Cross Slab, Jurby, Isle of Man

Second half of 10th Century

The cross slab at Jurby is slightly more eroded, but through being a simpler design, is easier to read. The action takes place on the right hand side of the slab, and reads downwards. Again the dragon is placed lengthways up the slab, with a goblin like figure at one side stabbing at the centre of the beast. The figure is supposed to be in a pit, having a curved line separating him from the dragon. It is so arranged that Sigurd is forced to stab through the bottom of the pit to reach the beast. Further down the panel the figure stands with his thumb in his mouth, and holding something on a pole. Underneath is an animal, possibly Grani, and a muddle of lines that have been variously interpreted as the dead Fafnir or the tree on which the talking birds sit (and hence similar to the Ramsund stone in Sweden).

The dragon itself is very different from the Andreas version, in that it consists only of a very simple ‘S’ shape with no interlacing, and may have a head at both ends. Again there is a line running parallel with each edge of the body, but the area inside this is divided up into rectangular lozenges in the Jellinge manner. Although it is described that the beast is double headed, in the manner of the multiple beast at Ramsund, the bottom curl is so badly eroded that it is difficult to be certain whether it is a tail or second head.

Cross Slab, Jurby, Isle of Man.
Reproduced from the Art of the Manx Crosses with permission from the Manx Museum