Gods and Settlers: The Iconography of Norse Mythology in Anglo-Scandinavian Sculpture by Lilla Kopár (review)

Gods and Settlers: The Iconography of Norse Mythology in Anglo-Scandinavian Sculptureis an important new addition to recent studies on the acculturation process of Scandinavians in England during the ninth and tenth centuries. In particular, it provides a detailed assessment of all known Anglo-Scandinavian sculptures that may include Norse mythological or heroic imagery.

The work is divided into two parts, ‘Images’ and ‘Encounters’. The first focuses on the images on the stones, and examines whether any of them relate to Norse mythology. All figurative Anglo-Scandinavian stonework is considered, including those examples which were once thought to depict mythological scenes but have since been rejected by scholars such as Richard Bailey and James Lang. As may be expected, the Gosforth Cross receives the most attention and the discussion of the Cross is most impressive, including seven pages on the significance of the female attending the crucifixion, variously interpreted by scholars as Ecclesia, Mary Magdalene, or a valkyrie; Lilla Kopár suggests, however, that it may be the Norse goddess Hel. Indeed, she suggests that some of the other cup-bearing female figures may also represent Hel in her role of hostess rather than a valkyrie as is commonly supposed. To help the reader understand the scenes (possibly) being depicted in the corpus, Kopár provides background information on such figures as Sigurd the dragonslayer and Wayland the smith, drawing on pre- and post-Viking Age sources as well as Viking Age Scandinavian images, especially those on picture stones on Gotland, plus skaldic poetry. Black-and-white photographs, of almost all the sculptures discussed are included, taken primarily from the Corpus of Anglo-Saxon Stone Sculpture, which makes the detailed descriptions of the possible scenes being depicted easier to follow. This section includes a number of interesting ideas, including that the bound Christ figure known in post-conversion Scandinavia may have been influenced by the popularity of bound figures in the pre-Christian tradition.

‘Encounters’ provides necessary background information on the debate over the number of Scandinavian settlers, the state of the church during the settlement period, and the likely relationship between patron(s) and sculptor(s). Kopár offers important new insights into the intellectual framework of the sculptures, arguing that figurative thinking – a recurrence of patterns that are ‘not a conscious interpretive method directed to scripture, but rather a mindset or mental furniture’ (p. 172) – is a more useful tool for considering the works than typology. The ‘table of possible correspondences’ provided on p. 174 is helpful for understanding this system. Kopár also stresses that the sculptures under discussion are Christian monuments at Christian sites so they represent an integration of pagan gods and heroes into the Christian system. Therefore, the sculptures occurred during the middle phase of Christianisation, where traditional beliefs and lore were still recognised but were being accommodated within a new cultural tradition. Consequently, Kopár argues that the sculptures should not be viewed as products of Scandinavian communities but of mixed Anglo-Scandinavian ones, where both traditions were familiar. It is suggested that some of the sculptures required the intellectual engagement of the audience and that they acted as visual riddles inviting cross-referencing between different narratives. Indeed, ‘every single attempt to interpret the iconography of these monuments was a step on the path of religious and cultural integration’ (p. 207). The Gosforth Cross features heavily in this section, where it is argued that it may have served as a preaching cross, and that the otherwise out of place ‘Hel’ figure standing below and to the right of Christ in the crucifixion scene on the Cross helps to link the Christian and Scandinavian traditions.

For this reviewer, ‘Encounters’ was the really interesting part of Kopár’s work, so it is unfortunate that ‘Images’ occupies approximately two-thirds of...