The restoration of Westminster Hall in the 1830s revealed a number of eleventh-century carved capitals, one depicting, as then described, ‘an armed man assailing a castle’. Aided by archaeological evidence from Abinger (Surrey), the ‘castle’ can be convincingly interpreted as a motte-top tower, carried by earth-fast posts, open-sided below and faced above with boards painted to resemble masonry. It is the only known depiction in elevation of a type of tower that is likely, given its simplicity, to have been widely used in the eleventh and twelfth centuries. The assailant, armed with an axe, carrying a round shield and wearing a helmet with nasal, is shown climbing the tower’s external stair at the moment of being despatched or wounded by the defender’s spear. The incident, an individual action rather than a ‘siege’ as such, has many oddities, and may represent a topical event or scene from history or mythology. The story of the Trojan War is suggested as a possible source.

中文翻译：

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空中城堡？来自威斯敏斯特大厅的 11 世纪“城堡”首都的建筑、武器、行动和事件

1830 年代威斯敏斯特大厅的修复工作展示了许多 11 世纪雕刻的首都，其中一个描绘了当时的描述，“一名武装人员袭击了一座城堡”。在阿宾格（萨里）的考古证据的帮助下，“城堡”可以令人信服地解释为一座莫特顶塔，由坚固的柱子支撑，下面是敞开的，上面是涂成类似砖石的木板。这是唯一已知的一种塔的立面描绘，鉴于其简单性，很可能在 11 世纪和 12 世纪被广泛使用。攻击者手持斧头，手持圆形盾牌，头戴带鼻帽的头盔，在被防御者的长矛击中或击伤的瞬间正在爬上塔楼的外部楼梯。事件是个人行动而不是像这样的“围攻”，有许多奇怪之处，并且可能代表历史或神话中的热门事件或场景。特洛伊战争的故事被认为是一个可能的来源。