Æhtemen

Fire is a living entity. It feeds, it grows, it needs to breathe or it dies out. Words connected with breathing often come from the same root as words meaning to be alive or have a soul. Spirit and Respire for example – both coming from the root (s)peys- meaning ‘to blow’. Woden blew life into Ash and Embla, giving them spirit – in the same way blowing into hot Ash and Embers can reignite a flame.

Interesting post about the need-fire above. The need-fire can be found in Germanic, Celtic and Slavic cultures. The OE name nýd-fýr meant need-fire. Whilst nýd came from nied (meaning need) the term was connected with the OE gnídan meaning ‘to rub together’, hence fire by friction. All these terms had cognates in old Swedish. The OSwed word gnida was cognate with gnídan and gave the Swedes the term gnideld, fire-by-friction. This reconstructed in old English would be *gnídfýr or *gnídál. In Irish Gaelic the need-fire was known as tein' èiginn (modern tein egin) which meant forced-fire.

The Need-Fire The Saxon Indiculus Superstitionum et Paganiarum is a list of Christian edicts banning Heathen practices, which includes a decree against "fire rubbed from wood that is nodfyr (Need-fire)." This holy fire was used to protect against misfortune, using nine different woods kindled from an auger. The flame was kept upon the wéofod or hearga. Háma, as “Warder of the Gods,” is the need-fire god, protecting both the gods and the sacred space. thefrithstead.com

Sutton Hoo / Wuffinga expert Sam Newton proposed that the East Anglian Wuffing dynasty came from the Swedish Wulfings. Wulfing meant ‘descendants of the Wolf’. The Wuffinga line is traced back to Woden the wolf-god himself. The last Wuffinga king was Edmund of Anglia. He died tied to a tree and pierced with arrows before being decapitated – however his head was protected by wolves until found by English soldiers.

The Sutton Hoo helmet (previous post) shares remarkable similarities with the Swedish/Vendel Valsgärde helmet above, which is no surprise as its believed the Wuffingas (of Anglia) were descendants of Swedish royalty. This may also explain why the heraldic emblems of Sweden and East Anglia are so similar, three golden crowns. The graves found in Valsgärde were said to be identical in nature with those found at Sutton Hoo and are believed to be the burials of Ynglings (recorded in Beowulf as Scylfings) royalty. Ynglinga means ‘descendant of Yngvi-Frey’.

Replica of the helmet found at Sutton Hoo (Seventeen hills/mounds in Swedish-Gothic dialect). The helmet might once have belonged to Anglo-Saxon King Rædwald who belonged to the Wuffingas dynasty. Most likely the Wuffingas was an offshoot of the Wulfings dynasty (AKA Wylfings or Ylfings in old Norse) of the Eastern Geats/Goths in Sweden. Ylfings was the ruling clan of the Eastern Geats and the similarities between finds there and from the Valsgärde/Vendel era including helmets, swords, broaches and buckles are undeniable.

A reproduction of the bronze Red Deer from the Sutton Hoo sceptre / whetstone. The Red Deer was a symbol of Anglo Saxon kingship, the OE name for red deer was Heahdeor. Heah meant high, proud or exalted.

A stone weoh at Bede's World museum in Jarrow. The face is based on the faces found on the Sutton Hoo sceptre /whetstone whilst the bottom part of the design is in the shape of an Anglo-Saxon buckle.

John Howe's Beowulf art. Geatland Grendel Beowulf the thief Beowulf and the firesnakes Beowulf and the Dragon Beowulf funeral

The tale of Helgi shows us our ancestors believed in reincarnation. The Helgakviða Hundingsbana sagas tells that Helgi Hjörvarðsson and his wife Sváva are reborn as Helgi Hundingsbane and Sigrun. He is then reborn a third time as Helgi Haddingjaskati and his wife as Kára.