Anglo-Saxon Saturdays: Geol

In my previous post, I introduced my new series on the Anglo-Saxon world of England in the Early Middle Ages by discussing the word hwæt and what it can tell us about the nature of the Anglo-Saxon oral storytelling culture. This week, I'd like to share about the word:

Geol

Yay-ol ("ol" like in "bowl")


The word geol (sometimes spelled geohol) comes from the word gal, which meant "light" or "merry," and it once refered to the two midwinter months of December and January. This time was filled with various feasts and festivals celebrated by the Pre-Christian Anglo-Saxons. For example, December 25 was called Modranect (Mother's Night) and was celebrated as the beginning of the new year. Many of these festivals had to do with fertility (in winter, a time of infertility) and the Germanic god and goddess twins Freyr and Freyja may have been involved.

Once Christianity dominated the culture and Christmas replaced the pagan winter holidays by the 7th century AD, geol's meaning narrowed to reference the 12-day Feast of the Nativity, which began the day after Christmas Day (December 25) and ended on January 6, Epiphany, or the day when the coming of the Magi was celebrated. Later, use of the word geol narrowed even further to simply refer to Christmas Day, and was eventually replaced by the word "Christmas" itself. (Later on, the German version of the word, Yuletide, was imported into English again and still refers to the midwinter and/or Christmas season today.)

As a side note, there is no evidence that the Yule log tradition was celebrated in Anglo-Saxon England, though historian Henry Bourne theorized such. It is more likely that this particular Christmas-time tradition was imported to England in the Early Modern period, from the Germanic area of mainland Europe.

God Geol! (Good Yule!)



Selected Sources:
A Compendious Anglo-Saxon and English Dictionary, by Rev. Joseph Bosworth, Forgotten Books 2012, Originally Published 1848.
"Yule (n.)," Online Etymology Dictonary.

Anglo-Saxon Saturdays: Hwæt!

I'm starting a new series! There's a medieval culture and society that was extremely influential on modern speakers of the English language, and on Western Civilization in general: the Anglo-Saxons. These were the rulers and dwellers of Angle-Land (England) throughout the first half of the middle ages, and they spoke a language called Anglo-Saxon, also known as Old English.* So in this series, I'll share little tidbits of interesting slices of Anglo-Saxon culture, often illustrated and centered around a particular word from the Anglo-Saxon language.

And the first word is....

Hwæt!

Hwhat, ("a" like in "pat")

This word is probably best known as the first word of the Anglo-Saxon epic, Beowulf. It is often translated as "Lo!" or "Hear!" or something of that nature, but a direct translation into Modern English is really rather impossible. The term carries more meaning than a single MnE** word could convey, though Lo! Is probably the closest, albeit most archaic, possibility.

Hwæt! was a typical opening for a long story-poem such as Beowulf in Anglo-Saxon culture. It was the poet-performer's way of signaling to his audience, "Hey! Listen up! I'm about to tell a story in an authoritative voice that's not my own!" Meaning that the performer had the authority, or experience and knowledge, to tell the following story and he was not speaking in his own, everyday voice, but the voice of poetic and historical authority.

This is a good example of the Composition-in-Performance nature of Anglo-Saxon poetry that is almost completely foreign to the modern reader. This means that the extant versions of poems such as Beowulf that we have in written form were merely one version of a story that would have changed a little bit (or possibly a lot) each time it was retold. They were not memorized word-for-word, but instead the poet-performer (called a scop in Old English) would use the known story as a sort of roadmap or guide for his story, and add in details, stock filler phrases, and references to other stories or characters from his extensive repertoire to complete the alliterative scheme or meter, and show off his skill and knowledge.


The Anglo-Saxon culture had many facets and many fascinating stories to tell, so check back again next Saturday for the next peek into their rich literary and societal legacy!


*"Old English" is not the language of Shakespeare. Believe it or not, that version of English is actually called Early Modern English, and the language of Chaucer was the intermediate between Modern and Old English, aptly named, Middle English (which was an unparalled hybridization of Norman-French and Old English).

**MnE is an abbreviation for "Modern English."

Erst

I wanted to start off by explaining the purpose of this blog, and as Erst (or ǣrest in Old English) is Middle English for "at the start," I thought it would be an appropriate title for my first post. The word can be found in the Prelude to the Anglo-Saxon epic poem, Beowulf:

first page of Beowulf

Oft Scyld the Scefing from squadroned foes,
from many a tribe, the mead-bench tore,
awing the earls. Since erst he lay
friendless, a foundling, fate repaid him:
for he waxed under the welkin, in wealth he throve,
till before him the folk, both far and near,
who house by the whale-path, heard his mandate,
gave him gifts: a good king he!

But, as awesome as Beowulf is, this post is about my blog. So let's get on with the explanation!


The name Annales Historiae means "Annals of History" and comes from the Latin titles of two Medieval books, the Annales Cambriae ('Annals of Wales') and the Historia Brittonum ('Hisotry of the Britons'). The Annales Cambriae was written no later than the 10th century AD at Saint David's, in Dyfed, Wales. It focuses on events in Welsh history, but also tells of Ireland, Cornwall, England, and Scotland. It is connected with Arthurian Legend, as it lists three battles pertaining to the story of King Arthur (which I will cover in a later post). The Historia Brittonum was composed around 830 AD and attributed to the Welsh monk named Nennius. It tells the history of the Brittonic people and is the earliest known work to name King Arthur and treat him as a real historical figure, extensively discussing his exploits (which I will also cover in a later post).

And, for a little bit about me, I just love history! I have loved studying history for as long as I can remember and I am now in the process of earning a degree in Medieval Studies. I am specifically interested in the history of the British Islands (and Northern Europe) from the Roman occupation through about the thirteen or fourteen hundreds, but I will gladly study other Ancient and Medieval subjects. I absolutely love a good tale of Robin Hood or King Arthur. I also seem to be drawn to historical conspiracy theories, so prepare to have your preconceived ideas about history blown away! There will be nothing boring or useless about what I share here. The ocean of history is overflowing with incredible adventure and I want to splash just a little bit of that awesomeness in your direction.

So, what do you think? What do you want to read about? Comment to let me know, and I hope you enjoy the stories which shall soon spew from the Annales Historiae!