Thursley and Thundersley - two English place names that both derive from the Old English Þunres lēah or Thunor's meadow.
The plant hemlock (Conium maculatum) is related to carrot and parsnip, however is deadly poisonous. In folklore it’s associated with Woden. An OE name for the plant as wodewistle meaning wode’s whistle. The stem of the plant is hollow and it was a custom to make whistles from non-poisonous related plants. However folk sometimes misidentified their plants, choosing hemlock instead and breathing in its fume induced a response that resembled madness. In Low German the plant was referred to as woden-ðung, ðung being cognate with the OE thung or ðung which in OE was used to describe other poisonous plants such as wolfsbane.
Forwarded from Stiðen Āc Heorð
A collection of Anglo Saxon burial urns found across Suffolk, on display at the West Stow Anglo Saxon museum. The fylfot symbol which is associated with Woden is often found on these types of urns, and decorates the largest urn pictured above.
photos taken by Hāmasson.
photos taken by Hāmasson.
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Short video I made at the West Kennet long barrow which was built around 3650 BC. Unlike Wayland's Smithy, West Kennet is large enough to explore,
Some photos I took at the Avebury stone circle. The circle is huge, being 1.3km in circumference, the village of Avebury being partly built inside the circle. Christians not only built a chapel inside the circle but smashed up many of the standing stones to construct it. One of the main roads that runs through the circle is the Herepath, from the OE here-pæð or military path. These paths were used by English soldiers as paths between burh's in the wars against the Danes.
As you can see from the photos above, some of the stone are tall and slender whilst others are rounder. The taller stones are referred to as 'male' stones and the rounder ones as 'female' stones.
Another example of where christianity attempted to assert their religion. The Knowlton church, Wimborne in Dorset sits inside a Neolithic ritual henge earthwork which likely remained in use until the conversion of the local population. It now lies in ruin, a symbol of christianity's decline. Ironically the number of folk who follow paganism is once again on the rise.
Forwarded from Stiðen Āc Heorð
Two 12th century murals from the Schleswig cathedral, Germany. The first figure has characteristics we associate with Frīg who can be seen flying on her broom (or distaff). The second figure riding a cat and blowing a horn could depict the goddess Freya.
The Norse word vǫlva is connected to the vǫlr, the staff used by the seeress. The English word was Hellruna / Helleruna or one who counsels (rūna) with the underworld. In English lore the staff of the Hellruna was often made of Hawthorn, hence a connection between words such as hægðorn (hawthorn) and hægtesse (witch).