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A wee thread about my comic, saints and uncertainty
In this story I use the rider from the Govan sarcophagus on a Strathclyde battle flag
Who the Sarcophagus was actually made for remains a mystery, but for my comic I’ve went with the murdered ruler of Alt Clut, King Artgal.
In this story I use the rider from the Govan sarcophagus on a Strathclyde battle flag
Who the Sarcophagus was actually made for remains a mystery, but for my comic I’ve went with the murdered ruler of Alt Clut, King Artgal.
A current theory is that the sarcophagus was made for a Constantine the king of the Picts, who was killed by vikings in 876
This great thread goes into how the A marked on the horse is similar to the A on coins associated with the royal martyr Saint Edmund https://twitter.com/hornesupremacy/status/1319059903684763648
This great thread goes into how the A marked on the horse is similar to the A on coins associated with the royal martyr Saint Edmund https://twitter.com/hornesupremacy/status/1319059903684763648
However according to the annals of Ulster Constantine had a hand in Artgals murder! the kings of Strathclyde are directly descended from Artgal, would they venerate and make a sarcophagus for someone that helped kill their king and kin?
Artgals royal stronghold of Dumbarton had been sacked by the Norse from Dublin in 870, he could feasibly have been taken hostage there along with the many others enslaved and later Constantine paid them off to kill him in captivity
If that was the case then I felt there could be a possible link between Artgal and Edmund as they would both then have been Christian kings held hostage then killed by pagans in captivity rather than Constantine who seemed to have been killed in battle
Govan is the heart of the kingdom of Strathclyde where many high status grave markers are found so it felt right that if Artgal was seen as a martyr he would have a great sarcophagus made for him and displayed surrounded by the royal family that traced their lineage from him
Of course I could be completely wrong about this, it’s something I’ve stressed over a lot. Also something we might never know for sure unless the lid for the sarcophagus is found
Such is the perils of making a story set in this time period!
Such is the perils of making a story set in this time period!
