Stiðen Āc Heorð

ᚩ Ós bẏþ ordfruma ælcre spræce wisdomes wraþu and witena frofur, and eorla gehwam eadnẏs and tohiht. Ós is the source of all language, a pillar of wisdom and a comfort to wise men, a blessing and a joy to every knight. The Icelandic rune poem names Óss Asgard's chief and Valhall's leader and I see no reason to why in the OE rune poem Ós didn’t originally refer to Woden, even if the poem was later Christianised or the meaning of Ós changed. The name is still found in many English names and means ‘god’. Woden gave us the runes which he discovers. Ós rune and Woden artwork by Brian Partridge.

ᚦ Þorn bẏþ ðearle scearp; ðegna gehƿẏlcum anfeng ẏs ẏfẏl, ungemetum reþe manna gehƿẏlcun, ðe him mid resteð. The thorn is exceedingly sharp, an evil thing for any knight to touch, uncommonly severe on all who sit among them. The Þorn rune depicts a thorn on a stem. As the other rune poems tell of the þyrs or giants it could be that this OE verse was Christianised to remove such pagan elements. However the sleeping thorn does appear in our Germanic lore. The tale of Sleeping Beauty (Dornröschen) who is pricked by a magical thorn has its parallels with Brunhild being pricked with a sleep-thorn by Wōden.

A bonny fire is a blessing to man, (and also the sight of the sun) his hearty health, if he holds it well, and to live one's life without shame. (Havamal stanza 68) Happy bonfire night.

ᚢ Ur byþ anmod ond oferhyrned, felafrecne deor, feohteþ mid hornum mære morstapa; þæt is modig wuht. Aurochs is fierce and high-horned; the courageous beast fights with its horns; a well-known moor-treader, it is a brave creature. The Ūr rune represents the Aurochs, the primal ox, also called the Ūroxen in OE, which went extinct around 1300 BC in Britain, however their genes can be found in Irish and English cattle breeds like the wild Chillingham white cattle of northern England. Image - Aurochs skull, British Museum, found in Ilford Essex.

Another painting by Peter Dunn. The Sutton Hoo burial.

ᚠ Feoh byþ frofur fira gehwylcum; sceal ðeah manna gehwylc miclun hyt dælan, gif he wile for drihtne domes hleotan. Wealth is a comfort to every man; yet must every man bestow it freely, if he wish to gain honor in the sight of the lord. Feoh represents wealth and gives us our modern word 'fee'. Cattle were once a measure of wealth, Feoh being found in OE words like feohbîgenga, cattle−keeper and feohgesteald, possession of riches. The same concept was found in Anglo Saxon coinage called sceats or sceatta, from the proto West Germanic *skatt which meant both treasure and cattle.

Two month names are recorded for November. Bede writes the month was called Blōtmōnaþ (Blot-Month) 'the month of blood-offerings', 'for it was in this month that the cattle which were to be slaughtered were dedicated to the gods.' This custom continued under christianity as Martinmass day (11th Nov) becoming the 'Martinmass cull'. The Old English Martyrology recorded the month as Blōdmōnað (Blood-Month). Both names are linked as Blōt meant 'blood offering' and is where the christians got their word 'blessing', from the Old English bletsian / bledsian (blessing), this from the Proto-Germanic *blodison 'hallow with blood'.

Wooden gate post carving showing Woden with his Raven headgear and holding spears, at the foot of Yeavering Bell.

Anglo-Saxon Royal Hall at Yeavering, Northumberland art by Peter Dunn.

Many thanks to Woden Awaken! Woden hāle!

As Odin was the god of death and war, the raven was above all the bird of battle, the carrion bird of the battlefield. Poetic references to the raven nickname this role: 'corpse-goose', 'blood-goose', 'wound-grouse', 'osprey of the spear-storm', 'the battle-swallow'. The warrior is 'feeder of battle-hawks', 'raven-feeder' and 'fattener of the battle-starling'. Odin is described as the 'raven-god', the 'raven-tempter' and as the 'priest of the raven sacrifice' and in turn the ravens are 'Odin's greedy hawks'... Quote from 'Anglo-Saxon Animal Art and Its Germanic Background', George Speake. Image, reconstruction of the Sutton Hoo shield raven.

The Winter Full Moon or Winterfylleth rising in the north-eastern sky. Hāl Frēa, Hāl the ælfe, Hāl the ealdas!

Hāl the sacred æled! Hail the sacred fire!

Winter was ushered in with storms and gale winds last night. Those who follow my channel will know I view the gale winds as Woden's gealdor as both gale and gealdor share an etymological root. Woden is a weather god, though we do not always associate him as such. His name Grim meaning hooded or masked was a reference to the dark heavy rain clouds that cloaked the sky (and originally meant thunder). Variations of the term 'it's grim outside' are used throughout England to refer to dark clouds and bad weather and Tolkien himself used this connection for his own 'Woden' whom he called Manwë and give him the title Wolcenfrea, which is OE for 'Lord of the Clouds'.

The next full moon rises Sunday night (fullest Monday 04:11am BST for us in England). This moon marks the start of the Winter season. According to Bede - The old English people split the year into two seasons, summer and winter, placing six months — during which the days are longer than the nights — in summer, and the other six in winter. They called the month when the winter season began Ƿintirfylliþ, a word composed of ‘winter’ and ‘full moon,’ because winter began on the first full moon of that month.

The next full moon rises Sunday night (fullest at 04:11am BST for us in England). This moon marks the start of the Winter season. According to Bede - The old English people split the year into two seasons, summer and winter, placing six months — during which the days are longer than the nights — in summer, and the other six in winter. They called the month when the winter season began Ƿintirfylliþ, a word composed of ‘winter’ and ‘full moon,’ because winter began on the first full moon of that month.

The next full moon rises Sunday night (fullest at 04:11 am BST for us in England). This moon marks the start of the Winter season. According to Bede - The old English people split the year into two seasons, summer and winter, placing six months — during which the days are longer than the nights — in summer, and the other six in winter. They called the month when the winter season began Ƿintirfylliþ, a word composed of ‘winter’ and ‘full moon,’ because winter began on the first full moon of that month.

Two more ritual items used by my family hearth. The first is a drinking horn gifted to me by Wulf Ingessunu. This horn is used at every family hearth symbel and for libations. The runes around the top spell my Wodenist name. The second is another horn but this time a blowing horn. When blown correctly it produces a hallowing tone which resonates through you! There's no need for any trumpet style mouth piece attachment to produce a sound, just plenty of practice. The Gosforth Stone has an image of Hāma (Heimdallr) holding the Gjallarhorn or Yelling-horn, the blowing horn he uses to announce Ragnarök.

Divine bloodlines of early Anglo-saxon kings

We need Ancestral Intuition, not Artificial Intelligence.