This three inch knife blade was found near Odense on the island of Funen and contains one of Denmark’s oldest rune innoscriptions. The runes read ᚺᛁᚱᛁᛚᚨ (hirila), a name that is believed to be derived from the word *ᚺᛖᚱᚢᛉ ‘heruʀ, sword’ with the suffix -ᛁᛚᚨ ‘-ila’, some suggesting this knife was called ‘little sword’.
The Old English Rune Poem (OERP) stops with the Ear rune. In the book Eagle’s Mead, author Eirik Westcoat pens another four verses for the runes cweorð, calc, stān and gār, sometimes referred to as the ‘grail’ runes.
Cweorð byþ cweorna sum and se cwica fýres;
bēam hēo byrneð, bǣr-fǣġne þeġn;
sāwle hēo lȳseð, þe sēċoð rodor.
Querth is a sort of quern and the quickener of fire. It burns a tree, a thane doomed to the bier. It releases a soul, which seeks the heavens.
Calc byþ cūþ wel – cēnum wōðborum
swā se hālga horn, hefiģ mid lēoðum,
nýdfull æt symble; þes naca dweorga,
weģ-winn Wōdnes, byþ wynsum grāl.
Cup is known well by keen bearers of inspiration and madness as the holy horn, heavy with poems and necessary at sumbel. This boat of dwarves, a journey-gain of Woden, is a winsome grail.
Stān byþ strangest - swā stede-bletsung
ģif ģehālgod write, hǣðenum rūnum:
hearga ǣċe; þēos heorte eotenes
līf-ģifende tācn, byþ langsum grāl.
Stone is strongest as a blessing for a place if hallowed with writing, with heathen runes: an eternal altar. This heart of the etin, a life-giving sign, is an enduring grail.
Gār byþ gum-dōm, gūðwuda drȳ-wiga:
wyrde hē wealdeð, wæl hē ćēoseð,
blōd hē bēodeð; þes brand Wōdnes,
unģemetum ēaċen, byþ æðele grāl.
Spear is man’s sovereignty and a sorcerous hero of battle-woods. It rules over wyrd, it chooses the slain, it summons blood. This fiery brand of Woden, immeasurably powerful, is a noble grail.
Cweorð byþ cweorna sum and se cwica fýres;
bēam hēo byrneð, bǣr-fǣġne þeġn;
sāwle hēo lȳseð, þe sēċoð rodor.
Querth is a sort of quern and the quickener of fire. It burns a tree, a thane doomed to the bier. It releases a soul, which seeks the heavens.
Calc byþ cūþ wel – cēnum wōðborum
swā se hālga horn, hefiģ mid lēoðum,
nýdfull æt symble; þes naca dweorga,
weģ-winn Wōdnes, byþ wynsum grāl.
Cup is known well by keen bearers of inspiration and madness as the holy horn, heavy with poems and necessary at sumbel. This boat of dwarves, a journey-gain of Woden, is a winsome grail.
Stān byþ strangest - swā stede-bletsung
ģif ģehālgod write, hǣðenum rūnum:
hearga ǣċe; þēos heorte eotenes
līf-ģifende tācn, byþ langsum grāl.
Stone is strongest as a blessing for a place if hallowed with writing, with heathen runes: an eternal altar. This heart of the etin, a life-giving sign, is an enduring grail.
Gār byþ gum-dōm, gūðwuda drȳ-wiga:
wyrde hē wealdeð, wæl hē ćēoseð,
blōd hē bēodeð; þes brand Wōdnes,
unģemetum ēaċen, byþ æðele grāl.
Spear is man’s sovereignty and a sorcerous hero of battle-woods. It rules over wyrd, it chooses the slain, it summons blood. This fiery brand of Woden, immeasurably powerful, is a noble grail.
Tapestry from c.1385 depicting king Arthur wearing a coat-of-arms with three golden crowns, representing the kingdoms of Logres, Cambria and Alba. The same heraldic emblem is also associated with the kings of Anglia, notably Edmund the Martyr, a Wuffinga king. The Wuffingas are believed to be from the Wulfingas who originated in southern Sweden, where the national coat-of-arms is called the Tre Kronor or Three Crowns.
The name Wusc-frea which appears in the Deira royal lineage means ‘wish-lord’, Wusc being cognate with the German Wunsch and Norse Óski – a byname of Woden in his role as wish-lord. Writing in 1849, John Mitchell Kemble suggested Óski may also be cognate with Oisc (also recorded as Ésk) the founder of the Kentish line of kings, and perhaps a Jutish name for Wóden.
On the Nordendorf I fibulae there is a runic innoscription on the reverse.
I: awa leubwini
II: logaþore / wodan / wigiþonar
The name Wodan is clear and wigiþonar is perhaps from *wīgian 'to hallow’ or *wīgan ‘to fight’, Holy-Thunor or Battle-Thunor. The name logaþore seems connected with Lóðurr or Loki (Loga). There are OE words (seemingly) cognate with Logaþore which even describe Loki, Logðor or logeðer for example meaning cunning, crafty or malicious.
