Beneath a plump cluster of berries six birds and hybrid creatures bite at the scroll’s fruit, branches and flowers. Three of the creatures
have tails that intertwine with the stems of the scroll and end in leaf-like shapes that suggest a union of beast and scroll that may be
meant to further their symbolic evocation of the union of the faithful with Christ in the eucharist, and of the words of Christ ‘I am the
vine; you the branches: he that abideth in me, and I in him, the same beareth much fruit’ (John 15:5). Although damaged and worn, the
depth of detail of the original carving can still be seen in the eyes, ears and gripping paws of the second beast from the top. The scroll
was extended beneath the lower border of the panel, most likely at the same time that the Crucifixion was added to the base of the east
face. The hole in this face of the cross is unlikely to have been a relic cavity due to its location, and was almost certainly made during
either the toppling or restoration and reconstruction of the monument.
The runic inscription is in the Old English language. It reads: (across the top) [+k]ris[t] wæs on; (down the right side) rodi ·
hweþræ þer fusæ fearran kwomu æþþilæ til anum ic þæt al bi[h][eald] s[aræ] ic w[æ]s · mi[þ] so[r]gu[m] gi[d]rœ[fi]d h[n]a[g]…; (down
the left side) miþ s[t]re[l]um giwundad alegdun hiæ [h]inæ limwœrignæ· gistoddu[n h]im [æt] [his] [li][c]æs [hea]f[du]m [bih]ea[ld]u[n
h]i[æ þ]e[r]… Translation: + Christ was on the cross. But eager ones came hither from afar. Noble ones came together. I beheld all that.
I was terribly afflicted with sorrows. I bowed [to the hands of men], wounded with arrows. They laid him down, limb-weary; they stood at
the shoulders of the corpse. They looked upon the Lord [of heaven].
