An Introduction to English Runes By R.I. Page The Boydell Press ISBN 0-85115-768-8 'Runes are quite frequently mentioned in modern writings, usually imprecisely as a source of mystic knowledge, power or insight. It shows runes working as a practical script for a variety of purposes in early English times, amongst both indigenous Anglo-Saxons and incoming Vikings. The author, widely regarded as the expert in this field, examines the introduction of the runic alphabet to England in the fifth and sixth centuries, the forms and values of it's letters in prestigious manuscripts, for owners', or makers' names on everyday objects, perhaps even in private letters. |
Heathen Gods In Old English Literature By Richard North Cambridge University Press ISBN 0-521-55183-8 'This book discusses the pre-Christian gods of Bede's gens Anglorum with reference to a figure whom Bede called 'god of this age', whose cult was known as 'vanitas' and whose name appears in the Anglian royal genealogy as Ingui of Bernicia. Traces of Ingui's names and religion, in Beowulf as well as in The Dream of the Rood and other texts, are identified here on the basis of a comparison with the god Ingvi-Freyr in Old Norse-Icelandic literature.' |
Recommended Reading |
The Lost Gods of England By Brian Branston Thames and Hudson Ltd ISBN 0-09-473340-6 'In this absorbing book, with its wealth of arresting illustrations, Brian Branston examines the archaeological evidence related to early Anglo-Saxon worship and interprets it afresh, bringing out the significance of the sites and artefacts of our pagan ancestors in their mythological context. When the first edition was published Sir Thomas Kendrick wrote 'Brian Branston's learned and agreeable book teaches us a lot about the northern gods...satisfactorily explains their importance, and with their help rediscovers the pantheon of the Anglo-Saxons.' |
Heathen Gods In Old English Literature By Richard North Cambridge University Press ISBN 0-521-55183-8 'This book discusses the pre-Christian gods of Bede's gens Anglorum with reference to a figure whom Bede called 'god of this age', whose cult was known as 'vanitas' and whose name appears in the Anglian royal genealogy as Ingui of Bernicia. Traces of Ingui's names and religion, in Beowulf as well as in The Dream of the Rood and other texts, are identified here on the basis of a comparison with the god Ingvi-Freyr in Old Norse-Icelandic literature.' |
Looking For the Lost Gods of England By Kathleen Herbert Anglo-Saxon Books ISBN 1-898281-04-1 'Kathleen Herbert sifts through royal genealogy, charms, verse and other sources to find clues to the names and attributes of the Gods and Goddesses of the early English. The earliest account of English heathen practice reveals that they worshipped the Earth Mother and called her Nerthus. The names Tiw, Woden, Thunor and Frig have been preserved in place names and in the names given to the days of the week.' |
Aspects of Anglo-Saxon Magic By Bill Griffith Anglo-Saxon Books ISBN 1-898281-15-7 'Magic is something special, something unauthorised; an alternative perhaps; even a deliberate cultivation of dark, evil powers. But for the Anglo-Saxon age, that division between mainstream and occult, rational and superstitious, Christian and pagan is not always easy to discern. To maintain its authority the church drew a formal line and outlawed a range of dubious practices (like divination, spells, folk healing) while at the same time conducting very similar rituals itself, and may have even adapted legends of elves to serve in a Christian explanation of disease as a battle between good and evil, between Church and demons, in other cases powerful ancestors came to serve as saints.' |
St Augustine and the Conversion of England By Various Authors Sutton Publishing Ltd ISBN 0-7509-2087-4 'The mission of St Augustine of Canterbury and the subsequent conversion of the pagan Anglo-Saxons to Christianity had dramatic political, social and cultural implications, as well as religious ones. The arrival of St Augustine in AD 597 re-defined England's relations with the continent and with the Celtic lands on the other. It added a new dimension to the political organisation of the land, and it imported new forms of culture.' |
Sutton Hoo Burial Ground of Kings By Martin Carver British Museum Press ISBN 0-19-282235-7 'The traveller to Sutton Hoo must make two kinds of journey, one in reality and one in imagination. The destination of the real journey is a small group of grassy mounds lying beside the river Deben in Southeast England. the imaginative journey visits a world of warrior kings, large open boats, jewelled weapons, ritual killing and politics of independence. To both kinds of journey this book is offered as a guide.' |
