,'358 Conclustoii 



CONCLUSION 



At the dose of this inquiry, we may well endeavor to summarize 

 its results. The forms of the runic letters do not require an early 

 date, and the fact that no Scandinavian memorial inscriptions ante- 

 date 900, and that runic inscriptions occur in England as late as the 

 12th century, assuredly favors a date much later than the 7th cen- 

 tury (see pp. 31—32). The language of the Ruthwell inscription in 

 runes indicates a date not earlier than the 10th century (see pp. 33 

 —37). The nearest parallels to the runic Gesstis Kristtus of the Bew- 

 castle Cross belong to the end of the 13th century (see p. 37). The 

 word cBJt seems to indicate a date later than 1050 (see pp. 38—40). 

 Cynnburug points to the 10th century at earliest (see pp. 43—44). 

 The metrical peculiarities of the poetical inscription on the Ruthwell 

 Cross show that it was a rather clumsy adaptation of certain lines 

 of The Dream of the Rood (see p. 40). The word Alcfnpti, if it 

 actually occurs on the Bewcastle Cross, is the name of a woman 

 rather than of a man, is rather Norse than English, and therefore 

 indicates a date subsequent to the Norse conquest of the Western 

 Isles (see pp. 42—43). The most pecuhai letters of the Latin in- 

 scriptions have forms which elsewhere occur in inscriptions of the 

 12th century (see pp. 44—45). 



The figure-sculpture points uniformly to the 11th and 12th cen- 

 turies, with a general preponderance in favor of the 12th (see pp. 45 

 -71). 



In the decorative sculpture, the vine occurs over too long a period 

 to furnish the best means of determining the date of our crosses ; 

 but Rivoira, the latest expert to examine the Ruthwell carving, 

 favors a period about 1100-1150 (see pp. 14, 78). The chequers 

 indicate the 12th century (see pp. 83—86), the Celtic interlacings 

 the 11th or 12th (see pp. 86-89), and the sundial the late Uth or 

 12th century see pp. 89-90). 



Accordingly, a date not far from 1150 would perhaps harmonize 

 all the indications better than any other that could be named. 

 Upon this supposition, it remains to discover, if possible, what agency 

 might be credited with the erection of the two crosses. One might 

 think of a great prelate, a great abbey, a religious noble, or a religious 

 king. The greatest prelate of the North in those times was undoubt- 

 (146) 



