The Curse of Senician's Ring

In 1785, while plowing a field near the village of Silchester in Hampshire, a Celtic ring was found, made in the 4th-5th centuries. Golden decagon with a diameter of 25 mm and a mass of 12 g, with the image of Venus and the inscription "SENICIANE VIVAS IIN DE" ("Senician, live in God"). Apparently, the inscription was made later.

Ten years later, during archaeological excavations 160 km from Silchester, in the place where the Celtic temple used to stand, a lead tablet was discovered with a curse addressed to a certain Senician:

"God Nodens. Sylvian has lost the ring and will give Nodens half the cost for finding it. Of those who bear the name of Senician, no one will be healthy until they bring it to the temple of Nodens.”

Scientists have suggested that we are talking about the same Senician, who, apparently, not only did not return the ring, but also made a new inscription on it with his name.

In 1928, archaeologists Mortimer and Tessa Wheeler, embarking on new excavations at Lydney, sought advice on the cult of Nodens from the Oxford professor of Anglo-Saxon history and philology, John R. R. Tolkien. Scholars introduced Tolkien to the history of the ring. In 1932, the Wheelers' report on the Lydney excavations was published, which included Tolkien's research. And six months later, Tolkien completed work on the manuscript of The Hobbit.