Not to be confused with Blue-Vervain (an American plant) Vervain is native to Europe and is associated with the Blacksmith and especially Weland the Smith. In OE Vervain was referred to as îsenhearde or Iron-hard and was added to water used to quench iron swords, as it was believed it harden the blade. In Germany the plant valerian was also used in sword quenching and was known as Wielandswurz meaning Wayland’s herb.
Weland's workshop. The view from inside the Wayland Smithy looking out. According to local legend, if a traveller's horse lost a shoe, they could leave it with a silver coin at the smithy and return the next day to find it re-shod. On the many times I visited the Smithy I've often seen silver coins left on the stones as offerings.
photo by Hāmasson.
photo by Hāmasson.
A few miles from the Wayland Smithy was once a mound, now unfortunately lost due to ploughing. The Woolstone (nearby village) charter called the mound Beadhildæ byrigels which meant Beadhildæ’s barrow or burial mound. Beadhildæ / Beadohild are English spellings of Böðvildr, who was the daughter of king Niðhad. Niðhad had Weland hamstrung and imprisoned but Weland was able to take his revenge by killing Niðhads sons, kidnapping Beadhildæ and escaping his imprisonment whilst in the form of an Eagle.
Böðvildr in Weyland's Smithy by Johannes Gehrts (1883)
Böðvildr in Weyland's Smithy by Johannes Gehrts (1883)
THE NORSEMAN'S BATTLE SONG.
- Laurence James Nicolson (1847-1901)
LIGHT is breaking on the shore,
Norsemen bend the flashing oar ;
Onward on the roaring wind,
Kith and kin we leave behind.
Round the headland towering o'er us,
Do the deed that lies before us,
Worthy of the land that bore us :
Should the darkness fill mine eyes,
I shall die as Viking dies ;
Find me when the fight is done,
Where the gods might claim a son,
Bear me home,
O'er the foam,
In the battle gear,
My good ship my bier ;
Let the fire arise and flame the day.
Seaward gale,
Swell the sail,
Till the deep afar,
Shines a mighty star,
And right royally I pass away ;
When Valhalla's walls shall ring
Welcome to the warrior king.
Norsemen sweep upon the foe,
Battle-axe, and brand, and bow,
Sweep as when, with ocean roar,
Tempests sweep along the shore ;
Scalds shall sing the saga hoary,
Hearts be kindled by the story,
Brave old Norseland reap the glory.
- Laurence James Nicolson (1847-1901)
LIGHT is breaking on the shore,
Norsemen bend the flashing oar ;
Onward on the roaring wind,
Kith and kin we leave behind.
Round the headland towering o'er us,
Do the deed that lies before us,
Worthy of the land that bore us :
Should the darkness fill mine eyes,
I shall die as Viking dies ;
Find me when the fight is done,
Where the gods might claim a son,
Bear me home,
O'er the foam,
In the battle gear,
My good ship my bier ;
Let the fire arise and flame the day.
Seaward gale,
Swell the sail,
Till the deep afar,
Shines a mighty star,
And right royally I pass away ;
When Valhalla's walls shall ring
Welcome to the warrior king.
Norsemen sweep upon the foe,
Battle-axe, and brand, and bow,
Sweep as when, with ocean roar,
Tempests sweep along the shore ;
Scalds shall sing the saga hoary,
Hearts be kindled by the story,
Brave old Norseland reap the glory.
Forwarded from ᛉ Sagnamaðr Stark ᛉ
Black cup fungus (pseudoplectania nigrella), found across Eurasia and the Americas, contains an antibiotic protein called plectasin which has been found to be effective in treating streptococcus and other antibiotic-resistant bacteria.
Nature gave us all that we need, we only need to remember how to use it. ᛉ
Nature gave us all that we need, we only need to remember how to use it. ᛉ
Elf cap mushrooms like those in Sagnamaðr Stark post here get their name because they fill with water which the woodland spirits drink from. In England two other common Elf caps are the Green and Scarlet Elf Cap.
Other mushrooms connected with the elves are puffballs which were once known as Puck’s Fist (according to Thomas Keightley writing in 1828). Puck, from the OE puca and ON púki is a well known woodland spirit in English folklore who was also called Robin Goodfellow. Fist, from fisten meant to puff, a reference to the way puffballs spread their spores.
