The word ‘giddy’ has an interesting origin. From the OE gydiġ the word essentially means ‘to be possessed by a god’, Gyd meaning the same as god.

Another OE word which seems to have a similar meaning is Ylfig or being possessed or controlled by an ælf (elf). In English lore seiðr was also considered an elvish practise. The word is attested in the OE ælfsīden meaning elf magic.

"We’ve lost those beautiful old letters Þ and ð (called 'thorn' and 'eth'); and that curious little letter æ (called 'ash') for the distinctive English vowel of 'man' and 'hat.' And we’ve lost thousands of rich and beautiful words, both simple and complex: simple words like æÞele, meaning 'noble,' and wuldor, meaning 'glory'; and complex words like æÞelborennes, 'nobility of birth,' and wuldorgesteald, 'glorious dwellings.'"

https://counter-currents.com/2021/06/mouthful-of-language-history/

artist unknown

“Viking” isn’t a profession as some may claim, but an ethnonym. 
The poem Widsith contains the term wicinga cynn; Vikings’ kin. No Anglo Saxon literature applies this term to themselves, despite being a related, seafaring people.
The Old English term cynn means kin, also appearing in the term Angelcynn, used in Mercian law codes, and by Alfred the Great, to describe the unified Anglo Saxon People. 
It also appears in the Old English terms cynecynn, royal lineage, and framcynn; descendants, literally future-kin. Two Old English women’s names recorded in the Durham Liber Vitae were Cyneburg; kin-fortification, and Cyneswīþ, kin-strengthener.
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Woden image on the Franks Casket? In this image from the Franks Casket lid (named after Sir A W Franks) we see Ægil the archer defending a wall with a figure behind him, often believed to be his swan-wife Olrun (Alruna). We know for sure that it is Ægil the archer for his name is spelt in runes above him (Ægili ᚫᚷᛁᛚᛁ) however Stephen Pollington suggests that this second figure is in fact Woden directing the defences of Wælheall.

‘Easily known to Ygg's chosen are the heavenly halls: A wolf hangeth o'er the western gate, and hovers an eagle on high.’

This description of Wælheall may be seen in the carving, as there appears to be eagle heads above him and wolf heads below.

The monster wrenched and wrestled with him but Beowulf was mindful of his mighty strength, the wondrous gifts God had showered on him: He relied for help on the Lord of All, on His care and favour. So he overcame the foe, brought down the hell-brute.

- Beowulf.

Éar bẏþ egle eorla gehƿẏlcun,
ðonn[e] fæstlice flæsc onginneþ,
hraƿ colian, hrusan ceosan
blac to gebeddan; bleda gedreosaþ,
ƿẏnna geƿitaþ, ƿera gesƿicaþ.

Éar is horrible to every warrior,
when the corpse quickly begins to cool
and is laid in the bosom of the dark earth.
Prosperity declines, happiness passes away
and covenants are broken.

The Éar rune poem marks the final verse of the Anglo Saxon rune poem. No consistent meaning for the rune is ever really given, though the rune is associated with death, the grave or burial. The word Éar has a cognate with the Norse aurr, meaning dirt or soil. As death is inevitable, the rune may relate to the burial of the warrior in the cold earth, perhaps undignified in comparison to a kingly ship burial or warriors cremation.

Further to my previous post on the Ear rune, Grimm suggested that Ear was an extension of the Tir rune, claiming the Tir and Ear were found in the German names Zio and Eor, whom he believed were two names for the same god. Grimm cites German regional terms for Tuesday (Tīwesdæġ, Tir being Tiw’s rune) including Ertag, Iertag, Irtag and Eritag as evidence for this.

Pictured are the Anglo Saxon Tir and Ear runes.

An interesting pattern found in the Anglo Saxon runes. The runes here are ger/gær, gar and cealc/kalc.

Indeed, the burial grounds of our ancestors are classrooms, and we, the living, are their students.
To understand their wisdom, we must emulate them by silencing our minds and flesh.
Hail to the Elves and Disir.

Early mediaeval figure with swastika motif on his chest, resembling the style found on the Swastika Stone at Ilkley Moor, from the All Saints' Church, Sutton Bedfordshire.

The swastika of Sutton was obviously a symbol worn on a garment of a dancer sacred to Woden - Nigel Pennick.

It is always the custom at our larger folk-moots to hold a symbel. Two important aspects of this is that a female carries the drinking horn around and that she carries it sunwise.

The role is given to a female as she represents the wælcyrie and she given the name ealu-bora or ale-bearer. Passing the horn around sunwise invokes luck. The opposite of this is widdershins, also called rangsælis in Icelandic. In OE words like wiþerweard had a similar meaning. To go anti-sunwise is to invoke bad luck. A number of the Icelandic sagas tell of seiðkona who invoked harm on their victims by walking around their dwelling in a rangsælis or widdershin direction chanting runes and spells.

Mugwort is named as the first herb in the Nine Herbs Charm. Also called Una which means ‘one’ or ‘the first’. It’s commonly thought that the name comes from mug-wort, as a herb used to flavour ales or used to brew ale in its own right. But for those who use mugwort in their rituals, you’ll know it can be burnt as an incense (like sage) and has a pungent but pleasant smell. Nowadays the herb has another name, ‘dreamweed’ because of the association mugwort has with inducing vivid dreams. An eleventh century Anglo-Saxon herb blessing reads this about mugwort (Artemisia vulgaris is the Latin name) -

‘The root, Worn as an amulet bestowed health and strength.
Artemisia is mighty among herbs!
If you fear magic, hang four bundles
In your room, and demons or other bad things will not harm you
Your children or the cattle...’

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.

Hanging was said to be introduced to these isles by the Anglo Saxons, the last person to be hanged was August 13, 1964. It is a death we associated with Woden, Lord of the Gallows, who himself hung on the wind swept tree. There are a number of places in England which derive their name from the fact they had gallows, Gallow Field for example. The OE for gallows was ġealga however the wulfhéafodtréo or wulf-head-tree was also an OE kenning for them. Interestingly the OE term Warg, ON Vargr (meaning outlaw) comes from the word wargaz ‘strangler’ itself from wargh meaning to choke or strangle.