SCANDO-GOTHIC ART IN WESSEX. 9 



found they had made themselves secure in their fastness.* 

 But in the following year, in Wessex, in Devon, a pitched 

 battle was fought, for which King Alfred had made great 

 preparation. And he defeated the Danes and took from 

 them a standard which they called the Raven. And Asser 

 tells us that they claim it to have been woven in one day by 

 three daughters of Lodbrok ; and that when the Danes were 

 to be victorious the ensign fluttered like a living thing, but 

 hung motionless before defeat.^ 



The Raven was Odin's Mark, the Holy Bird of Odin, who 

 was called Hrafna god, the Lord of Ravens. Their croaking 

 betokened disaster, and they fed on the slaughtered foe. 

 We see the legend on the Avebury font (fig. B).. And it is not 

 difficult to suppose that the place in Wilts once called 

 Hraefnesbyrig, and now Ramsbury, owes its name to a 

 conflict where the Danish flag once flew, and where a 

 dragon's head can still be seen amidst the unsymmetrical 

 Scando-Gothic intreccio that used to decorate a cross (fig. C). 

 And within ten miles of Ramsbury are the remains of 

 Wolfhall, called in Domesday Book, Ulfela, which is the 

 Gothic diminutive of Wolf. 



And the baptism of Danes continued. In the same year 

 when their standard was taken in Devon, in 878, King Alfred, 

 with the men of Hants, Somerset, and Wilts who had 

 assembled at the Stone of Ecgbright [Brixton (Deverill)], 

 marched to Edington [near Westbury] and defeated the 



* hie on J>am fastene waeron. 



f Asserii Annales Scriptores XV., p. 167. 



ibique acceperunt spolia non minima, in quo etiam 

 acceperunt illud vexillum quod Reafun [Raefn] nominant. Dicunt 

 enim quod tres sorores Hinguari & Aubbae, filiae videlicet Lodebrochi 

 illud vexillum texuerunt & to turn, paraverunt illud uno meridiano 

 tempore. Dicunt etiam quod in omni bello ubi prsecederet idem 

 signum, si victoriam adepturi essent appareret in medio signi quasi 

 corvus vivus volitans ; si vero vincendi in future fuissent, penderet 

 directe, nihil movens. Et hoc saepe probatum est. 



