Insular Crosiers from Viking-Age Scandinavia

This is the fi rst detailed study of a group of fi ve Insular crosier fragments from Viking-age Scandinavia. The European importance of this material, which includes some of the earliest extant crosiers in Western Europe, the earliest extant volute-headed crosier, and the earliest evidence for crosier use in England, is discussed and it is argued that the Insular and Continental crosier traditions were closer to each other than has previously been recognised. In recent years this material, as well as other fragmented Insular Church metalwork from the Nordic countries, has been used to support the notion of early undocumented Christian missions to Scandinavia. This theory is challenged in this paper, which concludes that it is far more likely that this material arrived in Scandinavia as a result of Viking raids on the church sites of Ireland and Britain.