Auzon (Franks) Casket

Napier 1901b, 362-81; right side corrected by Ball 1966, 119-26.

Verse Early Anglian

This page is at an early stage of development... I haven't checked any of the runic inscriptions yet!

The Top

The top shows an archer defending a stockade against armed enemies. His name Ægili is written above him in runes:

: [Ægili]

The Front

The front shows the Adoration of Christ. In a small panel above is the title mægi:

: [Mægi]

Unlike all the other inscriptions, the main inscription on the front does not refer to a carved scene but is a riddle:

: [Fisc flodu ahof on fergenberig,]

[warþ gasric grorn þær he on greut giswom,]

[Hronæs ban.]

The Back

The carving on the back depicts the capture of Jerusalem by Emperor Titus. This scene has an inscription in a mixture of Old English and Latin and a mixture of runes and Roman letters:

: HIC FUGIANT HIERUSALIM
[Her fegtaþ titus end giuþeasu hic fugiant hierusalim afitatores.]

Two smaller scenes at the bottom of the panel have their own short titles: Dom, Gisl.

Left Side

This side shows the wolf suckling Romulus and Remus. Around this picture there is a runic inscription:

: Romwalus and reumwalus twoegen gibroþær,
Afoeddæ hiæ wylif in romæcæstri,
oþlæ unneg.

Right Side

: Her hos sitaþ on harmberga æglæ drigiþ swa hiriertæegis græf, sarden sorga ænd sefa torna.