THE RUTHWELL CROSS. 41 
and culture of the Church in that period can be seen in its 
literature. 
The 8th century began with Bede and ended with Alcuin. 
The school of York was the greatest ‘‘ university ’’ in 
Europe; it supplied books to Charlemagne’s library and 
taught theology, letters, and law before the schools of Paris 
and Bologna had arisen. It sent missionaries to pagan Ger- 
many. It eclipsed even Iona, the most venerable of early 
schools in the West. 
In native poetry the century produced work of great in- 
terest and variety. Beowulf ‘‘ may have been composed as 
early as the middle of the 7th century, but was written down 
perhaps some 50 years later, . . its original language was 
the Anglian, i.e., the Northern variety of the Anglo-Saxon 
speech ’’ (Professor Sedgefield, Beowulf, xliii). The Christ 
of Cynewulf is a still more wonderful production. ‘‘ Critics 
are at one in placing the ‘ floruit ’ of its poet during the second 
half of the eighth century ’’ (Professor Gollancz, Cynewulf’s 
Re RtISi  XXi1.). 
Now, one of Cynewulf’s poems—for The Dream of the 
Cross is the introduction to his Elene, a poem on the dis- 
covery of the true cross by St. Helena—is quoted on the 
- Ruthwell Cross. This shows that the cross-designers were 
people of culture, and English by nationality ; they were aware 
of the association of the two arts of sculpture and literature ; 
they practised, or at least patronised, both. And it gives 
evidence of the date of the cross; for the poem must have 
been in its fresh vogue when it was thought worthy of illus- 
tration in stone. 
Before the time when doubt was thrown by Signor 
Rivoira and Professor Cook upon the old dating of the Bew- 
castle and Ruthwell crosses, most of us accepted the idea that 
they were both of the period of King Ecgfrith; for the Bew- 
castle cross seemed to state that ‘‘ in the first year of King 
Ecgfrith ’’ (670-71) it was erected. We owe a great debt to 
both these scholars for re-opening the question. The date 
must now be shifted, but I suggest that the later part of the 
eighth century satisfies the requirements in both cases. 
On the Bewcastle Cross (Fig. 16) the Falconer would be 
