The Eleventh-Century Milieu for an Episode in a Thirteenth-Century Fornaldarsaga

Abstract

This article places a section of sculpture-work, likely produced during the Anglo-Danish regnum and found in the rubble of the Old Minster, Winchester, within a political, cultural and ideological context. The fragmentary nature of the find poses difficulties in dating the work on stylistic grounds, determining its original length, and discerning its intended message. In suggesting answers, the scope of evidence analyzed and scholarship referenced is necessarily broad, but emphasis is placed on political history, artistic developments in architecture and poetry in England and Scandinavia, and the cross-cultural character of the English courts of King Cnut and his immediate successors.