'One must give wise counsel, read runes, and sing songs, to earn praise.'

- Old English saying (Maxims I Exeter Book)

Verse from the Old English poem ‘The Fortunes of Men’ from the Exeter Book.

Sum sceal on geapum galgan ridan,
seomian æt swylte, oþþæt sawlhord,
bancofa blodig, abrocen weorþeð.
þær him hrefn nimeþ heafodsyne,
sliteð salwigpad sawelleasne;
noþer he þy facne mæg folmum biwergan,
laþum lyftsceaþan, biþ his lif scæcen,
ond he feleleas, feores orwena,
blac on beame bideð wyrde,
bewegen wælmiste. Bið him werig noma!

'One (man) must ride the gaping gallows,
hang to death, until his soul-hoard,
his bloody bone-coffer, becomes broken.
There (on the gallows) the raven takes his eye,
the dark-cloaked one tears at the soulless;
nor is he able to ward off that evil,
that loathsome thief of the air,
with his hands-- his life is fled,
and he, senseless, without hope of living,
pale on the tree, awaits his fate,
covered by the mists of slaughter. His name is cursed!'

It’s the Solmōnaþ full moon tonight and as usual my family hearth will hold a rite to honour this. We use the translation cake-month for Sol-mōnaþ, as Bede referred to cakes being baked in this month which were given to the gods as offerings. Sôl is another name for Sunne (the sun) and lends to the translation Sun-month, however I would not agree entirely with this, England has very little sun in February and as the OE word Sunne is feminine it seems a more fitting name for the sun goddess – in my opinion of course. Saying that, she is often including in the names we invoke as our mead horn is passed around. Another translation for Solmōnaþ is mud-month and February is a very muddy month which, as a dog owner I can attest to!

Gunnlöð was responsible for guarding the mead of poetry, however Woden in the form of a snake finds a way into the Hnitbjörg mountain where the mead is kept. There he seduced Gunnlöð for three nights and in return she allows Woden three drinks of the mead, after which he leaves in haste in the form of an eagle.

Gunnlöð by Anders Zorn (1886).

Interesting piece showing Woden wearing a headdress similar to figures from the Sutton Hoo finds. I cannot find much information about this archaeological find (?) apart from it is said to be dated to the 6th-7th century.

Looks like a possible Anglo Saxon depiction of Woden fighting Fenrir.

Recently I posted about the OE Frec / Freca, a word that is cognate with Freki (Odin’s Wolf) and how the name was used in Beowulf as a kenning for a warrior (Ulfhednar?)

I was driving through the East Anglian countryside to see family during the week and by chance noticed I had passed a village called Freckenham. Turns out Freckenham means home (-ham) to (wolf) Warriors! Looking online I was able to find that this area did have a connection to wolves, in that the area is well known for finding Iceni coins called Norfolk Wolf Staters (like the image above). Iceni coins often had horses on them, but in this region they had wolves.

Just out of interest – I posted a pdf sometime ago (for anyone interested) which studied the words on Iceni coins that suggests the Iceni spoke a Germanic language.

"Look, Odin!"

Gift your child the feeling of belonging and purpose.

Allfather wills it, Odin is great.

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 (Valhalla). ‘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.

A Frankish swastika brooch from the Côte d’Opale, northern France, 5-6th Century. 卍

Anglo-Saxon era stone carving from Breedon on the Hill.

Some sources claim fylfot means 'four footed' but this is debatable. Here the prefix fyl- is said to be a corruption of fēower, OE for ‘four’. Other suggestions are that it means 'filler' (page filler) from OE fyllan and ‘foot’. This is because the symbol was used as a decorative design used the fill the foot of written documents. This would suggest that the name didn’t exist until christian times. Either way, the fylfot is a symbol of Woden for many English heathens.

pictured - Woden and his Ravens along with five fylfots, 11th century, Great Canfield in Essex.

A Merovingian era amber bird pendant discovered in 2013 on the Baltic shore of Germany near Rostock. The runic inscription may be read as "FRAUA"

A really nice amber bird (original post). As STJ says, the runes could read (in reverse) FRAUA, though the U ᚢ is hard to read and could be an L ᛚ or a W ᚹ.

The runes may be connected with the proto-Germanic words *frawą or *frawaz. The former is connected with our names OE Frēa and Frēo (Freyr and Freya) whilst the latter meant ‘happy, energetic’, or may be they’re connected with the word *frauwjā where we get the German Frau (lady) from.

Both Amber and the Falcon are associated with Freya.

Archaeologists believe they may have found the long-lost residence belonging to Harold Godwinson the last Anglo-Saxon King of England, depicted in the Bayeux Tapestry.

The pattern of wyrd is like the grain in wood, or the flow of a stream; it is never repeated in exactly the same way. But the threads of wyrd pass through all things and we can open ourselves to its pattern by observing the ripples as it passes by.

The Way of Wyrd by Brian Bates