In Memoriam: gordonplumb
Leeds, Minster Church of St Peter, Leeds Cross, Weland the Smith and his flying machine
The story of Weland the Smith is told most fully in the 13thC. Icelandic poem Volundarkvida. Wayland and his two brothers marry swan-sisters who had mysteriously flown in from the south. THese then fly away again and his brothers set out to find them their wives, but Weland stayed behind to make rings - he was fames as a metalworker and smith. He was subsequently captured by a king who cut his hamstrings and forced him to work in his employ. He took his revenge by decapitating the king's two princes, turning their skulls into bowls, their eyes into gems and their teeth into brooches. He then raped the king's daughter. The tale ends with his escaping by air - another saga tels us he acquired some wih the help of his brother Egil. It is this escape that is shown on the Leeds Cross here.
Leeds, Minster Church of St Peter, Leeds Cross, Weland the Smith and his flying machine
The story of Weland the Smith is told most fully in the 13thC. Icelandic poem Volundarkvida. Wayland and his two brothers marry swan-sisters who had mysteriously flown in from the south. THese then fly away again and his brothers set out to find them their wives, but Weland stayed behind to make rings - he was fames as a metalworker and smith. He was subsequently captured by a king who cut his hamstrings and forced him to work in his employ. He took his revenge by decapitating the king's two princes, turning their skulls into bowls, their eyes into gems and their teeth into brooches. He then raped the king's daughter. The tale ends with his escaping by air - another saga tels us he acquired some wih the help of his brother Egil. It is this escape that is shown on the Leeds Cross here.