The Cambridge History of English and American Literature in 18 Volumes (1907–21). Volume I. From the Beginnings to the Cycles of Romance. II. Runes and Manuscripts. § 3. The Ruthwell Cross. But still more important are those inscriptions which have actually survived and which are mainly found on stone monuments. They are confined almost exclusively to the north, and the greater number of them belong to the seventh and eighth centuries, for absolutely no inscriptions have survived from the first one hundred and fifty years subsequent to the English invasion. These inscriptions are almost all due to Christian influence. Chief among these monuments, so far as English literature is concerned, are the Ruthwell Cross in Dumfriesshire, possibly dating back to the eighth century, 7  on which are inscribed extracts from The Dream of the Rood, and the Bewcastle Column in Cumberland, probably erected to the memory of Alchfrith, son of the Northumbrian king Oswy (642-670).   10 Note 7. But see A.S. Cook, The Dream of the Rood, Oxford, 1905, pp. ix ff. [ back ]