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Ballaugh Cross
Ballaugh, Isle of Man
The Manx rune master Gaut Bjornsson carved the Ballaugh Cross. Nearly 200 carved
crosses have survived on the Isle of Man dating from the Celtic early Christian
period in the 7th century, through the period of Viking settlement up to the
early 11th century. The Scandinavian chain link shaft design comes from Viking
influence. The ribbon like knotwork of this cross is said to be in the form of
Irminsul. Irminsul is similar to the tree of life or the cosmic axis, which is
the connection between heaven and earth. This cross comes from a cross-slab,
which has runic writing along one side. Many Scandinavian rune stones used the
Irminsul form for the presentation of the runic inscription; the script read
upwards along the shaft.
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