纪录片《大英博物馆世界简史》 056约克郡河谷宝藏（7）（在线收听）

But this hoard also tells us a great deal of what was happening back in York. There, the Vikings were becoming Christian but, as so often, the new converts were reluctant to abandon the symbols of their old religion-the Norse gods were not entirely dead. And so, on one coin minted at York around 920, we find the sword and name of the Christian St Peter, but intriguingly the 'i' of Petri-Peter-is in the shape of a hammer, the emblem of the old Norse god, Thor. It's a coin that shows us that the new faith uses the weapons of the old.

这一宝藏也揭示了当时约克郡的状况。维京人正在逐渐接受基督教，但仍不愿放弃旧宗教的个别符号象征。斯堪的纳维亚的远古神灵仍有人信仰。920年在约克郡铸造的一枚银币上有一柄剑和基督徒圣彼得的名字，但有意思的是，当时彼得的拼写为“Petri”，其中的“i”被画成了一把锤子，这是北欧古老的神祇雷神索尔的象征，新的信仰沿用了旧宗教中的武器，

We can be pretty certain that this treasure was buried soon after 927. In that year, the Anglo-Saxon Athelstan, King of Wessex, finally defeated the Vikings, conquered York, and received the homage of rulers from Scotland and Wales. It was the biggest political event in Britain since the departure of the Romans. And the hoard contains one of the silver coins that Athelstan issued to celebrate it. On it, he gives himself a totally new title, never used before by any ruler: 'Athelstan Rex totius Britanniae'-Athelstan, King of all Britain. The modern idea of a united Britain starts here. Here's Michael Wood again:

我们能肯定的是，这批宝物的埋藏时间在927年后不久。因为在这一年，韦塞克斯国王阿瑟斯坦最终击败了维京人，收回了约克郡，并获得苏格兰和威尔士统治者的宣誓效忠。这是自罗马人撤离之后英格兰本土发生的最重大的历史事件。这批宝藏中有一枚银币，便是阿瑟斯坦下令铸造以示庆祝的。上面有一个他自封的前无古人的称号：Alhelstan Rex totius Brtitanniae (不列颠全境之王阿瑟斯坦)。现代不列颠联合王国的概念即源于此，虽然还要过八百年才能完全实现。不过阿瑟斯坦总被视为现代英国的缔造者。迈克尔伍德解释说：

"The wonderful thing about the treasure is that it hones in on the very moment that England was created as a kingdom and as a state. The early tenth century is the moment when these, what we might call 'national identities', start to be used for the first time.

这批宝藏的非凡意义在于它们指向英格兰王国建立、成为统一国家的那一时刻。十世纪初正是国家认同被初次提及之时。