256 



Mr. PETRIE'S Inquiry into the Origin and 



plural, " a wolf, devours a human head : the head is a living one ; the hair, 

 whiskers, and beard give it a savage appearance. The animal is easily disco- 

 vered by the following story : One of the sailors of King Harold dreamed, 

 that a woman of gigantic size appeared to him, riding on a wolf, who had in 

 his mouth the head of a man, the blood of which flowed from his jaws. When 

 he had swallowed the head, the woman put another into his mouth, and so on 

 with many more, all of them he devoured, and then she began the song of death." 

 The capitals of the outer pier, marked C in the ground-plan, are represented 

 in the annexed illustrations, showing their two sides or faces. 



The ornament which constitutes the principal feature on these capitals does 

 not occur on any others in Ireland ; but it is, as I shall hereafter show, very 

 common on Irish tombstones of the ninth and tenth centuries, and in manu- 

 scripts of a still earlier age. 



The columns on the opposite side of the arch are without capitals or ornament. 



The illustrations which follow show the various ornaments on the bases of 



the columns. Those prefixed exhibit the two faces of that of pier B : they are 

 no less peculiar than the capitals. 



