We obtain band diagrams for a two-dimensional periodic structure consisting of an infinite square array of infinitely thin concentric circles (split rings) with narrow gaps. Our approach exploits the narrowness of the gaps and yields algebraic equations relating the frequency to the Bloch wavenumber and geometric properties of the array. Further asymptotic analysis indicates that the gravest mode has a frequency that scales in an inverse logarithmic fashion with the size of the gap and that exhibits anomalous dispersion. Near the origin of the Brillouin zone this ‘acoustic’ mode is dispersionless. Numerical solution of the eigenvalue problem in the single-gap case confirms these conclusions. The two lowest modes of the split ring can be interpreted as a splitting of the gravest propagating Rayleigh mode.