterates on the R-rune ᚱ rad (journey or ride), evoking both how far from home the twins had journeyed and the owner's call to arms. The Titus side stresses the T-rune ᛏ Tiw (the Anglo-Saxon God of victory), documenting that the peak of a warrior-king's life is glory won by victory over his enemies. The right side alliterates first on the H-rune ᚻ hagal (hail storm or misfortune) and then on the S-rune ᛋ sigel (sun, light, life), and illustrates the hero's death and ultimate salvation, according to Becker. Becker also presents a numerological analysis of the inscriptions, finding 72 = 3 x 24 signs on the front and left panels, and a total of 288 or 12 x 24 signs on the entire casket. All these numbers are multiples of 24 = 3 x 8, the magical number of runes in the elder futhark, the early continental runic alphabet preserved within the extended Anglo-Saxon futhorc. "In order to reach certain values the carver had to choose quite unusual word forms and ways of spelling which have kept generations of scholars busy." |
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| The front panel. Photo from 1901. |
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| The back panel. Photo from 1901. |
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| The front panel and lid. |
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| The left panel and lid. |
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| The back panel depicting the first Roman-Jewish War. Translation from wikipedia: "The rear panel depicts the Taking of Jerusalem by Titus in the First Jewish-Roman War. The inscription is partly in Old English and partly in Latin, and part of the Latin portion is written in Latin letters (indicated below in upper case letters), with the remainder transcribed phonetically into runic letters. Two isolated words stand in the lower corners. In the upper left quadrant, the Romans, led by Titus in a helm with a sword, attack the central building. The associated text reads 'ᚻᛖᚱᚠᛖᚷᛏᚪᚦ | +ᛏᛁᛏᚢᛋᛖᚾᛞᚷᛁᚢᚦᛖᚪᛋᚢ' (in Latin transliteration 'herfegtaþ | +titusendgiuþeasu', and if normalised to Late West Saxon 'Hēr feohtaþ Tītus and Iūdēas'): 'Here Titus and the Jews fight'. In the upper right quadrant, the Jewish population flee, casting glances backwards. The associated text, which is in Latin and partly uses Latin letters and partly runes, reads 'hicfugianthierusalim | ᚪᚠᛁᛏᚪᛏᚩᚱᛖᛋ' (in normalised Classical Latin: 'hic fugiant Hierusalim habitatores'): 'Here the inhabitants flee from Jerusalem'. In the lower left quadrant, a seated judge announces the judgement of the defeated Jews, which as recounted in Josephus was to be sold into slavery. The associated text, in the bottom left corner of the panel, reads 'ᛞᚩᛗ' (if normalised to Late West Saxon: 'dōm'): 'judgement'. In the lower right quadrant, the slaves/hostages are led away, with the text, in the bottom right corner of the panel, reading 'ᚷᛁᛋᛚ' (if normalised to Late West Saxon: 'gīsl'): 'hostages'." |
Source:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Franks_Casket_front.jpg
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Franks_casket_03.jpg
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Franks_Casket_-_Front_side.jpg
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Franks_Casket_-_Back_side.jpg
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Franks_Casket_left_panel.jpg
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Franks_casket_01.jpg
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Franks_Casket_Lid_Detail.jpg
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Franks_Casket_right_panel.jpg
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Franks_Casket_front,_words_Fisc_Flodu.jpg
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Franks_Casket_1.jpg
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