David Jones : Ongyrede hine þa geong hæleđ (Stripped himself the young warrior)

Jones, David, 1895-1974

David Jones

<p style='text-align: justify;'><p>This is Jones’ only inscription rendered entirely in Anglo-Saxon. It draws on lines 39-41 of the Anglo-Saxon poem <i>The Dream of the Rood</i>, which describes Christ's ascension of the cross as a warrior, from the point of view of the cross. The extract comes from the <i>Vercelli Book</i>, a 10th century manuscript of vernacular Anglo-Saxon poetry. This inscription is also notable for its restricted two-colour palette of black and red.</p><p>Included in Nicolete Gray, <i>The Painted inscriptions of David Jones</i>, London: Gordon Fraser, 1981, catalogue 28 (simply entitled ‘Ongyrede’).</p><p>The translation is by Colin Wilcockson and is quoted by Nicolette Gray, and Ariane Banks and Paul Hills.</p></p>