Gosforth Cross

<h2 id="description">Description</h2>
The Gosforth Cross has elaborate carvings which have been interpreted as representing characters and scenes from <a href="/facts/Norse_mythology/hEKfeQql">Norse mythology</a>, similarly to how the <a href="/facts/Jelling_stones/ILv13LNU">Jelling stones</a> in <a href="/facts/Denmark/KVtykzsw">Denmark</a> depict Jesus with other Norse mythological characters. Its design is modelled after the cross design that originated during the Christianization of Ireland.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:1" href="#fn:1">1</a> The Gosforth Cross was first identified in 1886 by the amateur antiquarian Charles Arundel Parker in his book The Ancient Crosses at Gosford and Cumberland. He demonstrated that the cross showed scenes described in the <a href="/facts/Poetic_Edda/An8wD6WM">Poetic Edda</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:2" href="#fn:2">2</a> Those include images identified as:

<ul><li><a href="/facts/Loki/uljXACee">Loki</a> bound with his wife <a href="/facts/Sigyn/E220ySfn">Sigyn</a> protecting him.</li>
<li>The god <a href="/facts/Heimdallr/5pPznh1V">Heimdallr</a> holding his horn.</li>
<li>The god <a href="/facts/V%25C3%25AD%25C3%25B0arr/snl6QJea">Víðarr</a> tearing the jaws of <a href="/facts/Fenrir/h33N6IxD">Fenrir</a>.</li>
<li><a href="/facts/Thor/Ww3MSrq6">Thor</a>'s failed attempt to catch <a href="/facts/J%25C3%25B6rmungandr/3gtyvs8l">Jörmungandr</a>, the Midgard Serpent.</li></ul>
It is currently debated amongst scholars whether the sources were added to the Cross out of reverence for Viking beliefs and still clinging to their own identity<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:3" href="#fn:3">3</a> or as a way to parallel Norse mythology (i.e. <a href="/facts/Ragnar%25C3%25B6k/GNCs5WrP">Ragnarök</a>, the death of <a href="/facts/Baldr/alBft7ng">Baldr</a>) with Christian beliefs (i.e. the <a href="/facts/Apocalypse/g7FkY8HS">Apocalypse</a>, the <a href="/facts/Crucifixion_of_Jesus/6BmdyCNg">crucifixion</a> of <a href="/facts/Jesus/Hcd9hEzI">Christ</a>).<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:4" href="#fn:4">4</a> 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 <a href="/facts/Longinus/J83KAtXw">Longinius</a> and <a href="/facts/Mary_Magdalene/x9a2Agb4">Mary Magdalene</a>, and the battle <a href="/facts/Odin/4XHsn2RF">Odin</a> has with <a href="/facts/Surtr/mKyQmJdb">Surtr</a> similar to how Christ ultimately conquers the <a href="/facts/Devil/4FBx2qpz">Devil</a>.
Another is how the base of the cross has a tree-like design, looking like bark. This is a possible parallel between <a href="/facts/Yggdrasil/NNT7BPBw">Yggsdrasil</a> and the <a href="/facts/Tree_of_life/RAwmonf0">Tree of Life</a>;<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:5" href="#fn:5">5</a> both featured heavily in their respective mythologies.
The cross also has <a href="/facts/Christianity/nKyJHlqq">Christian</a> symbolism, including a depiction of the <a href="/facts/Crucifixion/754Fyshn">crucifixion</a> of <a href="/facts/Christ/Hcd9hEzI">Christ</a>. The combination of Christian and <a href="/facts/Norse_paganism/IqGJCGfM">Norse pagan</a> symbolism on the cross may be evidence of the use of pagan stories to illustrate Christian teachings.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:6" href="#fn:6">6</a> 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.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:7" href="#fn:7">7</a>
The cross is 4.4 metres (14 ft) tall and made out of red <a href="/facts/Sandstone/RP8B6fqL">sandstone</a>. It is estimated to date from 920 to 950 and is still in fairly good condition. Its design shows a strong Anglo-Saxon influence and suggests that the carvers were heavily influenced by Anglo-Saxon stone carving.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:8" href="#fn:8">8</a> The importance of the Gosforth Cross (as well as the <a href="/facts/Irton_Cross/uTu8SmF4">Irton Cross</a>) caused the <a href="/facts/Victoria_and_Albert_Museum/vUMjeHBn">Victoria and Albert Museum</a> to have replicas made in 1882,<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:9" href="#fn:9">9</a> which are on display in the Cast Hall at the museum. In 1887, the <a href="/facts/Rev._William_Slater_Calverley/MCIdN8km">Rev. William Slater Calverley</a> commissioned a replica life-sized copy of this cross and erected it in the churchyard at <a href="/facts/Aspatria/vHwH85zf">Aspatria</a>, <a href="/facts/Cumbria/pJQ0zhrY">Cumbria</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:10" href="#fn:10">10</a>
The church also has important <a href="/facts/Hogback_(sculpture)/4yooIDY3">hogback</a> tombs, and what appears to be a fragment of another cross, showing the god <a href="/facts/Thor/Ww3MSrq6">Thor</a> fishing.