The English Settlements By J.N.L Myers Oxford University Press ISBN 0-19-282235-7 'The English Settlements is a masterly account of the Dark Ages in the light of evidence from literary sources the relevant archaeological remains both in England and on the continent, and place names and other linguistic developments. J.N.L Myers draws attention to some little understood factors which seem to link Roman Britain with Anglo-Saxon England, and so suggests strands of political and social continuity which aid our understanding of this particularly complex and traumatic period of our history.' |
Who's Who In Roman Britain and Anglo-Saxon England By Richard Fletcher Shepheard-Walwyn Ltd ISBN 0-85683-114-X 'Who's who in Roman Britain and Anglo-Saxon England is more than a work of reference: it is a book to read and enjoy...Drawing on recent discoveries of archaeologists and other researchers, the author of this volume has prepared over 140 short biographies which convey more than the bare facts of his subjects lives. He places them in the context of their time and evokes what was distinctive and interesting in their personality and achievement.' |
A Dictionary Of English Folklore By Jacqueline Simpson and Steve Roud Oxford University Press ISBN 0-19-969104-5 'This new dictionary shows the enormous variety and distinctive features of traditions and beliefs throughout England, as well as indicating links with broader British and European patterns. Folklore covers an extremely wide field, with connections to virtually every aspect of life, every part of the country, both urban and rural, and every age group and occupation. It ranges from the bizarre to the mundane, and is as much a feature of the modern technological age as the ancient world.' |
Barbarian Warriors: Saxons, Vikings, Normans By Dan and Susanna Shadrake Brassey's Ltd ISBN 1-85753-213-9 'This is an essential book for everyone with an interest in the warriors of Britain's Dark Ages. It is the definitive guide to the arms and armour of all the invading armies, from Saxons and Celts to Vikings and Normans. It covers the period from the disintegration of Roman rule in Britain in the 5th century - the legendary era of King Arthur - through the raids of Saxons, Celts and Vikings.' |
An Introduction to English Runes By R.I. Page The Boydell Press ISBN 0-85115-768-8 'Runes are quite frequently mentioned in modern writings, usually imprecisely as a source of mystic knowledge, power or insight. It shows runes working as a practical script for a variety of purposes in early English times, amongst both indigenous Anglo-Saxons and incoming Vikings. The author, widely regarded as the expert in this field, examines the introduction of the runic alphabet to England in the fifth and sixth centuries, the forms and values of it's letters in prestigious manuscripts, for owners', or makers' names on everyday objects, perhaps even in private letters. |
The Oxford Companion to the Year By Bonnie Blackburn and Leofranc Holford-Stevens Oxford University Press ISBN -------------- 'The calendar used in the west today is only one of a multitude of systems for parcelling up time and naming in divisions. Each of its days has over the centuries acquired its own peculiar significance: the feast of a saint, the celebration of an historical event, the subject of prose or poetry, the commemoration of a significant historical figure.'And for these feasts and seasons there has grown up a rch body of traditions, beliefs, and superstitions, many of them half remembered today. Now, for the first time, this body of knowledge is combined with a wide-ranging survey of calendars in an authoritative, absorbing companion. |
A Chronicle of Folk Customs By Brian Day Hamlyn Publishers ISBN 0-600-59595-1 'A Chronicle of Folk Customs contains over 650 customs. This easy to follow, day-by-day listing of the past and current folk events features the celebrations, ceremonies, feasts, dances, games, crafts and superstitions which, along with many other aspects of folklore constitute English folk culture today. Each custom is annotated with dates, times and directions, together with a description of events. The history, beliefs and attitudes associated with each custom are revealed, portraying England's tapestry of local cultures.' |
Dictionary of Northern Mythology By Rudolf Simek St Edmundsbury Press Ltd ISBN 0-85991-513-1 'In compiling this dictionary Rudolf Simek has made the fullest use of the information vialable - Christian accounts, Eddic Lays, the Prose Edda, runic inscriptions, Roman authors (especially Tacitus), votive stones, place names and archaeological discoveries. He has adhered throughout to a broad definition of mythology which, presents the beliefs of the heathen Germanic tribes in their entirety. Here are not only tales of the gods, but also of beings from lower levels of belief: elves, dwarfs and giants, the beginning and end of the world, the creation of man, death and afterlife, cult, burial customs and magic - an entire history of Germanic religion.' |
