The Recumbent She-Wolf of the Franks Casket and procubuisse lupam ( Aeneid 8)

Abstract The Franks Casket contains an unconventional depiction of the Romulus and Remus myth: a recumbent she-wolf poised above an inverted runic label ᚹᚣᛚᛁᚠ ( wylif ). The twin boys suckle her in an aerial manner. Above them, a second wolf hovers; both creatures lick the boys with elongated tongues. Several studies have pointed to Book 8 of the Aeneid , which describes how the mother-wolf ‘shapes’ the boys with her tongue. But mysteries remain: why is the mother-wolf reclining rather than upright in this image? And what about the presence of the second wolf? This essay argues that there are further details in the Aeneid and its late antique commentary tradition that can shed light on this panel’s artistry. The artist’s adaptation of nuanced classical allusion is furthermore strong enough to shed light on the circulation of Virgilian commentaries in early medieval Northumbria and reveal aspects of the intellectual milieu that helped produce the casket.