THE SYNTAX OF THE PICTISH SYMBOLS (PART 3) : THE MIRROR WITHOUT A COMB
analysing the role of a single mirror (without a comb) on a symbol stone
In my previous blogs on the syntax of the Pictish symbols, I have discussed the face of the symbols and how they may combine, and I’ve shown how the symbols are organised in an ordered list.
Symbol stones usually have a pair of symbols, and these can be accompanied by either a single mirror, or a mirror+comb, but never a comb on its own. In this blog, I will look at the role of the single mirror accompanying a pair of symbols.
This is not the place for a discussion on the function of real Iron Age mirrors, such as we see depicted on the Pictish stones. These beautiful mirrors were no longer current in Britain once the Romans had invaded in the first century AD. Only the ‘virtual’ Pictish mirrors survived into the Early Medieval period, possibly up to the 8th century. It is however yet another pointer to the symbols being created during these late centuries BC.
The single mirror
On most of these stones with a mirror, the mirror is quite large, often as large as one of the symbols itself, and the mirror is below the symbols and central to them. (Lindores is the exception with a large mirror on the side of the stone.)
On stones with a mirror and comb, the mirror is usually depicted smaller in comparison to the size of the symbols.
The mirror indicates that the order is reversed
In my previous blog, I showed that the symbols are all organised in a list, and when two symbols are chosen for a stone, then the symbols must be in the same order on the stone as in the list. So if symbol A is above symbol B in the list, then A will also be placed above B on the symbol stone. From this, we can use the order of symbols on stones to re-engineer the ordered list.
Having re-engineered this ordered list, at least partially, it could then be seen that a single mirror placed below a symbol pair indicates that the expected order of the symbols has been reversed on a particular stone.
A mirror beneath a symbol pair is effectively reflecting the symbols back into their ‘normal’ order as found in the ordered list, the same function a mirror plays in reality.
The next diagram shows a series of symbol pairs, first with the normal order and without a mirror, compared to the same symbol pair reversed with a mirror below.
This is not a complete list of stones with a mirror alone, as by chance some don’t have another stone with the same symbol pair in the normal order to compare with.
Dominance stays on the upper symbol
Although it’s not obvious at this point of analysis, once I discuss the role of the mirror+comb, it will be seen that a single mirror under the pair of symbols in reverse order, keeps the ‘dominance’ of the symbol pair on the upper symbol. In other words, for the symbol pair in the normal order, the ‘dominance’ rests on the upper symbol, the symbol that comes first in the ordered list. But if the symbol lower in the list requires ‘dominance’, then reversing the symbol order and adding a mirror is one way that can be achieved.
Take for instance the first symbol pair in the above diagram. On the South Ronaldsay stone the dominance is on the crescent/V as the upper symbol. On the Greens stone with the same symbol pair but reversed with a mirror, dominance is still on the upper symbol, but this is now the disc-over-notched-rectangle.
Symbols in reverse order with a mirror
There are 16 examples of a single mirror without a comb, although 7 of these may have had a comb which is no longer visible.
The diagram below shows all the stones with a single mirror that have their symbols in reverse order. The symbol stones that were matched with their normal pair in the above diagram are marked in orange. Three of these stones may have had a comb which is no longer visible.
Dirty Data
This is where things become more difficult. The data set of the symbol stones is far from precise and clear, because so many of the symbol stones are eroded, trimmed, and broken. The comb is especially affected as it is small, often lightly carved, and so subject to loss through erosion. And, the comb is on the outer edge of the symbol set, so subject to loss through breakage and trimming. It is frequently impossible to assess whether a comb was originally present or not. In my dataset, it was critical to note whether a comb was present, was definitely not present, or may have been present.
The last three stones in the diagram above may well have had a comb present .originally, especially as their mirror is offset from the centre and is becoming smaller, as is the case with most mirror+comb depictions.
Another possible mirror rule
There is another group of stones with symbol pairs with a single mirror, but the symbols are in the correct order, not reversed as expected. See the diagram below.
What is noticeable about this group is that the mirror isn’t very large, and not placed centrally, as we saw with the reversed order group. This would be appropriate for a mirror+comb, so it’s possible that the first four stones (boxed in green) all may originally have had a comb which is no longer visible.
Which brings us to the last two symbol stones, Knowe of Burrian, Orkney, and Clynemilton1, Caithness. These stones do not have a comb as far as I can tell, and the symbols are still in the normal order. In both cases though, the mirror is relatively small and not centrally placed, suggesting these stones are not meant to show a single mirror under a pair in reverse order. Either the setup on these two stones is ‘wrong’, or, we are seeing a secondary use for the mirror, or we’ve just lost the comb somehow.
I suspect, though at this stage cannot prove, that the mirror in these cases is being used up beside the symbol, or closer to it, so as to effectively reverse the face of the lower symbol.
The Fyvie stone in particular does suggest this as a second rule, because the Pictish beast looks directly into the mirror – and it is one of only two Pictish beasts in the whole body of Class I stones that holds a LH Pictish beast. Perhaps this unusual stone required an unusual setup with the mirror. On the other hand, as the stone has been trimmed down, we may just be missing its comb.
In the end, this situation is too unclear to be sure that the mirror can be placed beside a symbol to reverse its face. Hopefully we will yet find a CI stone which demonstrates this situation clearly.
The Class II situation
There are no clear CII examples with a mirror but no comb, with the possible exception of the two Glamis stones where the face without the cross may originally have been CI stones, and the Formaston stone which has a fragment with a mirror so the comb may just be missing. Is this merely coincidence, or was the single mirror somehow antagonistic to Christianity? Another Pictish mystery!
The mirror+comb does continue into the CII period, although most of these examples start to appear with female icons, and eventually occur on their own without symbols, presumably at that late point on a memorial stone for a woman. It is possible then that the mirror+comb has changed its function on these very late stones.
This lack of a mirror without an accompanying comb adds to the growing picture of Class II symbols changing and degrading near the end of this period, with the breakdown of the rules of syntax. First, we have symbols that are no longer drawn in the La Tene style, and filled with interlace and key pattern. The rod ends often have devolved into meaningless pips. The symbols no longer must come in pairs, with examples of just one symbol, and one example with three. And we saw that the face of the symbols changes from mostly RH to a higher proportion of LH, but also with a LH symbol over a RH symbol, something avoided on Class I stones. And, there are more changes to come.
Summary
So far, we have seen that the symbols seem to have an inherent order to them, which is reflected in a symbol pair. If whatever is driving the choice of symbols for a particular stone requires that their position in relation to each other be the reverse of that in the normal order, then the reversed order is acknowledged with a mirror (without comb) below the symbol pair. Also, it may be that a mirror beside a symbol can be used to effectively reverse the face of that symbol, although this last cannot yet be established with certainty.
In my next blog, I will look at the mirror+comb situation.