ANGLO-SAXON REMAINS 



figure would, according to this interpretation, be intended for Satan, 

 while there may have been originally a dove, to symbolize the Holy 

 Spirit, where a fracture is now apparent at the top. The obverse matrix 

 is presumably of the same date as the carving above, and presents a 

 half-length male figure holding in front of him a sword point upwards. 

 The attitude and clothing, the style of the lettering and the size of the 



BONE SEAL FROM WALLINGFORD, WITH IMPRESSIONS. 



seal all find a remarkably close parallel in the seal of ^Elfric found near 

 Winchester and assigned to the alderman of Hampshire who was killed 

 at Ashington in ioi6/ The legend is SIGILLVM GODWINI MINISTRI, a 

 letter between the first and second words perhaps standing for BEATI, 

 while at the back in inferior characters are the words SIGILLVM 

 GODGYTHE MONACHE DODATE (the seal of Godgytha the nun, given to 

 God). The female figure on the reverse is seated on a cushion and holds 

 in her right hand a book. This may be taken to represent Godgytha, 

 who was possibly related to Godwin and the abbess of a monastery 

 founded by him. To identify either name seems a hopeless task, but the 

 date of the obverse is probably about the year iooo, 2 the seal of God- 

 gytha having to all appearance been added at a later date. Mr. Kirby 

 Hedges 3 is inclined to connect the seal with the great Earl Godwin ; and 

 his wife, the niece of Canute, certainly bore the name Gytha which 

 recalls that mentioned on the reverse. She is known to have been a 

 benefactress of the Church after the death of her husband in 1053, and to 

 have held lands in the county ; but the historian of Wallingford him- 

 self acknowledges that the name of Earl Godwin is not a likely one to be 



1 r.C.H. Hants, i. 398. 



1 A Godwin ' minister ' (or king's thegn) witnessed charters of Eadgar in 967 and 972 ; and the 

 same or another Godwin 'minister' witnessed several charters of ^Ethelred from 980 to 1016. 

 History of Wattingford, i. 183. 



245 



