The Cursed Ring of Silvianus
A Roman curse tablet asks a god to punish the man who stole a ring. The ring itself turned up in a field. Some think it gave Tolkien an idea.
What was reported
In 1785, a ploughman near the Roman town of Silchester found a heavy gold ring inscribed in Latin, 'Senicianus, live in God'. It ended up in the house of The Vyne nearby.
Decades later, at a Roman temple to the god Nodens at Lydney, more than 100 kilometres away, archaeologists found a lead curse tablet. On it, a man called Silvianus told the god he had lost a ring, and asked that the one who took it, Senicianus, should have no health until he returned it to the temple.
Explanations offered
The two finds are very likely linked by the unusual name. In 1929 the archaeologist Mortimer Wheeler asked J.R.R. Tolkien, then a young Oxford professor, about the name Nodens. Tolkien's ring stories came soon after; whether the ring inspired them is debated. The Vyne now displays it alongside a room about Tolkien.
- When
- Roman Britain; found in 1785
- Where
- The Vyne, Hampshire, England
- Witnesses
- Archaeologists
- Status
- Link debated
Famous cases are real, widely reported events. Each file sets out what witnesses said and the explanations that have been offered, without taking a side.
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