Eþelþryþ Who?

The Enigmatic Old English Dry-point Runes in the St Petersburg Insular Gospels

Abstract

This article offers the first extensive discussion and a new interpretation of the dry-point sequence incised in Old English runes on fol. 213r of St Peters­burg, Na­tional Library of Russia, MS Lat. F.v.I.8, commonly known as the St Peters­burg Insular Gospels. The dry-point runes most likely spell the Old English fe­male name Eþelþryþ. However, the central character of the se­quence, which is unparalleled in the Old English runic corpus, offers mul­tiple possi­bil­ities for inter­pretation. By placing the dry-point runes into the im­me­diate con­text of the manuscript page as well as into broader historical and runo­logical per­spec­tives, this article argues that the dry-point inscription em­ploys visual play and functions either as a corrector’s signature or as an en­crypted com­men­tary on the surrounding Latin Gospel of St John, prompting readers to re­member and medi­tate on the virtues of Saint Æthelthryth, the seventh-century abbess of Ely.