The fylfot or fylfot cross ( ) and its mirror image, the gammadion are a type of
swastika associated with medieval
Anglo-Saxon culture. It is a cross with perpendicular extensions, usually at 90° or close angles, radiating in the same direction. However at least in modern heraldry texts, such as Friar and Woodcock & Robinson (see ) the fylfot differs somewhat from the archetypal form of the swastika: always upright and typically with truncated limbs, as shown in the figure at right.
Etymology
The most commonly cited
etymology
Etymology ()The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) – p. 633 "Etymology /ˌɛtɪˈmɒlədʒi/ the study of the class in words and the way their meanings have changed throughout time". is the study of the history of the Phonological chan ...
for this is that it comes from the notion common among nineteenth-century
antiquarians, but based on only a single 1500 manuscript, that it was used to ''fill'' empty space at the ''foot'' of
stained-glass window
A window is an opening in a wall, door, roof, or vehicle that allows the exchange of light and may also allow the passage of sound and sometimes air. Modern windows are usually glazed or covered in some other transparent or translucent mat ...
s in
medieval
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...
churches. This etymology is often cited in modern dictionaries (such as the ''Collins English Dictionary'' and Merriam-Webster Online).
Thomas Wilson (1896), suggested other etymologies,
now considered untenable.
History
The fylfot, together with its sister figures, the gammadion and the
swastika, has been found in a great variety of contexts over the centuries. It has occurred in both secular and sacred contexts in the British Isles, elsewhere in Europe, in Asia Minor and in Africa.
While these two terms might be broadly interchangeable in some places, we can detect a certain degree of affinity between term and terrain. Thus we might associate the Gammadion more with Byzantium, Rome and Graeco-Roman culture on the one hand, and the Fylfot more with Celtic and Anglo-Saxon culture on the other. Although the gammadion is very similar to the fylfot in appearance, it is thought to have originated from the conjunction of four capital '
Gammas' (), the third letter of the Greek alphabet but that the similarity of the symbols is coincidental.
Both of these swastika-like crosses may have been indigenous to the British Isles before the Roman invasion. Certainly they were in evidence a thousand years earlier but these may have been largely imports. They were certainly substantially in evidence during the Romano-British period with widespread examples of the duplicated Greek fret motif appearing on mosaics. After the withdrawal of the Romans in the early 5th century there followed the Anglo-Saxon and Jutish migrations.
The fylfot is known to have been very popular amongst these incoming tribes from Northern Europe, as it is found on artefacts such as brooches, sword hilts and funerary urns. Although the findings at Sutton Hoo are most instructive about the style of lordly Anglo-Saxon burials, the Fylfot or Gammadion on the silver dish unearthed there clearly had an Eastern provenance.
The Fylfot was widely adopted in the early Christian centuries. It is found extensively in the Roman catacombs.
A most unusual example of its usage is to be found in the porch of the parish church of
Great Canfield
Great Canfield is a village and a civil parish in the Uttlesford district of Essex, England. The village, which sits at the south-east edge of its civil parish, is approximately south-west from the small town of Great Dunmow, and north-west fr ...
, Essex, England. As the parish guide rightly states, the Fylfot or Gammadion can be traced back to the Roman catacombs where it appears in both Christian and pagan contexts. More recently it has been found on grave-slabs in Scotland and Ireland. A particularly interesting example was found in
Barhobble, Wigtownshire in Scotland.
Gospel books also contain examples of this form of the Christian cross. The most notable examples are probably the
Book of Kells and the
Lindisfarne Gospels
The Lindisfarne Gospels (London, British Library Cotton MS Nero D.IV) is an illuminated manuscript gospel book probably produced around the years 715–720 in the monastery at Lindisfarne, off the coast of Northumberland, which is now in the B ...
. Mention must also be made of an intriguing example of this decoration that occurs on the
Ardagh Chalice
The Ardagh Hoard, best known for the Ardagh Chalice, is a hoard of metalwork from the 8th and 9th centuries. Found in 1868 by two young local boys, Jim Quin and Paddy Flanagan, it is now on display in the National Museum of Ireland in Dublin. I ...
.
From the early 14th century on, the Fylfot was often used to adorn Eucharistic robes. During that period it appeared on the monumental brasses that preserved the memory of those priests thus attired. They are mostly to be found in East Anglia and the Home Counties.
Probably its most conspicuous usage has been its incorporation in stained glass windows notably in Cambridge and Edinburgh. In Cambridge it is found in the baptismal window of the
Church of the Holy Sepulchre, together with other allied Christian symbols, originating in the 19th century. In Scotland, it is found in a window in the
Scottish National War Memorial
The Scottish National War Memorial is located in Edinburgh Castle and commemorates Scottish service personnel and civilians, and those serving with Scottish regiments, who died in the two world wars and subsequent conflicts. Its chief archit ...
in Edinburgh. The work was undertaken by
Douglas Strachan
Douglas Strachan (26 May 1875, Aberdeen, Scotland – 20 November 1950) is considered the most significant Scottish designer of stained glass windows in the 20th century. He is best known for his windows at the Peace Palace in The Hague, Netherl ...
and installed during the 1920s. He was also responsible for a window in the chapel of
Westminster College, Cambridge
Westminster College in Cambridge, England is a theological college of the United Reformed Church. Its principal purpose is training for the ordination of ministers, but is also used more widely for training within the denomination.
