Níðhöggr a dragon or serpent of Norse mythology depicted on Thorleif’s Cross (Manx Cross 135) which is displayed inside Old Kirk Braddan (Church of St. Brendan) at Braddan Bridge in Braddan. The cross is a memorial cross for Fiac son of Thorleif.
Unusually, for the Manx crosses series, Níðhöggr is represented here as one very long serpent on one side of the cross with his head at the base.
NíðhöggrAccording to Norse mythology Niohoggr gnaws at the roots of the Yggdrasil, the enormous ash tree which, according to Norse mythology, is at the centre of the world holding everything together with its roots and branches.
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Thorleifs CrossThe funerary inscription reads:
“Thorleif hnakki erected this cross to the memory of Fiac his son, brothers’ son to Hafr"The Thorleif’s Cross can be seen in 3D at the following link: (
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'Hnakki' is the nickname "nape of the neck".
Source: "The Runic Inscriptions of the Isle of Man by Michael P. Barnes (ISBN: 978-0-903521-97-0)
Thorleif’s Cross differs “from the normal rectangular Manx Cross slabs, this late Norse cross of the late 10th or early 11th century is in the form of a tapering pillar with small pierced ring at the cross-head. The side of the shaft shows highly accomplished decoration of the Scandinavian-type dragons in the Mammen style, their tails, limbs and top knots elaborately interlace. (The Mammen Style is represented in classic form on the island, so much so that it has even been suggested that it was first developed in the Island). The other edge carries a well-cut runic inscription, continued – perhaps in a different hand – under the ring of the cross-head with the word “Ihsus” i.e. “Jesus”.
The typical funerary inscription reads “Thorleif hnakki erected this cross to the memory of Fiac his son, brothers’ son to Hafr". It is interesting that the dead boy’s father and uncle bear Norse names indicating that his mother was a Celt.”
Source: “The Braddan Crosses” a booklet available inside the church with unknown author.
In 1907 P.M.C. Kermode described it as "the perfect example of a 'Celtic' cross", and this is the shape of many of the War Memorials found around the island.
Three sides of the shaft feature decorative, interlaced dragons, whilst the remaining side carries a runic inscription:
THORLEIF HNAKKI ERECTED THIS CROSS TO THE MEMORY OF FIAC HIS SON, BROTHER'S SON TO HAFR.
Interestingly, the name of the dead youth is Celtic, but those of his father and uncle are Norse. Perhaps Fiac was a first-generation Manxman with a Celtic mother.
Mrs Richards notes that:
"Thorleif's Cross is an outstanding example of the combination of a Celtic cross with purely Scandinavian ornamentation.
"On one side are four interlaced pelleted dragons. The other side has three interlaced and one separated dragon, which runs down the full length of the edge. They are a marvellous mixture of interlacing and spirals.
"The cross is fine blue slate, possibly from Spanish Head in the south of the Island."
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Further commentsThis stone was discovered in Old Kirk Braddan churchyard since when it has been broken in two and restored. The striking similarities between this and Odd’s Cross (Braddan 136) suggest that they were carved by the same sculpture.
It is a narrow, almost pillar-like cross, its sides only a little narrower than its faces and stands 1.5m high. The equal-armed cross on the head is surrounded by an outer ring and the junctions of these arms are pierced by four-holes. The stone is carved with interlaced knotwork, and each face of the shaft is surrounded by thick cable moulding that stretches from top to bottom. The two faces along with one of the sides, are carved with fantastic ribbon like animals, often regarded as dragons or snakes, a typical feature of the Mammen style of carving. The runic inscription ruins from bottom to top and translates as ‘Thorleif hnakki raised this cross in memory of Fiac, his sone, Hafr’s nephew’.
Source: A Guide To The Archaeological Sites of the Isle of Man Up To AD 1550 by Andrew Johnson and Allison Fox (ISBN 978-0-9554043-5-1)
Thorlief’s cross is probably around the height that Odd’s cross would have been had it been complete. Like Odd’s cross it is a riot of intertwined serpents, which look very like the Odd ones(!). Unusually, there is one very long serpent on one side of the cross, his head at the bottom. Again, this could be a reference to Jomungandr, but, if the interlacing tendrils are stylised branches, could refer to the third famous serpent in Norse mythology, Niohoggr. Niohoggr is a serpent or dragon who gnaws at the roots of the Yggdrasil, the enormous ash tree which, according to Norse mythology, is at the centre of the world holding everything together with its roots and branches.
Crosses don’t, however, only depict huge mythical creatures of earth-shattering importance. They also show quirky little animals which seem almost incidental to any larger design. Why the carvers scattered animals across their design’s we’ll never know for sure. Perhaps they are the equivalent of doodling in stone and the carvers just like them.