Images – Scarlet elf cap and the common puffball.
Other mushrooms connected with the elves are puffballs which were once known as Puck’s Fist (according to Thomas Keightley writing in 1828). Puck, from the OE puca and ON púki is a well known woodland spirit in English folklore who was also called Robin Goodfellow. Fist, from fisten meant to puff, a reference to the way puffballs spread their spores.
Images – Scarlet elf cap and the common puffball.
The Challenge Of Thor
- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (February 27, 1807 – March 24, 1882)
I am the God Thor,
I am the War God,
I am the Thunderer!
Here in my Northland,
My fastness and fortress,
Reign I forever!
Here amid icebergs
Rule I the nations;
This is my hammer,
Miölner the mighty;
Giants and sorcerers
Cannot withstand it!
These are the gauntlets
Wherewith I wield it,
And hurl it afar off;
This is my girdle;
Whenever I brace it,
Strength is redoubled!
The light thou beholdest
Stream through the heavens,
In flashes of crimson,
Is but my red beard
Blown by the night-wind,
Affrighting the nations!
Jove is my brother;
Mine eyes are the lightning;
The wheels of my chariot
Roll in the thunder,
The blows of my hammer
Ring in the earthquake!
Force rules the world still,
Has ruled it, shall rule it;
Meekness is weakness,
Strength is triumphant,
Over the whole earth
Still is it Thor's Day!
- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (February 27, 1807 – March 24, 1882)
I am the God Thor,
I am the War God,
I am the Thunderer!
Here in my Northland,
My fastness and fortress,
Reign I forever!
Here amid icebergs
Rule I the nations;
This is my hammer,
Miölner the mighty;
Giants and sorcerers
Cannot withstand it!
These are the gauntlets
Wherewith I wield it,
And hurl it afar off;
This is my girdle;
Whenever I brace it,
Strength is redoubled!
The light thou beholdest
Stream through the heavens,
In flashes of crimson,
Is but my red beard
Blown by the night-wind,
Affrighting the nations!
Jove is my brother;
Mine eyes are the lightning;
The wheels of my chariot
Roll in the thunder,
The blows of my hammer
Ring in the earthquake!
Force rules the world still,
Has ruled it, shall rule it;
Meekness is weakness,
Strength is triumphant,
Over the whole earth
Still is it Thor's Day!
Forwarded from ᛉ Sagnamaðr Stark ᛉ
The Hákonardrápa, a poem by Hallfreðr vandræðaskáld, refers to the earth as Odin’s wife, when describing Hákon Sigurðarson ruling over the land; a recurring theme in skaldic poetry.
It contains a few evocative kennings for Frigg/Jörð; the foliage-haired waiting wife of Þriði, and the broad-faced bride of Báleygr. Beautiful imagery.
6. “The swift receiver of the horse of the breeze draws under himself the foliage-haired waiting wife of Þriði by means of true words of swords.”
“Sannyrðum spenr sverða
snarr þiggjandi viggjar
barrhaddaða byrjar
biðkvôn und sik Þriðja.”
8. “The steerer of the Hrafnar of the harbour managed to allure to himself the broad-faced bride of Báleygr with sovereign speeches of swords.”
“Breiðleita gat brúði
Báleygs at sér teygja
stefnir stǫðvar Hrafna
stála ríkismôlum.”
Painting by Josephine Wall. 𐃏
It contains a few evocative kennings for Frigg/Jörð; the foliage-haired waiting wife of Þriði, and the broad-faced bride of Báleygr. Beautiful imagery.
6. “The swift receiver of the horse of the breeze draws under himself the foliage-haired waiting wife of Þriði by means of true words of swords.”
“Sannyrðum spenr sverða
snarr þiggjandi viggjar
barrhaddaða byrjar
biðkvôn und sik Þriðja.”
8. “The steerer of the Hrafnar of the harbour managed to allure to himself the broad-faced bride of Báleygr with sovereign speeches of swords.”
“Breiðleita gat brúði
Báleygs at sér teygja
stefnir stǫðvar Hrafna
stála ríkismôlum.”
