This dissertation examines the monumental wooden roods which can be found in many of Gotlandis chur ches, and on which the body of Christ is surrounded by a glory in the shape of a ring or a solid disc. This type of triumphal cross occurred in Gotland between the beginning of the 13th and the middle of the 15th centuries. The material studied consists of twenty-six sculptures, which are analysed from an iconographic and a stylistic point of view. These crosses, whose placing within the church space was determined by their sacramental function connected with the celebration of the Eucharist, combine tropaeic-doxological thinking with eschatological ideas. These crosses with a ring or a disc are an expression of the dogma of Trinitarian perichoresis. The ring or wheel cross has its origins in early Christian art. There is evidence to suggest that this iconographic formula is associated with the votive cross or Crux Gemmata from Golgotha. It has not been possible to provide an unequivocal answer to the question of how this type of crucifix came to Gotland. The stylistic analysis does no more than confirm that the crucifixes which introduced the iconographic formula to the island, i.e. the crucified figure from Hablingbo church and the crucifixes in the churches at Lau and Alva, do not derive from Saxon art.

However, it has been possible to ascertain that various outside influences, namely from Denmark in the case of the crucifixes in the churches at Stånga, Lau and Fide, from England in the Öja church crucifix, and from France in the crucifixes at Barlingbo, Sanda and Eskelhem, have all contributed to the local tradition of monumental ring crucifixes.

A new relative chronology for these crucifixes has been established. The study concludes with a comprehensive catalogue, giving a fully detailed description of every crucifix.