The amalgamation of traditions in England is perhaps most clearly illustrated by
the so-called Franks Casket, probably made in Northumbria around the same time as
—or a bit later than—the Lindisfarne Gospels. Carved out of whale bone, this box is
decorated with scenes from Roman, Jewish, Christian, and Germanic tales. The front
panel (Plate 2.8), for example, melds a Christian story with one from the Anglo-
Saxon tradition. On the left, the princess Beadohild is tricked by Weland the Smith
into bearing his son, the hero Widia. Weland, an otherworldly figure of incredible skill
at the forge, was celebrated in the Anglo-Saxon poems Beowulf and Deor. On the
right side of the same panel, the Magi bring gifts to Christ, seated on Mary’s lap.
That, of course, was a story from the Gospels. Yet both scenes play on the same
theme: a mother who bears the son of an otherworldly father.