The Golden Bough By J.G. Frazer Macmillan Publishers Ltd ISBN 0-33-64768-8 'In this classic work, inspiration and source book to many, not least T.S. Eliot and Sigmund Freud. Frazer sets out the seminal themes of myth and magic that emerge throughout the history of the human imagination. Themes such as the death of the fisher king, the magical mistletoe sprig and the sacred oak grove are traced through the rituals of ceremony and sacrifice from ancient Greece, through the druid and shaman traditions and the worlds of Odin and Arthur, to the bedrock of image and symbol that underlines human consciousness.' |
Gods and Myths of Northern Europe By H. R. Ellis Davidson Penguin Books ISBN 0-14-013627-4 'Tiw, Woden, Thunor, Frig...these ancient Northern deities gave their names to the very days of our week. Nevertheless most of us know far more of Mars, Mercury, Jupiter and Venus and the classical mythology. Recent researches in archaeology and mythology have added to what was already a fairly consistent picture of the principal Scandinavian gods and goddesses. This study is the work of a scholar who has long specialized in Norse and Germanic mythology. She describes the more familiar gods of war, of fertility, of the sky and the sea and the dead, and also discusses those most puzzeling figures of Morse Mythology - Heimdall, Balder and Loki.' |
Lost Gods of Albion By Paul Newman Sutton Publishing ISBN 0-7509-1722-X 'The flowing outlines of the Uffington Horse, the phallic symbolism of the Cerne Giant, the austere Long Man of Wilmington, and many other chalk hill figures form some of Britains best-known landmarks. A uniquely British phenomenom, the thirty or so figures cut into the turf of southern England have excited antiquarians, archaeologists and the general public for generations. However, their origins are enigmatic. Paul Newman shows hill figures reveal Britians darkest past: Druid massacres, conjectured human sacrifice and strange phallic and pagan rites that in milder form survive even today. |
Anglo-Saxon Verse Charms, Maxims and Heroic Legends By Louis J Rodrigues Anglo-Saxon Books ISBN 1-898281-01-7 'The Germanic tribes who settled in Britain during the fifth and early sixth centuries brought with them a store of heroic and folk traditions: folk tales, legends, rune-lore, magic charms against misfortune and illness, herbal cures, and the homely wisdom of experience enshrined in maxims and gnomic verse. In the lays composed and sung by their minstrels at banquets, they recalled the glories of long dead heroes belonging to their continental past. They carved crude runic inscriptions on a variety of objects including memorial stones, utensils and weapons. In rude non-aristocratic verse they chanted their pagan charms to protect their fields against infertility, and their bodies against the rigours of rheumatic winters. And, in the times of danger, they relied on the gnomic wisdom of their ancestors for help and guidance. Louis Rodrigues looks at the heroic and folk traditions that were recorded in verse, and which have managed to survive the depredations of time.' |
Rudiments of Runelore By Stephen Pollington Anglo-Saxon Books ISBN 1-898281-16-5 'The purpose of this book is to provide both a comprehensive introduction for those coming to the subject for the first time, and a handy and inexpensive reference work for those with some knowledge of the subject. The Abecedarium Nordmannicum and the English, Norwegian and Icelandic rune poems are included as are the rune riddles, extracts from Cynewulf poems and new work on three Brandon runic inscriptions and the Norfolk 'Tiw' runes.' |
A Companion to the Folklore, Myths and Customs of Britain By Marc Alexander Sutton Publishing ISBN --------------- 'Britains rich and varied folklore, legends and beliefs provide a unique insight into the islands turbulent history. Every invader, refugee or settler had helped contribute some new element or twist to the complex patten of our national heritage, and new myths are still in the making. This fully illustrated volume provides a comprehensive A-Z companion to legends and customs in England, Scotland and Wales, covering everything from witchcraft, ghosts and fairies to legendary figures, standing stones and mythical creatures. At the end of the book is a fully up-to-date Folk Custom Calendar of events being held throughout the year, plus a substabtial lust further reading.' |
The Real Middle Earth By Brian Bates Sidgwick and Jackson ISBN 0-283-07353-5 'Behind the stories of Dark Age kings and queens, warriors and battles, lies the hidden history of Middle-Earth, a word of magic, mystery and destiny. Fiery dragons were seen to fly across the sky, monsters haunted the marshes, and elves fired poisoned arrows. Wizards cast healing spells, wise trees gave blessing, and omens foretold the deaths of kings. The very landscape itself was enchanted and the world imbued with a life force. Repressed by a millennium of Christianity, this belief system all but disapeared, leaving only faint traces in folk memory and fairy tales. In this remarkable book Professor Brian Bates has drawn on the latest historical and archaeological findings to reconstruct the imaginative world of our past, revealing a culture with insights that may yet help us understand our own place in the world.' |
