This section has been restored by Duncan with mortar and cement block in-fill. Two fragments of the original shaft remain. The inhabited
vine-scroll of the upper fragment contains a bird and beast that nibble at its fruit. The inhabited vine-scroll is symbolic of both the
tree-of-life and of the faithful partaking of the eucharist. Any inscription that might have surrounded the panel has been worn away. The
lower fragment contains a small section of vine-scroll with a curling flower and leaf. A fragmentary inscription runs vertically down the
border in contrast to the horizontal rows of runic characters inscribed on the main shaft. It reads ‘dægisgæf[.], and has never been
convincingly translated. It has been wrongly reconstructed as part of lines 52b–55b from The Dream of the Rood, and thought to be a
fragment of a personal name from a longer memorial inscription.
