Weohsmiþ (weoh smith) - Old English, someone who makes idols.

Wayland Kista (chest) carving by the talented Wayland at BushcraftUSA. The carving is based on the famous Hylestad Stave Church carvings, Norway.

A clay tablet was found in Hohenstein, Lower Saxony, in the 16th Century with a likely depiction of Ostara. Hohenstein was an important cult site since the early Iron Age, and the use of the Younger Futhark suggests an age of around the 8th Century. She is depicted with horns, a drinking horn or cornucopia, and what may be a bird. The location of the original is unknown, only sketches survive. The incomplete innoscription reads;

“You go out, that’s Osta, loosen icy frosts…
You good Osta, from your face shines…”

“thu ga ut thatr os ta louse isin frosta
dhu gautar osta, ous il sin grosta”

ᚦᚢ × ᚴᛅ × ᚢᛏ × ᚦᛅᛏᚱ × ᚬᛋ ᛏ × ᛚᚬᚢᛋᛁ × ᛁᛋᛁᚾ × ᚠᚱᚬᛋᛏᛅ 
ᛏᚼᚢ × ᚴᛅᚢᛏᛅᚱ × ᚬᛋᛏᛅ × ᚬᚢᛋ × ᛁᛚ × ᛋᛁᚾ × ᚴᚱᚬᛋᛏᛅ

❁ᛉ❁

The word ‘giddy’ has an interesting origin. From the OE gydiġ the word essentially means ‘to be possessed by a god’, Gyd meaning the same as god.

Another OE word which seems to have a similar meaning is Ylfig or being possessed or controlled by an ælf (elf). In English lore seiðr was also considered an elvish practise. The word is attested in the OE ælfsīden meaning elf magic.

The name Herne is a byname of Woden, used in his role as Hunter or Warrior-leader. The name is believed to come from the OE Herian (Warrior-leader) which is connected with the German term Haranni, Herne the Hunter still haunts the Windsor Forest and the Great Park in Berkshire.

Herne Protect Us!

Image - Herne the Hunter by George Cruikshank (1792 - 1878)

Hymn to Woden
- William Lisle Bowles (24 September 1762 – 7 April 1850).

God of the battle, hear our prayer!
By the lifted falchion's glare;
By the uncouth fane sublime,
Marked with many a Runic rhyme;
By the 'weird sisters' dread,
That, posting through the battle red,
Choose the slain, and with them go
To Valhalla's halls below,
Where the phantom-chiefs prolong
Their echoing feast, a giant throng,
And their dreadful beverage drain
From the skulls of warriors slain:
God of the battle, hear our prayer;
And may we thy banquet share!
Save us, god, from slow disease;
From pains that the brave spirit freeze;
From the burning fever's rage;
From wailings of unhonoured age,
Drawing painful his last breath;
Give us in the battle death!
Let us lift our glittering shield,
And perish, perish in the field!
Now o'er Cumri's hills of snow
To death, or victory, we go;
Hark! the chiefs their cars prepare;
See! they bind their yellow hair;
Frenzy flashes from their eye,
They fly--our foes before them fly!
Woden, in thy empire drear,
Thou the groans of death dost hear,
And welcome to thy dusky hall
Those that for their country fall!
Hail, all hail the godlike train,
That with thee the goblet drain;
Or with many a huge compeer,
Lift, as erst, the shadowy spear!
Whilst Hela's inmost caverns dread
Echo to their giant tread,
And ten thousand thousand shields
Flash lightning o'er the glimmering fields!
Hark! the battle-shouts begin--
Louder sounds the glorious din:
Louder than the ice's roar,
Bursting on the thawing shore;
Or crashing pines that strew the plain,
When the whirlwinds hurl the main!
Riding through the death-field red,
And singling fast the destined dead,
See the fatal sisters fly!
Now my throbbing breast beats high--
Now I urge my panting steed,
Where the foemen thickest bleed.
Soon exulting I shall go,
Woden, to thy halls below;
Or o'er the victims, as they die,
Chant the song of Victory!

Tolkien had Woden in mind when he created Gandalf. In a letter to Sir Stanley Unwin in 1946 he discussed the subject of the German edition of The Hobbit and described his idea of Gandalf as being an Odinic Wanderer.

Ydun by Herman Wilhelm Bissen (13 October 1798 – 10 March 1868).

Ydun is an alternative spelling of the name Iðunn. John Lindow theorised that Iðunn meant 'ever young' owing to her being the keeper of apples which granted eternal youth. Whilst her name is not attested in Old English (many English heathens use the name Edunne for her) Iðunn is believed to be the origin of the English name Idonea.

The Dagenham idol is a wooden statue found in Dagenham (London) in 1922. It has been carbon dated to around 2250 BC, making it one of the oldest human representations found in Europe. There is a hole where a phallic peg was likely attached and at some point in time the idols left eye was damaged.

Another wooden idol. This time found in 1946 in a peat bog near Rebild Skovhuse (Denmark) this meter tall birch wood idol was originally believed to represent the fertility goddess Frøya (Freya) as the shape and curves of the wood suggested a feminine figure. The idol has since been dated to around 1000-500 BC.

The Anglo-Saxons called the Milky Way ‘Waetlinga straet’ after the ancient road that connected (what is now) England and Wales. It is named after the giant Wade who was also known as Vate, Vada, Ivalde and Waetla and was father to Weland the smith. In Irish lore the Milky Way was called ‘Bothar Bo Finne’ or ‘The Track of the White Cow' and there’s a subtle connection to Wade in that he was also known for owning a cow – which his wife walked everyday across another ancient road called ‘Wade's Causeway’ that runs across the North Yorkshire moors.

Wade’s Causeway on the North Yorkshire moors was built, as legend has it, by the giant Wade so that he and his wife Bell could take their cow to pasture. The causeway was also known as ‘Old Wife's Trod’ and ‘Wade's Wife's Causey’. In some legends Bell is the name of the cow and could be related to the Norse Beyla (a servant of Frey) which can mean 'cow'.

John Leland, writing in the late 1500’s noted that …

“Mougreve Castelle stondith on upon a craggy hille: and on each side of it is an hille far higher then that whereon the castelle stondith on. The north hille on the toppe of it hath certen stones communely caullid Waddes Grave, whom the people there say to have bene a gigant and owner of Mougreve.”

Only one stone now stands at Wade's Grave (Barnby North Yorkshire) however two stones once stood, standing some twelve feet apart and were said to mark the head and foot of Wade's grave.

Tolkien’s name for his race of talking trees or Ents came from the Old English word ‘Entas’. But unlike Tolkien’s trees or even the Eoten, these giants were associated with stone and stonework. The huge monuments left across the British landscape that had been built by the Romans were sometimes attributed to the work of Entas. Stonehenge and other monuments were also believed to be their creation.

Today is England’s national day, St George’s day. George may be christian but in his legend we recognise our own Germanic hero of Sigurd. Nor are George's feats tales from far off lands, because Dragon Hill near Uffington got its name as legend tells this is where he slay the dragon.

Hāl wes þū Sigeweard! Hāl Englaland!