Painting by Josephine Wall. 𐃏
Forwarded from The Wessex Nomad
New video.
In a very rural part of Essex is a church tucked away in a small village. Within this church there are several treasures with much mystery and myth behind them, including a face carving and several swastikas! Join me as I get special access to this church to film this special video.
https://youtu.be/s9GuBYYEbTs
In a very rural part of Essex is a church tucked away in a small village. Within this church there are several treasures with much mystery and myth behind them, including a face carving and several swastikas! Join me as I get special access to this church to film this special video.
https://youtu.be/s9GuBYYEbTs
YouTube
Investigating the Mysterious Wodan Carving in Great Canfield
In a very rural part of Essex is a church tucked away in a small village. Within this church there are several treasures with much mystery and myth behind them, including a face carving and several swastikas! Join me as I get special access to this church…
Some images to accompany Wessex Nomad's video on the Great Canfield church, Essex. The first shows a face along with two birds - likely to be Woden and his ravens. The second picture is a clearer view of the fylfots, again a symbol we associate with Woden. The last image shows a face and what appear to be two linked serpents. The serpent is once again a symbol we can associate with Woden.
Forwarded from ᛉ Sagnamaðr Stark ᛉ
A remnant of Ostara worship in Germany, recorded by Helene Guerber in 1895…
“In various parts of Germany, stone altars can still be seen, which are known as Easter-stones, because they were dedicated to the fair goddess Ostara. They were crowned with flowers by the young people, who danced gaily around them by the light of great bonfires, a species of popular games kept up until the middle of the present century, in spite of the priests' denunciations and of the repeatedly published edicts against them.”
Painting by Josephine Wall.
❁ᛉ❁
“In various parts of Germany, stone altars can still be seen, which are known as Easter-stones, because they were dedicated to the fair goddess Ostara. They were crowned with flowers by the young people, who danced gaily around them by the light of great bonfires, a species of popular games kept up until the middle of the present century, in spite of the priests' denunciations and of the repeatedly published edicts against them.”
Painting by Josephine Wall.
❁ᛉ❁
Einhard, in his book Vita Karoli Magni described that when Charlemagne defeated the heathen Saxons and converted them to Christianity, he gave new Germanic names to the Latin months of the year, including Ostarmanoth for April, which means the same as Eosturmōnaþ. This is where the German word Ostern is said to come from. Ostern is the plural of Ostara and means Easter. In 1835, Jacob Grimm proposed that the word Ostern must have derived from the goddess name Ostara, or as we call her Eostre.
There are Ostern customs which are likely to have pagan origins – the Osterrad and the Osterfeuer (Easter wheel and Easter fires) for example, but more famous is the rolling of burning wheels down the Osterberg at Lügde. The custom was witnessed by Charlemagne in 784, who according to legend approved the christianisation of the ritual.
Images - Osterrad from Dechenheim and a burning Easter wheel from Osterberg.
There are Ostern customs which are likely to have pagan origins – the Osterrad and the Osterfeuer (Easter wheel and Easter fires) for example, but more famous is the rolling of burning wheels down the Osterberg at Lügde. The custom was witnessed by Charlemagne in 784, who according to legend approved the christianisation of the ritual.
Images - Osterrad from Dechenheim and a burning Easter wheel from Osterberg.
This is the Coat of Arms of the Lower Saxony village of Woltershausen, Germany. The figure is clearly Woden and legend claims he haunted an ancient road between Winzenburg and Hildesheim called the Rennstieg which run just north of the village Woltershausen. Locals called him the Wodansreiter (Woden rider) and he was known to be able to change his form into a raven and a ghost who inhabited the nearby castle of Hödecken.
Forwarded from ᛉ Sagnamaðr Stark ᛉ
The 7th Century Reiterstein stone from Hornhausen, Saxony-Anhalt, appears to depict the rider wearing a mask-or perhaps a full-face helmet, like unto the Sutton Hoo helmet and Broa helmet. It may have been a more widespread style.
The Reiterstein is dated to the 7th century and was found in a field which contained over sixty graves. These are thought to be the burials of heathen Saxons who fought the christian Franks around 531.