Note 91 — from the Origins To the Renaissance (continued 2)

"Elene," in "Codex Vercellensis," part ii. p. 73, and "Holy Rood" (this last of doubtful authorship), ibid. pp. 84 ff. Lines resembling some of the verses in "Holy Rood" have been found engraved in Runic letters on the cross at Ruthwell, Scotland; the inscription and cross are reproduced in "Vetusta Monumenta," vol. iv. p. 54; see also G. Stephens, "The old Northern Runic monuments of Scandinavia and England," London, 1866-8, 2 vols. fol., vol. i. pp. 405 ff. Resemblances have also been pointed out, showing the frequence of such poetical figures, with the Anglo-Saxon inscription of a reliquary preserved at Brussels: "Rood is my name, I once bore the rich king, I was wet with dripping blood." The reliquary contains a piece of the true cross, which is supposed to speak these words. The date is believed to be about 1100. H. Logeman, "L'Inscription Anglo-Saxonne du reliquaire de la vraie croix au trésor de l'église des SS. Michel et Gudule," Gand, Paris and London, 1891, 8vo (with facsimile), pp. 7 and 11.