DOI issue:
No. 56 (November, 1897)
DOI article:Allen, John Romilly: Early scandinavian wood-carvings, [2]
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.18390#0114
Early Scandinavian Wood-Carvings
by Walter Scott). Two door jambs of
this kind are shown on Figs. 6 and 8,
one from Hyllestad, in Satersdal, seventy
miles north of Christiansand, and the
other from Vegusdal.
The subjects represented on the jamb
of tlie Hyllestad doorway, commencing
at the top, are :
(1) King Gunnar harping in the worm-pit.
He plays the harp with his toes, and serpents are
gnawing at him.
(2) Sigurd slaying Regin die dwarf smith.
The blood is gushing oul of his mouth.
(3) Sigurd's horse " Grana."
(4) The tree with the talking birds.
(5) Regin with the sword " Gram."
(6) Sigurd roasting Fafnir's heart on a spit,
and putting his thumb in his mouth to taste the
blood.
The subjects on the jamb of the
Vegusdal doorway are arranged in circu-
lar medallions, and are as follows :
(1) Sigurd slaying Regin.
(2) Sigurd's horse " Grana " and Sigurd testing
the sword " Gram " on an anvil.
(3) Regin and Sigurd welding together the
shards of the sword " Gram."
(4) Sigurd roasting Fafnir's heart, and the tree
with the talking birds.
We Englishmen share these Pagan
mythical heroic tales with our Norse
kinsmen across the sea, and at Kirk
Andreas,* and at Malew, in the Isle of
Man, and at Halton,f in Lancashire, we
have instances on early crosses of a simi-
nedences am i nedenoes am i lar Pagan-Christian overlap in our own
country. What we suffer from most at
the present time is the lack of a suf-
ficiently strong belief in any story what-
by a broad band of foliage. Dietrichson calls the ever, either Christian or Pagan, to embody in our
latter the " sognske" type, and the former the national art. Conventional ornament is at best
" telemarske " type of doorway. but a poor substitute for symbolic sculpture, and
The door jamb (Fig. 9), from Vegusdal Church, we look forward to the time when the heroes of
is much weathered, but the carving must have been romance will once more be as real to us as they
good originally. Instead of dragons the decoration were to our Scandinavian and our Celtic ancestors,
here consists of scrolls of foliage and beasts. so that we may draw fresh inspiration from their
Some of the most interesting doorways in stirring deeds which will infuse new life into our
Norway are those which illustrate the overlap of literature and our art.
Paganism with Christianity, as shown by the use of The last specimens of Scandinavian wood-
figure-subjects in the decoration of churches, not
taken from the Bible or from lives of saints but * See " Saga Illustrations of Early Manks Monuments,"
f™™ fb« -RVlrloc nfl c Tu r ' ■ by P. M. C. Kermode, in the "Saga Book" ot the Viking
tromthe Fddas and the Sagas, lhe most favourite > , r 0 , ,~ '
r „ „. Club for 189S-6 (D. JNutt).
scenes are from the story of Sigund Fafnir's Bane, + See << The Pagan-Christian overlap in the North," by
as related in the Edda of Saemund and the Vol- Dr. H. Colley March, in the "Trans. Lane, and Cheshire
sunga Saga (see H. H. Sparling's edition, published Archseol. Soc.," vol. ix.
88
fig. 8.—door jamb, from fig. 9.—door jamb
vegusdal church, from vegusdal church,
by Walter Scott). Two door jambs of
this kind are shown on Figs. 6 and 8,
one from Hyllestad, in Satersdal, seventy
miles north of Christiansand, and the
other from Vegusdal.
The subjects represented on the jamb
of tlie Hyllestad doorway, commencing
at the top, are :
(1) King Gunnar harping in the worm-pit.
He plays the harp with his toes, and serpents are
gnawing at him.
(2) Sigurd slaying Regin die dwarf smith.
The blood is gushing oul of his mouth.
(3) Sigurd's horse " Grana."
(4) The tree with the talking birds.
(5) Regin with the sword " Gram."
(6) Sigurd roasting Fafnir's heart on a spit,
and putting his thumb in his mouth to taste the
blood.
The subjects on the jamb of the
Vegusdal doorway are arranged in circu-
lar medallions, and are as follows :
(1) Sigurd slaying Regin.
(2) Sigurd's horse " Grana " and Sigurd testing
the sword " Gram " on an anvil.
(3) Regin and Sigurd welding together the
shards of the sword " Gram."
(4) Sigurd roasting Fafnir's heart, and the tree
with the talking birds.
We Englishmen share these Pagan
mythical heroic tales with our Norse
kinsmen across the sea, and at Kirk
Andreas,* and at Malew, in the Isle of
Man, and at Halton,f in Lancashire, we
have instances on early crosses of a simi-
nedences am i nedenoes am i lar Pagan-Christian overlap in our own
country. What we suffer from most at
the present time is the lack of a suf-
ficiently strong belief in any story what-
by a broad band of foliage. Dietrichson calls the ever, either Christian or Pagan, to embody in our
latter the " sognske" type, and the former the national art. Conventional ornament is at best
" telemarske " type of doorway. but a poor substitute for symbolic sculpture, and
The door jamb (Fig. 9), from Vegusdal Church, we look forward to the time when the heroes of
is much weathered, but the carving must have been romance will once more be as real to us as they
good originally. Instead of dragons the decoration were to our Scandinavian and our Celtic ancestors,
here consists of scrolls of foliage and beasts. so that we may draw fresh inspiration from their
Some of the most interesting doorways in stirring deeds which will infuse new life into our
Norway are those which illustrate the overlap of literature and our art.
Paganism with Christianity, as shown by the use of The last specimens of Scandinavian wood-
figure-subjects in the decoration of churches, not
taken from the Bible or from lives of saints but * See " Saga Illustrations of Early Manks Monuments,"
f™™ fb« -RVlrloc nfl c Tu r ' ■ by P. M. C. Kermode, in the "Saga Book" ot the Viking
tromthe Fddas and the Sagas, lhe most favourite > , r 0 , ,~ '
r „ „. Club for 189S-6 (D. JNutt).
scenes are from the story of Sigund Fafnir's Bane, + See << The Pagan-Christian overlap in the North," by
as related in the Edda of Saemund and the Vol- Dr. H. Colley March, in the "Trans. Lane, and Cheshire
sunga Saga (see H. H. Sparling's edition, published Archseol. Soc.," vol. ix.
88
fig. 8.—door jamb, from fig. 9.—door jamb
vegusdal church, from vegusdal church,