The elderflowers are ready for foraging here in England. The OE word for elder was ellæn, the name most likely comes from the root el- meaning 'red' referring to its berries and is cognate with both Alder and Ellen. Elder is known as a Witches tree and is protected by the Elder-Mother who inhabits the tree. She is a dryad or tree spirit who sometimes appears as a lady in a red cloak. It's unlucky to cut down or use the wood without her permission as you risk her curse if you do. In some parts of England she is known as Old Girl or the Old lady. A Northamptonshire tale tells of a man who cut a stick from an elder tree and the tree bleed from its wound, the man later passing an old lady who was the Elder spirit herself, her arm wrapped in a bloody bandage.

The Rollright stones on the borders of Oxfordshire and Warwickshire are said to be the creation of the Elder Mother who turned a king and his men into stone. As the King neared the village of Long Compton, they were approach by a witch who tells them -

"Seven long strides thou shalt take,
And if Long Compton thou shalt see,
King of England thou shalt be."

to which the king replied

"Stick, stock, stone
As King of England I shall be known."

the witch then raised the ground into a hill, blocking the kings view of Long Compton

"As Long Compton thou canst not see
King of England thou shalt not be.
Rise up stick and stand still stone
For King of England thou shalt be none;
Thou and thy men hoar stones shall be
And I myself an Eldern tree."

The king became the solitary King Stone. His knights turned into a stone circle called the King's Men. As the witch left she passed more knights who plotted against the king. She turned them to stone as well and these are called the Whispering Knights.

Anglo Saxon inspired carving with runic inscription celebrating twenty five years of the West Stow village.

The 'Anglo-Saxon Rune Poem' gives us a good historical glimpse into how the Englisc viewed this rune:

Eolh-secg eard hæfþ oftust on fene wexeð on wature, wundaþ grimme, blode breneð beorna gehwylcne ðe him ænigne onfeng gedeð.

"The Elk-sedge is mostly found in the fen; it grows in the water and makes a cruel wound, burning with blood any warrior who seeks in any way to grasp it."

This ​emphasises the rune's protective nature against those who mean us harm. It wasn't seen as a passive, soft shield or a safe wall to hide behind. Instead, protection was about creating a dangerous boundary, and an active, defensive hazard to the enemy.

https://t.iss.one/strongoakcrafts/28

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.

An OE kenning for bees was Victory-women or Sīgewīf and Jacob Grimm compared the sting of the bee with the sword of the Wælcyrian. In folklore the buzzing of a swarm indicated that the goddess Frēo was nearby. There is an OE charm which was meant to prevent bees from swarming;

Sitte ge, sīgewīf, sīgað tō eorðan,
næfre ge wilde tō wuda fleogan,
beō ge swā gemindige, mīnes gōdes,
swā bið manna gehwilc, metes and ēðeles.

Settle down, victory-women, sink to earth,
never be wild and fly to the woods.
Be as mindful of my welfare,
as is each man of border and of home.

As part of our soul, the hama appears as a spiritual covering which is projected outward. It is essentially our true form and can leave the body. This spiritual travel was known in ON as Hamfor ‘The journey of the hamr’, reconstructed into OE as *hamafōr. Hama (not to be confused with Hāma, the English name for Heimdallr) comes from the Proto-Germanic *hamô and is found in the OE words ċildhama ‘the womb’ and lichama ‘corpse’ (‘lic’ meaning dead).

The Hama (ON Hamr) is a spiritual skin we all have. It is sometimes referred to as a cloak or coat in the myths. It is formed within the womb (OE cildhama) and covers our body when we are born. This is the spiritual skin that is projected outwards and resembles our natural form. However the gods can change their Hama which changes their shape.

Freya has a fjaðrhamr (feather-hama, cognate with the OE feþerhama) which she loans to Loki. Frige has a fjaðrhamr called the Valshamr in Old Norse. Woden is able to turn himself into an Eagle using his Arnarhamr or Eagle-hama, whilst more than one Valkyrie have an álftarhamir or Swan-hama.

On display in Winchester Cathedral is the ancient Sigmund Stone (dating suggested to be from 1016-35) excavated from the remains of the Saxon cathedral on the same site. The carving is thought to show part of the Völsunga Saga where Sigmund and his nine brothers are held in stocks around their legs in a forest. Every night for nine nights a she-wolf came and killed one brother until only Sigmund remained. Sigmund smeared honey on his face and when the wolf licked him he bit off the she-wolf's tongue. The struggle between Sigmund and the wolf breaks his bonds allowing him to escape.

“Man dēþ swa he byþ þonne he mōt swa he wile.”
“A man acts what he is when he may do what he will.”
~The Durham Proverbs
ᛗᚪᚾ ᛞᛖᚦ ᛋᚹᚪ ᚻᛖ ᛒᛁᚦ ᚦᚩᚾᚾᛖ ᚻᛖ ᛗᚩᛏ ᛋᚹᚪ ᚻᛖ ᚹᛁᛚᛖ

Wōdene sȳ wuldor - Glory be to Woden.

Yet we have a lady, who is high and mighty, high she is and holy, therefore courtiers love her—she is named Frea…To Frea, their lady, they gave her Friday.

The words above are lines from the poem Layamon's Brut (ca. 1190 - 1215) also called The Chronicle of Britain, describing the goddess Frīg (also spelt Frige) who gives her name to Frīġedæġ. The OE name Frea is cognate with Frīg.

art - Frigga Spinning the Clouds by John Charles Dollman 1909.

Hige sceal þē heardra, heorte þē cēnre, mōd sceal þē māre, þē ūre mægen lytlað. ("The will must be the harder, the heart the bolder, the spirit the greater, as our strength diminishes.") — The Battle of Maldon

​In modernity, we usually think and believe that our motivation and willpower are tied to our chances of success. If our strength goes down, our morale usually goes down with it.

​The Anglo-Saxon worldview flipped that entirely on its head: The worse the situation gets, the more intense your inner resolve must become to compensate for it.

The Anglo-Saxons were intense fatalists. They believed that Wyrd (fate) ultimately decided when you would die and when your tribe would fall, and no amount of fighting could change a predetermined end.

​Because they believed you couldn't control whether you won or lost, the only thing you could actually control was how you faced the end. Therefore, when your strength is diminishing and defeat looks certain, that is the exact moment your true character is tested.

The moon will be at its fullest tomorrow morning (31 May 9.45am UK time) and is the second full moon of May, giving the moon the name ‘blue moon’.

Ēastseaxe (East Saxon) warriors give battle under the Essex banner of the Three Seaxes.

Artist Alan Lee

The seax was ubiquitous amongst the Saxons; it even gave them their name. 1000 years ago every man in England was ready to defend their family and nation. Can we say the same today?