Liða (Liþa or Litha) was the OE word for summer, Ærra Liða being the name for the month which fell around our June, Æftera Liða was the name for July and is cognate with the Slavic term léto, also meaning summer.
Liþa is also cognate with the OE word Liþe which meant ‘calm’ and this is how Bede described the English summer - ‘Litha is called calm or navigable, that is in both the month and the pleasant serenity of the breezes and is usual to navigate the sea's surface'. It is interesting that he also associated the month with navigation (sailing) as the OE verb líðian meat to sail or travel. We find the same concept with the rune name Sigel (the sun) and the phonetically similar ‘segl’ meaning to sail.
Liþa is also cognate with the OE word Liþe which meant ‘calm’ and this is how Bede described the English summer - ‘Litha is called calm or navigable, that is in both the month and the pleasant serenity of the breezes and is usual to navigate the sea's surface'. It is interesting that he also associated the month with navigation (sailing) as the OE verb líðian meat to sail or travel. We find the same concept with the rune name Sigel (the sun) and the phonetically similar ‘segl’ meaning to sail.
Hjúki and Bil are two children who became servants of Máni (OE Mōna) the moon god. They carry between them a pole called Simul from which hangs a pail called Sæg. Bil is later listed as a goddess in both Gylfaginning and Skáldskaparmál and is believed to be the same figure as Bilwis, a female corn spirit.
The names Hjúki and Bil survive in the traditional English nursery rhyme ‘Jack and Jill’. In the rhyme Jack and Jill climb a hill to fetch a pail of water, whilst in Norse myth they collect water from the well Byrgir, that is until Jack falls down and broke his crown. This is a reflection of the name Hjúki, which (according to Simek) means ‘the one returning to health’.
The names Hjúki and Bil survive in the traditional English nursery rhyme ‘Jack and Jill’. In the rhyme Jack and Jill climb a hill to fetch a pail of water, whilst in Norse myth they collect water from the well Byrgir, that is until Jack falls down and broke his crown. This is a reflection of the name Hjúki, which (according to Simek) means ‘the one returning to health’.
In OE there were a couple of words for swan. The OE word swan remains unchanged. This comes from the proto-Germanic swanaz or the ‘singing bird’. Another OE word for swan was ilfetu, which might be cognate with the name Alvitr, a swan-maiden who along with her sister Hlaðguðr svanhvít (swanwhite) and Ölrún became the swan-wives of Völundr (Weland the smith) Slagfiðr and Egil.
art - Swan Maidens by English artist Walter Crane
art - Swan Maidens by English artist Walter Crane
Pictured above is a section of the Saxon Cross in St Peter’s Minster Church, Leeds. It’s not so easy to make out the image, but it depicts Weland the smith with a pair of wings, in the guise of his Eagle fetch (Fylgja) holding Böðvildr (OE Beadohild) by the waist with his beak. To the side of Welands legs are the tools of his smith-trade.
On the Nordendorf I fibulae there is a runic innoscription which invokes wigiþonar. Þonar is Thunor whilst the prefix is believed to come from either the Proto-Germanic *wīhaz ‘sacred’ or *wīgą / *wiganą ‘battle’ which is itself the root of the OE wīġ meaning both war (warrior) but can also mean weoh (idol).
Hāl Holy Thunor! Hāl Warrior Thunor!
image - Thunor weoh from Gudahagen's Viking Market.
Hāl Holy Thunor! Hāl Warrior Thunor!
image - Thunor weoh from Gudahagen's Viking Market.
Gunnlöð was responsible for guarding the mead of poetry, however Woden in the form of a snake finds a way into the Hnitbjörg mountain where the mead is kept. There he seduced Gunnlöð for three nights and in return she allows Woden three drinks of the mead, after which he leaves in haste in the form of an eagle.
Gunnlöð by Anders Zorn (1886).
Gunnlöð by Anders Zorn (1886).
From the Bronze age, Settlement from the Neolithic Age and From the Iron Age (folk wanderings) by artist Karl Jensen for the book Antiquity of Scandinavia By T. Sillasen 1925.
Eolh-secg eard hæfþ oftust on fenne
wexeð on wature, wundaþ grimme,
blode breneð beorna gehwylcne
ðe him ænigne onfeng gedeþ
The Eolh-sedge is mostly to be found in a marsh;
it grows in the water and makes a ghastly wound,
covering with blood every warrior who touches it.
The Eolh-secg is often translated as Elk-Grass, however according to Johannes Hoops in his book 'Über Die Altenglischen Pflanzennamen' (1889) this rune actually refers to a plant recorded in OE as eolugsecg and eolxsegc or sea holly, also called sea thistle, a plant native to England.
It is suggested that Eolh originally meant eoletes from the root *ēalēt, itself from ēa meaning water. Secg translates as Sedge (grass) but secg was used in OE compound words to mean 'sword' which describes the sharp ended holly.
wexeð on wature, wundaþ grimme,
blode breneð beorna gehwylcne
ðe him ænigne onfeng gedeþ
The Eolh-sedge is mostly to be found in a marsh;
it grows in the water and makes a ghastly wound,
covering with blood every warrior who touches it.
The Eolh-secg is often translated as Elk-Grass, however according to Johannes Hoops in his book 'Über Die Altenglischen Pflanzennamen' (1889) this rune actually refers to a plant recorded in OE as eolugsecg and eolxsegc or sea holly, also called sea thistle, a plant native to England.
It is suggested that Eolh originally meant eoletes from the root *ēalēt, itself from ēa meaning water. Secg translates as Sedge (grass) but secg was used in OE compound words to mean 'sword' which describes the sharp ended holly.
Various styles of Anglo Saxon buildings, from the early pit-house to later wattle and daub.
photos by Hāmasson
photos by Hāmasson
Attested in Old English is a form of chant once know as Sygegealdor or Sige-galdor, a magical chant used to gain Victory. We still occasionally use a victory galdor during our rites, Sige Tîr! The chant invokes the 'one who brings victory' or Siggautr, a kenning for Odin. In OE the name appears in the kingslist as Sigegeat, perhaps a byname of Woden.
An idol of the god Lytir was said to be placed in a wagon and when the goðar were sure that the spirit of the god had inhabited the weoh, it was paraded around parts of central Sweden. It was reckoned that the weoh would increase in weight when it had become possessed. Afterwards it was presented to the king who sought answers from the weoh by asking it questions.
It is thought that Lytir may well be another name for Freyr. Freyr, like the English Frēa are connected with the wagon. Author A Liberman claims the Icelandic term Litr meant ‘phallic’ and as we know Freyr is symbolised in such manner. Others suggest Lytir comes from liuta, meaning casting lots or divination. Whoever Lytir is they must have been important as there are place names in Sweden once named after him, Lytisberg and Lytislunda for example.
Image - Weoh of Freyr
It is thought that Lytir may well be another name for Freyr. Freyr, like the English Frēa are connected with the wagon. Author A Liberman claims the Icelandic term Litr meant ‘phallic’ and as we know Freyr is symbolised in such manner. Others suggest Lytir comes from liuta, meaning casting lots or divination. Whoever Lytir is they must have been important as there are place names in Sweden once named after him, Lytisberg and Lytislunda for example.
Image - Weoh of Freyr