A DECORATED AND INSCRIBED STRAP-END FROM NUFFIELD, OXFORDSHIRE

Abstract

The object described and discussed in this paper is a recently found Anglo-Saxon strap-end. Although incomplete, the strap-end is of interest in view of its rarity in being made of silver, of its decoration and of it containing an inscribed text. One part of the decoration is a depiction of the agnus dei. In the discussion, the decoration on the strap-end, and its significance, is set in the context of other instances of the agnus dei, both on artefacts and in manuscripts, from late Anglo-Saxon England.