The curious mythology of the Gosforth Cross

In the small Cumbrian village of Gosforth, in the graveyard of St Mary’s Church, there is a sandstone cross which has stood there since the 10th century. It’s tall, nearly 15 feet, which immediately distinguishes it from any other sculpted stone cross you might find in churchyards across Britain. Up close, it’s even more unusual. The imagery is weird: men wrestle with giant monsters that snake up the cross’s shaft. The depictions weren’t identified until 1883 when William Slater Calverley, a vicar and amateur antiquarian, realised that the cross doesn’t show Christian subjects at all. It shows scenes from Ragnarök, the end of the world in Viking mythology.

On the west side of the cross there’s Loki, the god of mischief, bound in a cave with a serpent dripping venom into his eyes, his punishment for betraying the gods. Above him there’s Heimdall, the all-seeing watchman of Asgard, home of the gods. Heimdall holds off the advance of the giant wolf Fenrir and the Midgard Serpent. In his hand he grips his horn which he will use to rouse the gods for the final battle. On the east side of the cross, Odin’s son Vidarr stamps down on the bottom of Fenrir’s mouth as he lifts the upper jaw, tearing apart the beast’s maw.

What are these non-Christian scenes doing on a Christian symbol? Well, perhaps the imagery isn’t quite as pagan as it seems. Also on the east side, enclosed within a frame, there’s a man with his arms stretched out on either side of him. Blood gushes from his side. Some scholars have suggested this is the Norse god Baldr, ‘the beautiful, the peace-giver, the bright son of the Father’, confronting Hel. For any Christian there is a much more obvious explanation.