Looking for the Lost Gods of England by Kathleen Herbert

At the time I purchased this book I was already half way through Hengist by Bryan Evens, and I had decided that it was so good that I ought to pick up some of the other books published by the ‘Anglo-Saxon Books’ company. At the time I was unable to get myself a hardback copy of Brian Branston’s ‘The Lost Gods of England’ for a reasonable price, and so I thought I would get this fifty page book on the same subject. It was of a price and size of which I could introduce myself to Anglo-Saxon Paganism, and thus decide if I wanted to go deeper with larger studies. Subsequent to reading this, I have actually managed to get myself a copy of Brian Branston’s work for the total price of £7, with the only issue being a slightly sun damaged cover. However, the highly recommended book on Anglo-Saxon Paganism by David Wilson still evades me, and is likely to do so for some time with its asking price of £120.

We are first introduced to the books subject matter, and what will and will not be included in the discussion. Kathleen tells how much of Anglo-Saxon Paganism is really just Norse Paganism, with a number of slight name differences, and that those gods and customs will not be discussed at length in her work. What ‘Looking for the Lost Gods of England’ intends to do is to look at what elements of the Pagan tradition were unique to England. Unfortunately what we know about these unique elements is somewhat limited, as the literate people in society were the Christian Priests who looked upon Paganism with a biased view, and furthermore were reluctant to write about Pagan practices at all. Herbert does give a short overview of some of the classic gods in their Anglo names, such as Woden, Thunor, Tiw, Freya and Frey, the latter of which she suggests was of special significance to the English.

Much of what we know about Anglo-Saxon Paganism is through what has been morphed into the Christian religion. We know for example, the Pagan idea of an eye for an eye was a problem which the Church of Rome found impossible to make a dent in rectifying. The idea of ancestral worship was also an idea that persisted through the Anglo-Saxon period, as even the converted kings still claimed descent from Woden; although Alfred the great had his family tree altered so that it also claimed descent from Adam. The main emphasis the English seemed to place on their religious practices was fertility and harvest. Herthus provided both of these blessings, and is said she resided in her sacred grove on an island along with her holy cart which brought a bountiful harvest to the places she chose to visit. There are a great number of traditions that survived the transition to Christianity such as the festival of ‘Samhain’, which was the slaughtering of animals before the winter period so as to lower the maintenance of livestock over the harsh months; this has survived as Halloween. There was also the idea of cleansing the earth, which involved cutting out a square patch of land and taking it to the local shrine to have an antidote of some sorts transferred to the patch before it was returned to the field it came from.  The author suggests it may have even had a Rune inscribed on the underside before it was returned.

As the end of the book drew near the author also touched upon some of mythical elements that had an impact on the religion, such as ‘Elves’ which were described as being beautiful but also deadly, with the ability to seduce men to their deaths. Erik the Wild was such a person said to have been seduced, according to folklore. Erik the Wild was an earl and a resistance fighter during the Norman Conquest, along with his contemporaries Hereward the Wake and Earl Morcar. Like Earl Morcar, Erik simply disappears from the historical records and his name is thus replaced by a French one. However, it is said that the ghost of Eric and his soldiers is seen marching towards the south coast whenever England is being threatened with invasion. Definitely a character I will be looking out for in more detail in the future.