Rasp
Senior Editor
[From: The Odinist, no. 29 (1977)]
DANELAW
A large area of England is known as the East Midlands; it consists of gently undulating hills, quiet streams and small rivers that wind their way to the North Sea. The main cities are Leicester, Nottingham, Derby, Lincoln and Stamford; these were the main garrison towns of early Scandinavian settlements of the so-called Danelaw in the 9th century England.
Here, as in the whole of Britain, every inch of ground is littered with the evidence of our Nordic ancestors. Most of the rivers have names of Celtic origin, the hills sometimes also Celtic, but often in one of the Germanic tongues or later English; sometimes even in all three languages at the same time such as the small village of Breedon on the Hill. Bree means hill in Celtic, Don is the Angle word for a hill, and with the meaning of both being lost in the course of time, 'on the Hill' was later added, thus the town is being called 'hill' three times over.
The names of some of the woodlands, or hursts (groves) are in the ancient Saxon tongue, such as Sherwood, the home of the famous legend of the Green Man who was a would-be champion of the downtrodden Saxons, held in poverty by their Norman barons. In Nordic folk lore the Green Man, after whom many inns in the area are named was thought to be a spirit of the woodlands, but was later identified with Robin Hood.
In the year 632 C.E., Edwin, a strong king of Northumbria who ruled large areas of Britain was defeated in a fierce battle; one of the victorious noblemen was a member of the Mercian Royal House, by name Penda; he became king of Mercia and ruled until 654 C.E. when he was killed in another battle, and Mercia came for some years under the rule of Northumbria. For a while the son of Penda, Wulfhere, managed to gain recognition but his kingship was not secure and much fighting took place; however, none of the local rulers was able to consolidate his kingdom.
After more than a hundred years of unrest the famous king Offa ascended the Mercian throne. He was able to some degree to unify southern England and is still remembered by the great earthwork, Offa's Dike, he caused to be built along the border to Wales, to keep the Welsh cattle raiders out. At the height of his power, he held sway from the hills of the Welsh marshes to the Trent Valley and southwards beyond the Thames. On a very predominant hill that towers over Breedon on the Hill, mentioned earlier, stands an Iron Age fort, built by Celtic speaking peoples, the ramparts of which are still visible. The centre of the fort was later used as a site for a church.
Around the thirteenth century another church was built on the same site; it boasts a number of finely sculptured friezes which are the sole remains of the Mercian monastery, founded some time during the 5th century by Saxon monks. The Venerable Bede makes a reference to a priest by name Tatwin from Mercia, who for many years had been a priest at the monastery at Bredon and in the year 731 C.E. was made a bishop of the area. Although the spelling is slightly different, we may assume that this is the same Mercian church. The stones are elaborately worked with geometrical designs, swastikas, coiled scrolls of vine and ivy, fantastic beasts, birds and human figures. These foundations were recently unearthed by archaeologists from the Leicester university.
The Venerable Bede was a renowned Saxon monk who lived in the middle of the 8th century C.E. and was the first to translate the bible from Latin into Old English. He it was who reported that this same monastery had been sacked by the Vikings during one of their raids across England. They were drawn by the good pickings from the Christian churches which, already then had amassed tremendous riches, and the monastery was easily accessible; only a few miles to the north lies the river Trent, one of the biggest rivers of England; it was up this waterway the Angles and Saxons penetrated into the heart of the land and also the Vikings followed this route. On the banks of the river lies the village of Repton, site of the famous abbey in which took place the crowning of the kings of Mercia, who all claimed ancestry from Odin, or Wodin as the god is called in English.
Already as early as towards the end of the 8th century the pressure of the Danish attacks grew; but the Danes came not only as raiders; many were also settlers and eventually they took over the area of England from the North East down to the West Midlands. This region became known as the Danelaw. They had well organized armies and controlled the land: they ruled well and left their imprint on the area in many ways; for example, their system of hedgerows marking the boundaries of the fields still exists to this day. The language of the Angles and Danes mingled and formed the basic dialect of the East Midlands, still spoken in the region.
Another area of influence was the way in which municipal government was carried out. At regular intervals the local leaders held a meeting, called a Thing, or Witan; they usually gathered in an open field by a large ash tree, or an oak; this is why these trees have such great significance in Nordic mythology and appear in names of many places. At the Witan matters concerning the development and growth of the community were discussed, but legal affairs were also dealt with and justice, swiftly and justly was meted out. It was this code of laws, used by the Danes at that time, which gave the name Danelaw to the whole area.
It was here the Industrial Revolution mainly had its beginnings with the inventions in the weaving industry, the steam engine, railways and the improvement of livestock.