History
...
. A similar usage is to be found in the
Central Congregational Church in
Providence, Rhode Island
Providence is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. One of the oldest cities in New England, it was founded in 1636 by Roger Williams, a Reformed Baptist theologian and religious exile from the Massachusetts ...
, USA.
It was not a little surprising to find the Fylfot on church bells in England. They were adopted by the Heathcote family in Derbyshire as part of their iconographic tradition in the 16th and 17th centuries. This is probably an example where pagan and Christian influence both have a part to play as the Fylfot was amongst other things the symbol of Thor, the Norse god of thunder and its use on bells suggests it was linked to the dispelling of thunder in popular mythology.
In heraldry
In modern heraldry texts, the fylfot is typically shown with truncated limbs, rather like a
cross potent
A cross potent (plural: crosses potent), also known as a crutch cross, is a form of heraldic cross with crossbars at the four ends. In French, it is known as '' croix potencée'', in German as a ''Kruckenkreuz'', all translating to "crutch cross ...
that's had one arm of each ''T'' cut off. It's also known as a ''cross cramponned'', ''~nnée'', or ''~nny'', as each arm resembles a ''crampon'' or angle-iron (compare german: Winkelmaßkreuz). Examples of fylfots in heraldry are extremely rare, and the charge is not mentioned in Oswald Barron's article on "Heraldry" in most 20th-century editions of ''Encyclopædia Britannica''. Parker (1894) includes it in his ''A glossary of terms used in heraldry'', noting that only one instance occurs on coats of arms, that of Chamberlayne.
A twentieth-century example (with four heraldic roses) can be seen in the
Lotta Svärd
Lotta Svärd () was a Finnish voluntary auxiliary paramilitary organisation for women. Formed originally in 1918, it had a large membership undertaking volunteer social work in the 1920s and 1930s. It was formed to support the White Guard. Du ...
emblem.
Modern use of the term
From its use in heraldryor from its use by antiquaries''fylfot'' has become an established word for this symbol, in at least British English.
However, it was only rarely used. Wilson, writing in 1896, says, "The use of Fylfot is confined to comparatively few persons in Great Britain and, possibly, Scandinavia. Outside of these countries it is scarcely known, used, or understood".
In more recent times, ''fylfot'' has gained greater currency within the areas of design history and collecting, where it is used to distinguish the swastika motif as used in designs and jewellery from that used in Nazi paraphernalia. Even though the swastika does not derive from Nazism, it has become associated with it, and ''fylfot'' functions as a more acceptable term for a "good" swastika.
Hansard
''Hansard'' is the traditional name of the transcripts of parliamentary debates in Britain and many Commonwealth countries. It is named after Thomas Curson Hansard (1776–1833), a London printer and publisher, who was the first official prin ...
for 12 June 1996 reports a House of Commons discussion about the badge of
No. 273 Fighter Squadron,
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...
. In this, ''fylfot'' is used to describe the ancient symbol, and ''swastika'' used as if it refers ''only'' to the symbol used by the Nazis.
Odinic Rite
The Odinic Rite (OR) is a reconstructionist religious organisation named after the god Odin. It conceives itself as a neo-völkisch Heathen movement concerned with Germanic paganism, Germanic mythology, folklore, and runes. As a white supremacis ...
(OR), a
neo-völkisch Germanic pagan organization, use both "swastika" and "fylfot" for what they claim as a "holy symbol of Odinism". The OR fylfot is depicted with curved outer limbs, more like a "sunwheel swastika" than a traditional (square) swastika or heraldic fylfot.
See also
*
Buddhism
Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religions, Indian religion or Indian philosophy#Buddhist philosophy, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha. ...
*
Hinduism
Hinduism () is an Indian religion or '' dharma'', a religious and universal order or way of life by which followers abide. As a religion, it is the world's third-largest, with over 1.2–1.35 billion followers, or 15–16% of the global p ...
*
Jainism
Jainism ( ), also known as Jain Dharma, is an Indian religion. Jainism traces its spiritual ideas and history through the succession of twenty-four tirthankaras (supreme preachers of ''Dharma''), with the first in the current time cycle bein ...
*
Boreyko coat of arms
*
Triskelion
A triskelion or triskeles is an ancient motif consisting of a triple spiral exhibiting rotational symmetry.
The spiral design can be based on interlocking Archimedean spirals, or represent three bent human legs. It is found in artefacts o ...
*
Brigid's cross
Brigid's cross or Brigit's cross (Irish: ''Cros Bríde'', ''Crosóg Bríde'' or ''Bogha Bríde'') is a small variant of the Christian cross often woven from straw or rushes. It appears in many different shapes, but the most popular designs f ...
*
Ugunskrusts
*
Western use of the Swastika in the early 20th century
The swastika (from Sanskrit ''svástika'') is an ancient Eurasian religious symbol that generally takes the form of an equilateral cross with four legs each bent at 90 degrees in either right-facing (卐) form or left-facing (卍) form. It is ...
Notes
References
Bibliography
* Stephen Friar (ed.), ''A New Dictionary of Heraldry'' (Alpha Books 1987 ); figure, p. 121
* Thomas Woodcock and John Martin Robinson, ''The Oxford Guide to Heraldry'' (Oxford 1990 ); figure, p. 200
External links
{{Christian crosses
Crosses in heraldry
Cross symbols
Swastika
Visual motifs