The Franks Casket, a small whalebone box from about 700 AD, contains 59 Old English words inscribed in runes. Systematic diff erences between its panels have never called into question the standard procedure of explaining one panel basing on the others. The present paper aims at a re-examination of the validity of this approach. The panels show a large enough diff erentiation of spelling and paleographical features to exclude the possibility of a single author for the whole Casket.