Pennington Tympanum

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A 12th century carving with rune inscription in what Matthew Townend describes as ‘perfectly acceptable Old Norse, albeit with weakened inflexions’. This is evidence that the language of Cumbria’s tenth century Viking settlers survived beyond the Norman conquest. The local red sandstone carving has been badly worn, probably by having been repurposed as building material and spending much of the 19th century in the outside wall of a farm building. The stone was returned to the church in the early 20th century. Townend, M. (2002). Language and History in Viking Age England: Linguistic Relations Between Speakers of Old Norse and Old English. Turnhout, Belgium: Brepols. (p. 194) Many thanks to Mark Wilson, Church Warden at St Michael and the Holy Angels Church, Pennington, Cumbria.