I: awa leubwini
II: logaþore / wodan / wigiþonar
The name Wodan is clear and wigiþonar is perhaps from *wīgian 'to hallow’ or *wīgan ‘to fight’, Holy-Thunor or Battle-Thunor. The name logaþore seems connected with Lóðurr or Loki (Loga). There are OE words (seemingly) cognate with Logaþore which even describe Loki, Logðor or logeðer for example meaning cunning, crafty or malicious.
Ior byþ ea fixa and ðeah abruceþ / fodres on foldan. hafaþ fægerne eard / wætre gebunden, þær he wynnum leofaþ.
Ior is a river fish, and yet it always enjoys food on land. It has a fair home, surrounded by water, where it lives in joy.
Ior is usually translated as eel, but many folk translate it to mean Beaver, their fair home being the impressive dams they build. Also pictured is an Anglo-Saxon beaver tooth pendant from Wigber Low barrow, Derbyshire. According to author Audrey L. Meaney no other animals teeth were set in gold, only beaver. Beaver are rightly being reintroduced to England, which can only be a benefit to our fragile eco-system.
Ior is a river fish, and yet it always enjoys food on land. It has a fair home, surrounded by water, where it lives in joy.
Ior is usually translated as eel, but many folk translate it to mean Beaver, their fair home being the impressive dams they build. Also pictured is an Anglo-Saxon beaver tooth pendant from Wigber Low barrow, Derbyshire. According to author Audrey L. Meaney no other animals teeth were set in gold, only beaver. Beaver are rightly being reintroduced to England, which can only be a benefit to our fragile eco-system.
Forwarded from Hāmasson
We come, we come with horn and drum: ta-rūna rūna rūna rom!
Gesǣlig Gebyrddæg Rûna!
Gesǣlig Gebyrddæg Rûna!
Forwarded from ᛉ Sagnamaðr Stark ᛉ
“Look-out for small curved pirate ships of the Saxons in whose every oarsman you think to detect an arch-pirate. Captains and crews alike, to a man they teach or learn the art of brigandage; therefore let me urgently caution you to be ever on the alert.”
~Sidonius
Painting: Saxon Warship by Mary Evans. 𐃏
~Sidonius
Painting: Saxon Warship by Mary Evans. 𐃏
The Saxons were well known for their maritime skills. They raided the British coast long before Hengist and Horsa led the Germanic tribes to Britain, which meant the Romans who occupied Britain were required to build sea defences, along the southern and eastern coastline, which became known as the Saxon Shore fortifications. The Angles were also a maritime folk. One suggestion for the origin of the name is that it comes from the angle fishing hook (A History of the English Language).
Gārseċġ is the name normally given to the English Sea-god. The meaning of his name remains a mystery, though the prefix gār seems to certainly means ‘spear’. Another OE kenning for spear was æsc (ash) and the term was also used to describe the Saxon seafarers, æscmann meaning a sailor or pirate.
The area where I live was once home to the Anglo-Saxon Hicce tribe, in fact not far from my home is this ancient track and pond. The pond is documented as being the village pond (one of two) for a now lost Anglo-Saxon village called Welei (presumably home to members of the Hicce) whilst the track is nowadays known as the Wayley Green road. Both Welei and the latter Wayley both come from the name Weoh-leah, a clearing where a heathen shrine or idol once stood. A local historian claims the village was also once recorded as Wedelee and suggests the name may have meant Woden’s leah.
Photo of the gilded silver hilt from an Anglo Saxon sword recently found in Kent. The sword, which is reported to have a runic innoscription on it, is one of a large number of grave finds from the discovery of an Anglo Saxon cemetery near Canterbury. Other finds include seaxes and spears and as well as beads, buckles and brooches. It will be very interesting to learn what the runic innoscription reads. No doubt it's mysteries will be revealed in time.
Regarding the translation of ‘Sol’ in Solmonaþ, Bede claimed Sol was a type of cake and that Solmonaþ was a time of baking cakes and this is the translation I use. Not only did this custom most likely continue into Christianity as the soul-cakes and Easter hot-cross buns but we find the practise was common in other pagan traditions. A yellow dyed cake was baked in honour of the Latin goddess Mater Matuta – the Mother Morning. The Romans called her Aurōra so she could be compared with our own Ēostre.
‘Sol-Monath can be said to be the month of cakes, which were offered to their gods’ – Bede.
Another translation is mud-month. Not very inspiring however with the amount of rain England gets this time of year it is very fitting.
‘Sol-Monath can be said to be the month of cakes, which were offered to their gods’ – Bede.
Another translation is mud-month. Not very inspiring however with the amount of rain England gets this time of year it is very fitting.