Uploaded January 2022 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
British medieval stone monuments such as the High Cross are famous for their unique interlace styles sometimes called Celtic knot work. During the early medieval era the Picts erected unique picture stones, the Anglo-Saxons established the high cross tradition and the Gaels and Vikings also influenced the artwork of the peoples of the British isles. In this video I will try to explain how the medieval stone monument tradition developed and how the Viking invasions influenced the high cross tradition in Ireland and resulted in runic crosses on the Isle of Mann and hogbacks graves in Scotland and England. You will see animated cgi of the pagan Norse imagery from the Gosforth cross and finally I take a trip to the marvellous medieval stones of Govan in Scotland. Sometimes it is hard to tell if such monuments are Celtic, Viking or Anglo-Saxon!
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Patreon: patreon.com/survivethejive
All Links: https://linktr.ee/SurvivetheJive
Telegram: https://t.me/s/survivethejive
Sponsored by The Bizarchives: Thrilling tales of strange science, heroic ages and supernatural horror. thebizarchives.com for all releases, submission criteria, pulp fiction history and much more!
Art by:
Gosforth cross by Robert Molyneaux
artstation.com/robertmolyneaux
Knocknagael Boar Stone by Roy Douglas
artstation.com/roydouglas
Christian Sloan Hall
deviantart.com/americanvendetta
Music in order:
Kevin MacLeod - Moorland
Wolcensmen - sunne
Xurios - steppe expansion
Gvasdanahr - through the astral void
Borg - May queen enters the circle
Lorcán Mac Mathúna - Caoineadh Fherdia
Kevin MacLeod - rites
Ormgard - Sjálfsforn
Lorcán Mac Mathúna - Dinseannchas
Andrew Weis - Scottish medieval
Simon Jacobs - Ad Victoriam
Sources:
Bristow and Cramp 'Corpus of Anglo-Saxon Stone Sculpture in England' (British Academy, 1984) ascorpus.ac.uk
Cramp, R. 'Grammar of Anglo-Saxon ornament : a general introduction to the Corpus of Anglo-Saxon stone sculpture' (Oxford: 1984)
Moss, Rachel. Medieval c. 400—c. 1600: Art and Architecture of Ireland. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2014.
Wretch, R., "Decoding Anglo-Saxon art" British Museum blog.
00:00 Introduction
00:51 Neolithic stone monuments
01:26 Celtic stone monuments
02:35 Roman stelae
03:21 Medieval interlace
04:00 Peoples of early medieval Britain
05:01 Pictish stones
06:08 The High Cross
08:35 Runestones
09:47 Origin of interlace
13:04 Bizarchives
13:28 The Celtic Cross
15:11 Dolton Anglo-Saxon font
16:53 Viking Gosforth cross
19:06 Giant’s grave Penrith
20:05 Hogbacks
21:36 Govan stones
24:54 Conclusion
British medieval stone monuments such as the High Cross are famous for their unique interlace styles sometimes called Celtic knot work. During the early medieval era the Picts erected unique picture stones, the Anglo-Saxons established the high cross tradition and the Gaels and Vikings also influenced the artwork of the peoples of the British isles. In this video I will try to explain how the medieval stone monument tradition developed and how the Viking invasions influenced the high cross tradition in Ireland and resulted in runic crosses on the Isle of Mann and hogbacks graves in Scotland and England. You will see animated cgi of the pagan Norse imagery from the Gosforth cross and finally I take a trip to the marvellous medieval stones of Govan in Scotland. Sometimes it is hard to tell if such monuments are Celtic, Viking or Anglo-Saxon!
This channel depends on your support:
Patreon: patreon.com/survivethejive
All Links: https://linktr.ee/SurvivetheJive
Telegram: https://t.me/s/survivethejive
Sponsored by The Bizarchives: Thrilling tales of strange science, heroic ages and supernatural horror. thebizarchives.com for all releases, submission criteria, pulp fiction history and much more!
Art by:
Gosforth cross by Robert Molyneaux
artstation.com/robertmolyneaux
Knocknagael Boar Stone by Roy Douglas
artstation.com/roydouglas
Christian Sloan Hall
deviantart.com/americanvendetta
Music in order:
Kevin MacLeod - Moorland
Wolcensmen - sunne
Xurios - steppe expansion
Gvasdanahr - through the astral void
Borg - May queen enters the circle
Lorcán Mac Mathúna - Caoineadh Fherdia
Kevin MacLeod - rites
Ormgard - Sjálfsforn
Lorcán Mac Mathúna - Dinseannchas
Andrew Weis - Scottish medieval
Simon Jacobs - Ad Victoriam
Sources:
Bristow and Cramp 'Corpus of Anglo-Saxon Stone Sculpture in England' (British Academy, 1984) ascorpus.ac.uk
Cramp, R. 'Grammar of Anglo-Saxon ornament : a general introduction to the Corpus of Anglo-Saxon stone sculpture' (Oxford: 1984)
Moss, Rachel. Medieval c. 400—c. 1600: Art and Architecture of Ireland. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2014.
Wretch, R., "Decoding Anglo-Saxon art" British Museum blog.
00:00 Introduction
00:51 Neolithic stone monuments
01:26 Celtic stone monuments
02:35 Roman stelae
03:21 Medieval interlace
04:00 Peoples of early medieval Britain
05:01 Pictish stones
06:08 The High Cross
08:35 Runestones
09:47 Origin of interlace
13:04 Bizarchives
13:28 The Celtic Cross
15:11 Dolton Anglo-Saxon font
16:53 Viking Gosforth cross
19:06 Giant’s grave Penrith
20:05 Hogbacks
21:36 Govan stones
24:54 Conclusion
