The life and adventures of a mildly dotty old bird.
Sunday, 25 May 2014
The Cursed Ring
Mr GBT took this photo yesterday when we had a clan gathering over at The Vyne in Hampshire. The ring is Roman and was discovered in Silchester in 1785. From its inscription it's owner was a fellow called Silvianus. Unusually one Latin inscription is Christian and the other Pagan. It is not recorded how it came to be part of the collection at the property.
In the early 19th century [info from Wiki] a lead tablet was found at a Roman Temple site near Lydney Gloucestershire. It was inscribed with the following curse:
"For the God Nodens. Silvanianus has lost a ring and has donated one half [its worth] to Nodens. Among those named Senicianus permit no good health until it is returned to the Temple of Nodens"
In 1929 the archaeologist Mortimer Wheeler, whilst digging at the Lydney site, linked the ring and the tablet. He approached an Oxford Don to research Nodens. That don was a little known chap called Mr Tolkien. Speculation is that this historical incident of the cursed ring may have influenced the creation of The Lord of the Rings.
Arilx
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
A Quite Interesting Monday
I had yesterday off and we spent nearly three hours in a queue [the British do so love a queue] in London in the freezing cold. Was it worth...

-
Certainly a new twist on the usual blue plaque. It made us laugh and had us scratching our heads. It just seemed rather odd, but even th...
-
Isn't it a tad frustrating when you see something you think you'd really enjoy and you can't manage it for a multitude of reason...
-
I think if you heed the advice in the text below you might want to think twice about sitting on this bench.....them dragons is dangerous bea...
fascinating stuff!
ReplyDeleteLeanne x
I thought it was intriguing too!
ReplyDeleteArilx