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All the United Kingdom Scotland Dumfries and Galloway The Ruthwell Cross

The Ruthwell Cross

An Anglo-Saxon cross inscribed with possibly the oldest written work of English literature.

Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland

Added By
Tim LaPointe
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The south face of the Ruthwell Cross in the apse.   Heather Hobma/CC BY-SA 3.0
The south face of the Ruthwell Cross in the apse.   Heather Hobma/CC BY-SA 3.0
The head of the Ruthwell Cross.   Humphrey Bolton/CC BY-SA 2.0
Ruthwell Church, where the cross is housed.   Billy McCrorie/CC BY-SA 2.0
The Ruthwell Cross.   Peter Mattock/CC BY-SA 2.0
The Ruthwell Cross.   tim lapointe / Atlas Obscura User
Ruthwell Cross runic inscription.   G. F. Browne/Public Domain
Ruthwell Church   Jaszmina Szendrey / Atlas Obscura User
  rbenn250 / Atlas Obscura User
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About

Is this ancient stone cross, tucked in the apse of a small Scottish village church, the source of the oldest work of literature in the English language?

The Ruthwell Cross is an 18-foot-tall Anglo-Saxon cross dating to the 7th or 8th century, beautifully carved on two sides with worn images of Jesus Christ and religious symbols, along with descriptions, in Latin, of the scenes they are intended to depict.

With carvings so sophisticated they have been the subject of scholarly study for centuries, the cross is considered one of the most wonderful and impressive early Anglo-Saxon monuments from the golden days of the Kingdom of Northumbria, which once covered northern England and southern Scotland. 

But it's the runic inscriptions carved on alternating sides that shroud the cross in mystery. The runes depict vine and animal motifs common to other Anglo-Saxon monuments, although it's unusual to find the runic alphabet on a Christian monument. These runic inscriptions contain a portion of "The Dream of the Rood," (“rood” meaning cross), which is in the running as the oldest English poem.

The full text of the poem is recorded in the 10th century manuscript the Vercelli Book, but fractions of it are also carved in the Ruthwell Cross in runic characters. The question has always been: Did the poet find the text on the cross, or was the cross carved with the runes at a later date? No one really knows. But if the runic inscription is original to the cross, then this carving might indeed be the oldest known work in the canon of Old English literature. 

The cross was smashed to pieces during the Protestant Reformation, then reconstructed with some of its original pieces in the early 19th century. This only added further mystery to the Ruthwell Cross, as no one is sure that it is properly put together.

Related Tags

Crosses Christianity Ancient Language Literature

Know Before You Go

The Cross can be seen during church hours. However, Ruthwell Church is an active place of worship, so all visitors should be respectful of this. The Cross can also be viewed when the church itself is closed. There is a small sign on the door that indicates that the church key can be collected at the manse bungalow. The bungalow is the closest building to the church and there is a small box at the front of the building, labeled "church key," which contains the key.

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tim lapointe

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Molly McBride Jacobson, hibbysam, Jaszmina Szendrey, Meg...

  • Molly McBride Jacobson
  • hibbysam
  • Jaszmina Szendrey
  • Meg
  • rbenn250

Published

February 3, 2017

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Sources
  • http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/scottishhistory/darkages/trails_darkages_angles2.shtml
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruthwell_Cross
  • http://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/ruthwell/ruthwellcross/
The Ruthwell Cross
Ruthwell Road
Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland
United Kingdom
55.000304, -3.407548
Get Directions

Nearby Places

Brow Well

Brow Burn, Scotland

miles away

'Big Fella'

Silloth, England

miles away

Rosefield Mills

Dumfries, Scotland

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Dumfries and Galloway

Dumfries and Galloway

Scotland

Places 2

Nearby Places

Brow Well

Brow Burn, Scotland

miles away

'Big Fella'

Silloth, England

miles away

Rosefield Mills

Dumfries, Scotland

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Dumfries and Galloway

Dumfries and Galloway

Scotland

Places 2

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