. Round the Lake Country. d a new heaven and a new earth should be bornwherein righteousness should dwell. If the Norse-man had his Heimdal or warder of Asgard to blowhis trumpet, and to warn the gods to prepare forbattle, the Christian had his forerunner to warn thepeople from wrath to come, John the Baptist, whilstat the same time the trumpet sound of the Gospelshould hold at bay the powers of evil to the end oftime. If the Norsemen had Vidar the silent to slaythe wolf-headed serpent of evil, and open the jaws ofthe Hel-worm, the Christians had in Christ one silentbefore his accusers, who de
. Round the Lake Country. d a new heaven and a new earth should be bornwherein righteousness should dwell. If the Norse-man had his Heimdal or warder of Asgard to blowhis trumpet, and to warn the gods to prepare forbattle, the Christian had his forerunner to warn thepeople from wrath to come, John the Baptist, whilstat the same time the trumpet sound of the Gospelshould hold at bay the powers of evil to the end oftime. If the Norsemen had Vidar the silent to slaythe wolf-headed serpent of evil, and open the jaws ofthe Hel-worm, the Christians had in Christ one silentbefore his accusers, who destroyed evil and openedby His resurrection the gates of death and of hell. With these thoughts in our minds, let us nowexamine the Gosforth Cross. A tree of life, it rises from a triple-stepped base-stone, emblematical of the Trinity ; and in the cross-head we see the triquetra emblems of the same Threein One. The powers of evil on the west, south andeast sides are all intent with gaping mouths todestroy the Holy THE GOSFOKTH CROSS THE GOSFORTH CROSS 57 On the west side of the cross, a Norseman of oldtime would see in the lower panel, Loki bound,and Sigiin with cup, catching the poison that fallsfrom the serpents mouth. Above this he wouldnote Odin riding on Sleipnir down to the fount ofMimir beneath the earth, to ask the prophetess ofthings to come. Above him Heimdal, the warderof Asgard, who has blown a blast upon his goldenhorn, is holding back the wolf-serpents, Skjoll andHati ; whilst higher still, the evil power is attackingthe seats of the gods—for these four triquetraemblems represent the twelve halls of the gods—orelse bent on swallowing the symbols of the sun andmoon as the wolf-serpent children of Fenris werefabled to do in the twilight of the gods. The Christian, as he gazed upon this western side,would see in the enchained Loki, Satan bound ;would see in the horseman upside down, Death uponits pale horse, overthrown by the Heimdal-Christ,who with his
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