The most famous carved stone in Kirkby Stephen Parish Church stands by a pillar, confronting you as you come in.  It is the so-called Loki Stone or Bound Devil.

It is obviously a section of a slab-like cross shaft.  The carvings on the sides are simple patterns of twisted strands but that on the face is unique.

It is the figure of a man with arms hanging from broad shoulders and with palms out-spread.  His feet are shown in profile.  His mouth, eyes and nose are incised into the stone.  A V-shaped incision below the chin may be a beard or the open neckline of his clothing. Curving projections like ram’s horns jut from either side of his head.  A circular strap passes across his waist and behind his legs, and his wrists and calves are bound to this strap by rings.  A projection points upwards between his legs and appears to be an anchorage for the circular binding strap.

People have puzzled over this carving since it was discovered in the fabric of the chancel during the rebuilding of 1847.  Authorities state that deformed men with large shoulders and hanging arms are typical of Viking Northumbria and the Isle of Man.  Ring and bar bindings are also said to have a long history in Scandinavian art  The carving is certainly Viking, and dates from sometime between 900 and 1000AD.  But who is the figure?

Popular tradition identifies it with the Norse god Loki, who in legend was bound by his fellow-gods to a stone and tormented by fiery venom dripped from a serpent.  He is so depicted on a carved memorial stone on the Baltic island of Gotland. Other scholars see similarities between the Kirkby Stephen figure and carvings of Volund (Wayland) the Smith at Leeds and Great Clifton in Yorkshire.