ANGLO-SAXON REMAINS figure would, according to this interpretation, be intended for Satan, while there may have been originally a dove, to symbolize the Holy Spirit, where a fracture is now apparent at the top. The obverse matrix is presumably of the same date as the carving above, and presents a half-length male figure holding in front of him a sword point upwards. The attitude and clothing, the style of the lettering and the size of the BONE SEAL FROM WALLINGFORD, WITH IMPRESSIONS. seal all find a remarkably close parallel in the seal of ^Elfric found near Winchester and assigned to the alderman of Hampshire who was killed at Ashington in ioi6/ The legend is SIGILLVM GODWINI MINISTRI, a letter between the first and second words perhaps standing for BEATI, while at the back in inferior characters are the words SIGILLVM GODGYTHE MONACHE DODATE (the seal of Godgytha the nun, given to God). The female figure on the reverse is seated on a cushion and holds in her right hand a book. This may be taken to represent Godgytha, who was possibly related to Godwin and the abbess of a monastery founded by him. To identify either name seems a hopeless task, but the date of the obverse is probably about the year iooo, 2 the seal of God- gytha having to all appearance been added at a later date. Mr. Kirby Hedges 3 is inclined to connect the seal with the great Earl Godwin ; and his wife, the niece of Canute, certainly bore the name Gytha which recalls that mentioned on the reverse. She is known to have been a benefactress of the Church after the death of her husband in 1053, and to have held lands in the county ; but the historian of Wallingford him- self acknowledges that the name of Earl Godwin is not a likely one to be 1 r.C.H. Hants, i. 398. 1 A Godwin ' minister ' (or king's thegn) witnessed charters of Eadgar in 967 and 972 ; and the same or another Godwin 'minister' witnessed several charters of ^Ethelred from 980 to 1016. History of Wattingford, i. 183. 245