Source: Cross Purposes: an introduction to medieval Manx Crosses by Sara Goodwins (ISBN:978-1-908060-30=3)
The native Scandinavian art, as exhibited on Swedish and Norwegian stones, is of a character wholly different.
The ornament is zoomorphic, a style repugnant to the artistic conceptions of the Celtic races.
Huge serpentine monsters, terrestrial or marine, engaged in fierce combat, with their writhing bodies Intertwined, are depicted on the Scandinavian stones*, just as the Kraken, the Dragon, the Snake, and the long Serpent, were carved as figure-heads on the prows of the Viking galleys.+
On some of the Manx crosses, such as the Thorlaf cross at Kirk Braddan (figured on plate, p. 97), we see an ornate form of this draconic decoration covering the shaft, while the head of the cross exhibits a survival of the Irish knotwork employed on the cross at Kirk Michael.
It is plain that the stones which display the writhing serpents, so characteristic of Scandinavian design, must be referred to a period when the milder Celtic art, with its exquisite geometrical patterns, had been infected by the fiercer ideas congenial to the descendants of Viking chiefs.
These two characteristic crosses, the Thorlaf stone at Kirk Braddan and the Nial Lumgun stone at Kirk Michael, may be taken to represent the two extreme types-Irish and Scandinavian-to be found on the Island, and must evidently be separated by a considerable period of time. of intermediate date is a series of stones which exhibit a gradual transition from the Celtic to the Scandinavian type of ornament. The Kirk Malew cross' and the great jualfr cross§ at Kirk Michael may be taken as instances. In these, especially the latter, the main and central ornament is Irish, while the subsidiary and superadded ornament is Scandinavian.
From a study of these monuments, it becomes plain that the Irish cross, with pure geometrical ornament, was the original type, out of which the Scandinavian cross, with zoomorphic ornament, was gradually developed.
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Differing from the normal rectangular Manx cross-slabs, this late Norse cross of the late 10th or early 11th century is in the form of a tapering pillar with small, pierced ring at cross-head. Three sides of the shaft show highly accomplished decoration of Scandinavian-type dragons of the Mammen style, their tails, limbs and top-knots elaborately interlaced. The other edge carries a well-cut runic inscription, continued – perhaps in a different hand – under the ring of the cross-head with “Ihseus”,i.e. “Jesus.”
The typical funerary inscription reads “Thorleif hnakki erected this cross to the memory of Fiac, his son, brother’s son to Hafr”. It is interesting that the dead boy’s father and uncle bear Norse names but that Fiac himself had a Celtic one, presumably indicating that his mother was a Celt.
The Art of the Manx Crosses: a selection of photographs with notes by A. M. Cubbon, OBE, BA, FSA, FMA, Director – Manx Museum, published by The Manx Museum and National Trust.
No.135 dates from Scandinavian period of settlement on the Isle of Man when the settlers had started to convert to Christianity. It marks the further development of the trends which had been developing within the Manx crosses and had seen the head gradually extend outside the confines of the slab to become a free-standing, rather elegant, tall cross, with direction on both faces.
It is the of the Manx Mammen style and thus dates from between c.950-1000/25.
The sinuous animal caught up in interlace on the narrow face is reminiscent of the rather more strictly separated animals of the Jellinge style. The slightly more robust animals on the boarder face are more typical of the Mammen style.
The pelleting which fills the body is an important element of the Mammen style.
This cross is remarkable for its skilled craftsmanship and must have been expensive to produced which would indicate that Thorleif was of a high status as would have been his son, Fiac, for whom the stone was raised.
The runes on No.135 terminate the roman letters JHSVS (“Jesus”). This is the only Manx stone where this is seen.
Source: “Manx Crosses” by David M. Wilson (ISBN:978-1-78491-756-2)
Dating Manx Crosses“The chronological sequence of the Manx cross-slabs of the period of Scandinavian settlement is mainly derived from the sequence of ornamental styles in use in Scandinavia in the period when the crosses were carved in the Island. The dating of the styles is based largely on decorated wooden objects in the homelands, the chronology of which provides a reasonably accurate sequence of dates constructed on the basis of dendrochronology, which is usually accurate to within a year or two. Such dates are supplemented by metal objects decorated in the defined styles found in coin-hoards throughout the Viking world.”
“The names of the styles are taken from Scandinavian sites in which classic examples have been found. The styles which have been recognised in the Isle of Man, with their generally accepted dates in their Scandinavian homelands, are shown below:
Borre c.850-950
Jellinge c.900-975
Mammen c.950-1000/25
Ringerike c.1000-1075
The final style of the Viking Age, the Urnes style (c/1050-1125), does not occur on any of the Manx crosses.”
Source: “Manx Crosses” by David M. Wilson (ISBN:978-1-78491-756-2)