Runic.
The accompanying illustration represents a Dano-Saxon ring worn as a charm against the plague, and bearing an inscription thus rendered:—
Raise us from dust we pray to thee;
From pestilence O set us free,
Although the grave unwilling be.
Dano-Saxon Runic ring.
At the proceedings of the Royal Society of Antiquaries at Copenhagen, in 1838, a gold ring with a Runic inscription, found in Fionia, was exhibited. The words röd eg lagd álaga may be rendered ‘I guide the chain of destiny,’ and show that its Scandinavian possessor considered it an amulet.
Rings of lead, mixed with quicksilver, were used against headaches and other complaints.
In the ‘Récueil des Historiens de France’ we read that Passavant, Bishop of Mans, possessed a ring which had belonged to Gulpherius de Lastour, during the Crusades, which was very precious, and cured a great number of sick persons.
A gold ring of the fourteenth century, in the Londesborough Collection, has an inscription which, freely translated, is ‘May you be preserved from the evil eye!’