This quote by Aldhelm was in reference to the conversion of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Wessex to Christianity and the use of Heathen shrines as places of Christian worship. The conversion of Heathen shrines to Christian use was done on the orders of Pope Gregory, for in the well known letter written by Gregory he advises the missionaries in England to do the following: 'I have come to the conclusion that the temples of idols in England should not on any account be destroyed. (St) Augustine should smash the idols, but the temples themselves should be sprinkled with holy water and alters set up in them...For we ought to take advantage of well built temples by purofying them from devil worship. And judging from the quote of Saint Aldhelm, it seems that these very orders were carried out exactly word for word. Now, an interesting word that should be noted from the quote of Saint Aldhelm is that the 'crude pillars' are called ermula. The Saxons on the European mainland were known to worship a pillar that they called Irminsul, so it is very likely that, as the West Saxons of England and the Saxons of mainland Europe were basically the same peoples, they both worshipped ermula or Irminsul pillars that had religious connections to the veneration of stags ,and, maybe also the Anglo-Saxon god Ingui. But what could this connection be between stags, Ingui and the ermula/Irminsul. In the Anglo-Saxon epic poem Beowulf we are told that King Hrothgar resides in a hall called Heorot, the name Heorot is said to mean stag. King Hrothgar is also called Frea Ingwina, which translates to Lord (of the) Friends of Ing, which as pointed out in the Ingui section is said to be related to the word or name Ingaevones. So as the hall of King Hrothgar is basically called stag, and also that King Hrothgar is called Lord (of the) Friends of Ing, it could be that Hrothgars hall was a |
The symbol and reverence of the stag amongst the Anglo-Saxons is a tradition that is very likely to be rooted in the most ancient of Germanic culture and religion. In England we know such reverence of stags was already a strong custom even in the days of Saint Augustine, for he is quoted as condemning the 'filthy practice of dressing up like a horse or stag' , a tradition that seems to resemble closely the English custom of hoodening. Like so many of the other animal symbols connected to the Anglo-Saxons, we only have to look at the Sutton Hoo ship burial for evidence. Within the burial was found a spectacular sceptre that was topped off with a beautiful stag figure. The sceptre to the King who carried it symbolised his power and high status. And it could be that |
Stag |
The symbol and reverence of the stag amongst the Anglo-Saxons is a tradition that is very likely to be rooted in the most ancient of Germanic culture and religion. In England we know such reverence of stags was already a strong custom even in the days of Saint Augustine, for he is quoted as condemning the 'filthy practice of dressing up like a horse or stag' , a tradition that seems to resemble closely the English custom of hoodening. Like so many of the other animal symbols connected to the Anglo-Saxons, we only have to look at the Sutton Hoo ship burial for evidence. Within the burial was found a spectacular sceptre that was topped off with a beautiful stag figure. The sceptre to the King who carried it symbolised his power and high status. And it could be that |
amongst the Heathens the stag was regarded as the most noble and proud of animals, and would therefore be a most appropriate symbol of a King and his leadership. Extremely strong evidence pointing to the use of stag images, but not only their images, but the worship of stags too, is found in a quote from Saint Aldhelm who wrote to a friend the following: 'where once the crude pillars (ermula) of the same foul snake and the stag were worshipped with coarse stupidity in profane shrines' |
This quote by Aldhelm was in reference to the conversion of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Wessex to Christianity and the use of Heathen shrines as places of Christian worship. The conversion of Heathen shrines to Christian use was done on the orders of Pope Gregory, for in the well known letter written by Gregory he advises the missionaries in England to do the following: 'I have come to the conclusion that the temples of idols in England should not on any account be destroyed. (St) Augustine should smash the idols, but the temples themselves should be sprinkled with holy water and alters set up in them...For we ought to take advantage of well built temples by purofying them from devil worship. And judging from the quote of Saint Aldhelm, it seems that these very orders were carried out exactly word for word. Now, an interesting word that should be noted from the quote of Saint Aldhelm is that the 'crude pillars' are called ermula. The Saxons on the European mainland were known to worship a pillar that they called Irminsul, so it is very likely that, as the West Saxons of England and the Saxons of mainland Europe were basically the same peoples, they both worshipped ermula or Irminsul pillars that had religious connections to the veneration of stags ,and, maybe also the Anglo-Saxon god Ingui. But what could this connection be between stags, Ingui and the ermula/Irminsul. In the Anglo-Saxon epic poem Beowulf we are told that King Hrothgar resides in a hall called Heorot, the name Heorot is said to mean stag. King Hrothgar is also called Frea Ingwina, which translates to Lord (of the) Friends of Ing, which as pointed out in the Ingui section is said to be related to the word or name Ingaevones. So as the hall of King Hrothgar is basically called stag, and also that King Hrothgar is called Lord (of the) Friends of Ing, it could be that Hrothgars hall was a |
