Stormy weather over England. Perhaps Woden, in his guise as the Herla King leds the Wild Hunt! The Wild Hunt was once known in England as the Herlaþing meaning 'Herla's assembly' and his followers the Herlethingus meaning ‘Troops of Herla or Herla's Host’.

It’s our family-hearths tradition to observe Mōdraniht (Mother’s Night) on the Sunstead eve, Mōdraniht falling on the new moon this year.

Bede made the claim that the English celebrated gēol (yule) on the solstice but claimed Mothers’ Night was celebrated on christmas day (25th Dec). This was something that the church would often do, equate our holidays with theirs in an attempt to convert the pagans. However, once England was thoroughly christianised the opposite applied and the church did all it could to separate christian holidays from their heathen origins. In around 1010AD the christian priest Byrhtferð set the record straight and in his writings puts the heathen celebrations back on the solstice, making a clear distinction between the old ways and the teachings of the church.

Wassail is a common toast made during Yule, from the OE Wæs hæl, 'be healthy' or Wæs þu hæl, ‘be thou whole’. The Norse used the similar ‘ves heill’ meaning ‘be healthy’ and the phrase was even adopted into Welsh as gwasael. The reply to this gesture is the attested ‘Drinc hæl’ or 'drink hail'.

Hit is the wone
Ine Saxe-londe,
That freond saith to his freond,
Wan he sal drink
'Leofue freond wassail,
The other saith 'drinc hail.'

It is the wone (want)
in Saxon land
That friend says to his friend,
When he drinks in the hall
‘dear friend wassail’
The other says ‘drink hail'.

art Joseph Feely

“Midvinternattens köld är hård,
stjärnorna gnistra och glimma.
Alla sova i enslig gård
djupt under midnattstimma.
Månen vandrar sin tysta ban,
snön lyser vit på fur och gran,
snön lyser vit på taken.
Endast tomten är vaken.”

English translation:
“Harsh is the cold of Midwinter's night,
the stars sparkle and twinkle.
All asleep in lonely farm,
deep during midnight hour.
The moon wanders its silent path,
the snow gleams white on pine and fir,
the snow gleams white on the roofs.
Only the tomte is awake.”

The first segment of the Yule poem "Tomten" by Viktor Rydberg.

The colour red is often associated with the runes and rune-stones. To redden the runes implies the addition of blood in the dyes used to create them. One of the more common ingredient used to redden the runes was the OE tēafor or red ochre, (the name sometimes used for other red dyes) however red ochre was widely used and also known for its magical properties in its own right. The OE tēafor had cognates in the Dutch ‘toverij’, German ‘zauber’ and Icelandic ‘töfrar’, all of which mean ‘magic’. All these words come from the root *taubrą meaning magic or spells. The way we create the runes and the materials used are perhaps as important as the way we use and read them.

Veistu, hvé rísta skal? Veistu, hvé ráða skal?
Veistu, hvé fáa skal? Veistu, hvé freista skal?
Veistu, hvé biðja skal? Veistu, hvé blóta skal?
Veistu, hvé senda skal? Veistu, hvé sóa skal?

Tomorrow sees in the first full moon of the year, at around 10am UK time. As Sagnamaðr Stark points out in his post here, this moon is known as Wolf Moon, amongst other names. In OE we find this in the name wulf-monaþ, when hunger forced wolves to chance encounters with shepherds and farmers. The plant we know as teasel (OE tæsel) was once also known as wulfes-camb or wolf's comb and if you've ever brushed your skin against a teasel head you'll know it feels like a bristly comb. I've no doubt that the same shepherds and farmers would have, in years passed, walked the outskirts of their fields looking for wolf hair trapped in the teasel, which would indicate their presence.

Old Norse and Germanic Graves by J Hoynck van Papendrecht depicting (1) Old Nordic megalithic tomb of the Young Stone Age (3000 B.C.) (2) Barrow of Leuningen. Early Bronze Age. First half of 2nd Millennium B.C. (3) Tree Trunk Coffin from Jutland. Middle Bronze Age. Midst of 2nd Millennium B.C. (4) The royal tomb of Seddin. Late Bronze Age around 800 B.C. (5) Ashes graves of the Iron Age. 800-500 A.C. (6) Tomb of Leuna. Early Iron Age around 300. A.C. (7) Oseberg-grave. Viking-Age. Around 900 A.C.

But there rose up a man most ancient, and he cried: "Hail Dawn of the Day!
How many things shalt thou quicken, how many shalt thou slay!
How many things shalt thou waken, how many lull to sleep!
How many things shalt thou scatter, how many gather and keep!
O me, how thy love shall cherish, how thine hate shall wither and burn!
How the hope shall be sped from thy right hand, nor the fear to thy left return!
O thy deeds that men shall sing of! O thy deeds that the Gods shall see!
O SIGURD, Son of the Volsungs, O Victory yet to be!"

from The Story of Sigurd the Volsung by William Morris (1922)

A stone weoh at Bede's World museum in Jarrow. The face is based on the faces found on the Sutton Hoo sceptre /whetstone whilst the bottom part of the design is in the shape of an Anglo-Saxon buckle.

One of the faces from the Sutton Hoo whetstone, in my opinion having a similar beard and hair pattern as the imagery found on the many Woden head pendants.

On top of the sceptre / whetstone sits a red deer (or High Deer). In OE the High Deer or Heahdeor was a symbol of Anglo-Saxon royalty. Heah meant tall, high, proud or exalted and is cognate with Hár – a byname used by Woden.

Reconstructed sceptre, helmet and clothing for the Wuffinga king Raedwald.

British Museum

At our larger folk-moots we often use drums whilst chanting galdor, which helps keep rhythm. These are normally Irish Bodhráns. It’s believed the Bodhrán was once a farming tool, used to remove husk from grains. A very similar drum can be found in English folk music called the riddle drum. This is a modern name for a type of drum possibly having been once called a ‘hylsung’ in Anglo-Saxon times. Just like the Bodhrán this was originally a farming tool designed to remove husk from grains, a process called winnowing or riddling – hence the name. The instrument was played across the British isles, including Cornwall and Ireland where it was known as the English riddle.

Image – Buster Ancient Farm.