The Death of King Warwulf
Date1862
Artist
Frederick Sandys
(English painter, illustrator, and draftsman, 1829–1904)
Artist
Joseph Swain
(British engraver, 1820–1909)
Illustration Citation"The Death of King Warwulf," by Walter Thornbury, in Once a Week, vol. VII, 1862, p. 266
MediumWood engraving
Dimensionscomposition: 5 9/16 × 4 1/2 in. (14.1 × 11.4 cm)
sheet: 5 13/16 × 4 13/16 in. (14.8 × 12.2 cm)
sheet: 5 13/16 × 4 13/16 in. (14.8 × 12.2 cm)
Credit LineSamuel and Mary R. Bancroft Memorial, 1935
Object number1935-150
On View
Not on viewClassificationsPRINT
Label TextThis illustration deftly captures the poignant last moment in the life of an aging Norse King, Warwolf. Wishing to die as a hero, Warwolf sits, head bowed in his ship which has been set afire, mirroring the affecting lines from Walter Thornbury’s accompanying poem:Sitting erect on his fir-tree throne,
In his royal robe and glittering crown,
As the fateful galley bore away…