[D.A.H.]
DANELAW
A large area of England is known as the East Midlands; it consists of gently undulating hills, quiet streams and small rivers that wind their way to the North Sea. The main cities are Leicester, Nottingham, Derby, Lincoln and Stamford; these were the main garrison towns of early Scandinavian settlements of the so-called Danelaw in the 9th century England.
Here, as in the whole of Britain, every inch of ground is littered with the evidence of our Nordic ancestors. Most of the rivers have names of Celtic origin, the hills sometimes also Celtic, but often in one of the Germanic tongues or later English; sometimes even in all three languages at the same time such as the small village of Breedon on the Hill. Bree means hill in Celtic, Don is the Angle word for a hill, and with the meaning of both being lost in the course of time, 'on the Hill' was later added, thus the town is being called 'hill' three times over.
The names of some of the woodlands, or hursts (groves) are in the ancient Saxon tongue, such as Sherwood, the home of the famous legend of the Green Man who was a would-be champion of the downtrodden Saxons, held in poverty by their Norman barons. In Nordic folk lore the Green Man, after whom many inns in the area are named was thought to be a spirit of the woodlands, but was later identified with Robin Hood.
In the year 632 C.E., Edwin, a strong king of Northumbria who ruled large areas of Britain was defeated in a fierce battle; one of the victorious noblemen was a member of the Mercian Royal House, by name Penda; he became king of Mercia and ruled until 654 C.E. when he was killed in another battle, and Mercia came for some years under the rule of Northumbria. For a while the son of Penda, Wulfhere, managed to gain recognition but his kingship was not secure and much fighting took place; however, none of the local rulers was able to consolidate his kingdom.
After more than a hundred years of unrest the famous king Offa ascended the Mercian throne. He was able to some degree to unify southern England and is still remembered by the great earthwork, Offa's Dike, he caused to be built along the border to Wales, to keep the Welsh cattle raiders out. At the height of his power, he held sway from the hills of the Welsh marshes to the Trent Valley and southwards beyond the Thames. On a very predominant hill that towers over Breedon on the Hill, mentioned earlier, stands an Iron Age fort, built by Celtic speaking peoples, the ramparts of which are still visible. The centre of the fort was later used as a site for a church.
Around the thirteenth century another church was built on the same site; it boasts a number of finely sculptured friezes which are the sole remains of the Mercian monastery, founded some time during the 5th century by Saxon monks. The Venerable Bede makes a reference to a priest by name Tatwin from Mercia, who for many years had been a priest at the monastery at Bredon and in the year 731 C.E. was made a bishop of the area. Although the spelling is slightly different, we may assume that this is the same Mercian church. The stones are elaborately worked with geometrical designs, swastikas, coiled scrolls of vine and ivy, fantastic beasts, birds and human figures. These foundations were recently unearthed by archaeologists from the Leicester university.
The Venerable Bede was a renowned Saxon monk who lived in the middle of the 8th century C.E. and was the first to translate the bible from Latin into Old English. He it was who reported that this same monastery had been sacked by the Vikings during one of their raids across England. They were drawn by the good pickings from the Christian churches which, already then had amassed tremendous riches, and the monastery was easily accessible; only a few miles to the north lies the river Trent, one of the biggest rivers of England; it was up this waterway the Angles and Saxons penetrated into the heart of the land and also the Vikings followed this route. On the banks of the river lies the village of Repton, site of the famous abbey in which took place the crowning of the kings of Mercia, who all claimed ancestry from Odin, or Wodin as the god is called in English.
Already as early as towards the end of the 8th century the pressure of the Danish attacks grew; but the Danes came not only as raiders; many were also settlers and eventually they took over the area of England from the North East down to the West Midlands. This region became known as the Danelaw. They had well organized armies and controlled the land: they ruled well and left their imprint on the area in many ways; for example, their system of hedgerows marking the boundaries of the fields still exists to this day. The language of the Angles and Danes mingled and formed the basic dialect of the East Midlands, still spoken in the region.
Another area of influence was the way in which municipal government was carried out. At regular intervals the local leaders held a meeting, called a Thing, or Witan; they usually gathered in an open field by a large ash tree, or an oak; this is why these trees have such great significance in Nordic mythology and appear in names of many places. At the Witan matters concerning the development and growth of the community were discussed, but legal affairs were also dealt with and justice, swiftly and justly was meted out. It was this code of laws, used by the Danes at that time, which gave the name Danelaw to the whole area.
It was here the Industrial Revolution mainly had its beginnings with the inventions in the weaving industry, the steam engine, railways and the improvement of livestock.
[D.A.H.]