building sacred to Ingui, a place where Ingui was worshipped and venerated. And because of this connection in Beowulf between stags and Ingui, it could be that the stag pillars of Wessex, called ermula by Aldhelm, and the Inrminsul of the continental Saxons, also had religious connections to the god Ingui. And as it is very possible that Ingui is one and the same as the Norse god Freyr, Freyr being a fertility god who was subject to phallic worship by the Norse. It could be that these ermula in the image of stags, that seem to have represented Ingui, could also have been phallic symbols. This stag and Ingui connection |
could also be the reason why the image of a stag is found upon the Sutton Hoo sceptre. The Anglo-Saxon kingdom of East Anglia, which is the resting place of the ship burial, was a land settled by many of the Angle/Angli tribe in their migration. We know that in the first century the Angles were part of a grouping of peoples known as Ingaevones, a word or name that has been translated as those of Ing. The name Ingui has also been found recorded in the genealogy lists of the Kings of Northumbria, these Northumbrians too were Angles. So if the Kings of Northumbria at one time saw themselves as being descended from their god Ingui, as the genealogy list show, then it is highly possible that the Kings of East Anglia did too, and the stag headed sceptre was a symbol of this descent from Ingui. Also, just below the stag image itself are found carved images of faces, which have been theorised by many people as being the representations of ancestors. So could it not be that maybe one of these carved ancestor images is that of Ingui himself. We don't only have to look to the most ancient of days to find evidence of the stag and it's symbolism. For in the year 1255 AD an event was recorded that involved a pillar very similar to the stag ermula of ancient Wessex. It is said that 13 people gathered in an isolated woodland clearing somewhere in England, here they cut off the head of a stag, placed an object in it's mouth, and then impaled it on the end of a wooden stake. Then with the sun in the sky, they turned it so that the open mouth of the stag faced the sun. This custom has been compared to Norse myths surrounding the wolf Fenris and his gagging. It also has many similarities with the Old Norse custom of erecting the Nidstang pole. In this custom a horses head was impaled, again on a stake, and |
made to face the direction of an enemy, therefore cursing and insulting that very enemy. And what connects the custom of the Nidstang pole and this aforementioned obscure Medieval English custom of erecting the stag-pole, is that the head of the stag facing the sun was said to be an insult aimed at the King and the foresters. No doubt Anglo-Saxon folk insulting their Norman rulers. There seems to be so much symbolism within these two mentioned customs, and many similarities also. The Norse Nidstang pole and it's aims at cursing the enemy, the English stag-pole with the object in it's mouth and it's connections to sun veneration, again said to be used to insult people. It's likely that the stag-pole, especially if we compare it to the ermula of ancient Wessex, could have been |
a tradition rooted in the Heathen religion that managed to escape, for a while, the wrath of Christianity until it eventually became an obscure custom. Another recorded obscure medieval English custom, with it seems pre-Christian roots that involved stags, was recorded in the year 1127 AD. We are told: 'Let no one be surprised at what we are going to relate, for it was common gossip up and down the countryside that after February 6th many people both saw and heard a whole pack of huntsmen in full cry. They straddled black horses and black bucks, while their hounds were pitch black with staring hideous eyes. This was seen in the very deer park of Peterborough town, and in all the woods stretching from that same spot as far as Stamford. All through the night monks heard them sounding and winding their horns. Reliable witnesses who kept watch in the night declared that there might well have been twenty or even thirty of them in this tantivy as near as they could tell.' Although both customs are recorded over a century apart, we can still find similarities between this night-time tantivy, and that of the stag-pole. Both take place in woodland, both include the gathering of people, and both involve in some way the use of stags. What was happening at these gatherings, and where they come from we can only guess. But they both show the enduring legacy of the use of stags and their symbolism from pre-Christian times through many centuries of so-called Christian conversion of England and it's people. |
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updated on: July 23,
2003
