2-663-407 - © CM Dixon/Heritage Images

Detail from Franks Casket', whalebone Northumbrian work, c700 AD. Illustrates a Viking Saga. British Museum. Knife-cut narrative scenes in flat two-dimensional low-relief and with inscriptions mostly in Anglo-Saxon runes. Generally reckoned to be of Northumbrian origin, of unique importance for the insight it gives into early Anglo-Saxon art and culture.