The Sigurd's Cross

Sigurd's Cross is an ancient cross created in around the 9th century. It stands in the graveyard of St Wilfrid's Church in Halton and depicts the story of Sigurd the Dragon Slayer through several intricate carvings. We were very excited to come across this ancient piece of history and it is amazing to see how the artwork has survived the centuries and how much work must have gone into creating the images.

So to start, I will give you a quick rundown of the story of Sigurd the Dragon Slayer to give you an insight into the content of the carvings. Researching all of this Norse mythology hurt my brain a little, but this is the gist:

Sigurd was born to the Norse God Odin who was killed at Ragnarok, and consequently Sigurd was fostered by Regin, a talented blacksmith. Regin tasked Sigurd with retrieving the Andvaranaut ring - a treasure Regin had become obsessed with obtaining - which was stolen by Regin's brother Fafnir. Regin wanted his brother killed, but Fafnir had turned himself into a dragon (naturally!) and hid away. Sigurd found him and killed him but thought the ring looked pretty good, so he killed Regin too, keeping the treasure for himself. Unfortunately for him, the ring was cursed and Sigurd suffered further misfortunes. All sounds very Lord of the Rings!

This story explains some of the panels of the cross. In one scene there is an image of Regin the blacksmith with his hammer in hand surrounded by blacksmithing tools - it's a bit tricky to see what's going on in this panel but perhaps this is due to the years of weathering it has undergone. It may have also been painted at the time to make the story clearer. Above this panel, Regin is beheaded after he had been killed by Sigurd. There is another scene depicting Sigurd roasting the dragon's heart which again is a bit tricky to decipher.

On one of the other sides, there is a much more clear image of Sigurd's horse and of Fafnir the dragon above it. On one of the other sides there is some elaborate Viking knotwork and on the final panel some clear figures can be seen. There is a figure which may be an angel sitting with two figures holding his legs, and another panel below it with two figures holding a cross. These are the best preserved panels, and depict Christian symbols which was not unusual in Viking times, as Norse Vikings became Christianised.