Anglo-Scandinavian shaft fragment © Chapter of York: Reproduced by kind permission. Collections reference code:YORDC/2019/2029
This cross shaft fragment was discovered during the 1966-71 excavations at York Minster. The figure on the front view is probably Wayland, though unlike any of the other early medieval stone carvings of the Flying Smith, his wings are only connected to his arms. However the pair he has got are similar to those on the fragment in Leeds City Museum https://skfb.ly/oPC8X . He is less likely to be an angel - none from the period look like this and you would expect an angel to have been issued with a halo. There has been a suggestion that he is an elf - but no Norse texts describe elves as having wings, and there are no winged-elf representations in sculptures or other media in the early medieval period. Gandalf would not have given them flight clearance. https://archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/archives/view/wist_ahrc_2019/fullrecord.cfm?casss_mon_id=897
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