<h2 id="galleries">Galleries</h2>
The following images depict the 10th-century Gosforth Cross and related artefacts at St Mary's church. The images were published by <a href="/facts/Finnur_J%25C3%25B3nsson/Kx8Bw1tr">Finnur Jónsson</a> in Goðafræði Norðmanna og Íslendinga eftir Heimildum in 1913, and the identifications of the figures are those suggested by Jónsson in 1913.

Other Images
<h2 id="notes">Notes</h2>

<ul><li>Arundel P Charles, The Ancient crosses at Gosforth and Cumberland, Elliot Stock, 1896</li>
<li>Bailey, Richard N. (1996). <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=6-Km_LLNce0C">England's Earliest Sculptors</a>. University of Toronto. <a href="/facts/ISBN_(identifier)/15AdSPa9">ISBN</a> 0-88844-905-4.</li>
<li>Bailey, Richard N. (2002). "Scandinavian Myth on Viking-period Stone Sculpture in England". In Barnes, Geraldine; Ross, Margaret Clunies (eds.). <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090914122533/http://www.arts.usyd.edu.au/departs/medieval/saga/pdf/015-bailey.pdf">Old Norse Myths, Literature, and Society</a> (PDF). Sydney: University of Sydney. pp. 15–23. <a href="/facts/ISBN_(identifier)/15AdSPa9">ISBN</a> 1-86487-316-7. Archived from <a href="http://www.arts.usyd.edu.au/departs/medieval/saga/pdf/015-bailey.pdf">the original</a> (PDF) on 14 September 2009. Retrieved 7 April 2006.</li>
<li>Finnur Jónsson (1913). Goðafræði Norðmanna og Íslendinga eftir heimildum. Reykjavík: Hið íslenska bókmentafjelag.</li>
<li><a href="/facts/Rev._William_Slater_Calverley/MCIdN8km">Rev. William Slater Calverley</a>; <a href="/facts/W._G._Collingwood/ScXwzhgs">W. G. Collingwood M.A.</a> (1899). <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=xGUWAAAAYAAJ">Notes on the Early Sculptured Crosses, Shrines and Monuments in the Present Diocese of Carlisle</a>. Kendal: Titus Wilson.</li></ul>
<h2 id="external-links">External links</h2>

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Gosforth Cross.

<ul><li><a href="https://vimeo.com/167230098">Film about the Gosforth Cross</a></li>
<li><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20081003071409/http://freepages.history.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~catshaman/25pictst/Gosforth.htm">"Four sides of the Gosforth Cross"</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.megalithic.co.uk/article.php?sid=7410">Megalithic Portal</a></li>
<li><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20081227090335/http://web.ukonline.co.uk/cj.tolley/ctm/ctm-gosforth.htm">Gosforth Cross</a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/Ordnance_Survey_National_Grid/1Njz9TP0">grid reference</a> <a href="https://geohack.toolforge.org/geohack.php?pagename=Gosforth_Cross¶ms=54.419339_N_3.431647_W_region:GB_scale:25000">NY072036</a></li></ul>
<a href="https://geohack.toolforge.org/geohack.php?pagename=Gosforth_Cross¶ms=54.41934_N_3.43165_W_region:GB_source:enwiki-osgb36(NY072036)">54°25′10″N 3°25′54″W / 54.41934°N 3.43165°W / 54.41934; -3.43165</a>

<h2 id="references">References</h2>

<ol>
<li id="fn:1">DuBois, Thomas (1999). The Coming of the Cross. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania. p. 144. ISBN 0-8122-3511-8. <a href="0-8122-3511-8" target="_blank">0-8122-3511-8</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:2">Bailey (1996:86–90). <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:3">Melnikova, Elena (2011). "How Christian Were Viking Christians" (PDF). Institute of History of Ukraine. Retrieved 12 December 2018. <a href="http://history.org.ua/JournALL/ruthenica/ruthenica_2011_suppl4/9.pdf" target="_blank">http://history.org.ua/JournALL/ruthenica/ruthenica_2011_suppl4/9.pdf</a> <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:4">Berg, Knut (1958). Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes. London: The Warburg Institute. pp. 28–30. <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:5">Berg, Knut (1958). Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes. London: The Warburg Institute. pp. 28–30. <a href="#fnref:5" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:6">Bailey (1996:86–90). <a href="#fnref:6" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:7">Melnikova, Elena (2011). "How Christian Were Viking Christians" (PDF). Institute of History of Ukraine. Retrieved 12 December 2018. <a href="http://history.org.ua/JournALL/ruthenica/ruthenica_2011_suppl4/9.pdf" target="_blank">http://history.org.ua/JournALL/ruthenica/ruthenica_2011_suppl4/9.pdf</a> <a href="#fnref:7" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:8">Bailey, Richard (1996). England's Earliest Sculptors. Toronto: Pontifical Institute of Medieval Studies. p. 80. ISBN 0-88844-905-4. <a href="0-88844-905-4" target="_blank">0-88844-905-4</a> <a href="#fnref:8" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:9">See link to V&A site <a href="https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O128107/plaster-cast/" target="_blank">https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O128107/plaster-cast/</a> <a href="#fnref:9" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
<li id="fn:10">Calverley and Collingwood (1899), p.139-167 <a href="#fnref:10" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></li>
</ol>

Gosforth Cross open-in-new

Gosforth Cross