u/-Geistzeit

What are your thoughts on the updated Portable Antiquities Scheme database?

One thing I've never seen discussed here is the remarkable Old English poem "The Husband's Message" from the famous Exeter Book (its copying typically dated to the 900s).

This poem is in the voice of a rune-inscribed message stick from husband to wife as a form of long-distance communication and it features a series of Old English runes, apparently to be read as an ideographic puzzle, perhaps reflecting utilization of ideographic sentences as a kind of code.

As noted by scholars like MacLeod and Mees (2006: 55-56), this sounds very much like the many little rune-inscribed message sticks found in Bryggen in Bergen, Norway from the medieval period, some of which are little messages between husband and wife.

More information on both of these extremely interesting items:

* Saltfleetby spindle-whirl: https://www.runesdb.de/find/3918 (Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saltfleetby_spindle-whorl ) — invokes Odin and Heimdallr

* Canterbury charm: https://www.runesdb.de/find/9955 (Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canterbury_charm ) — invokes Thor against a 'thurs lord'

Excerpt:

>But few large ships from this period have been found. One of the best-known early ship burials is at Sutton Hoo in the UK, which has been dated to around 610–635, according to the British Museum. It's an Anglo-Saxon grave.

>"There has been a great deal of debate about the relationship between Sutton Hoo and the later Viking Age ship burials," Grønnesby tells Science Norway.

>This is where Herlaugshaugen becomes important, the researchers argue. A clearer picture is beginning to emerge of how these ship burial traditions spread and how they are connected, according to the Norwegian archaeologist.

Also here's a direct (and clean) link to the April 2026 Antiquity article that this article refers to: https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/antiquity/article/herlaugshaugen-ship-burial-closing-the-gap-between-the-east-anglian-and-scandinavian-ship-burial-traditions/D0300C5E218A904B296286EB52178310

To me, one of the more fascinating elements of contemporary Germanic neopaganism is what seems to be the near total absence of veneration or, in many cases, even mention of the god Baldr.

Those of you here familiar with the Old Norse record know that Baldr is intensely beloved in the Old Norse texts. Quite a lot the mythological material focuses on his murder and for example the intense efforts of his mother, Frigg, to revive him. In fact, he is one of few gods mentioned in the few sources we have on Anglo-Saxon and continental Germanic paganism, and this makes him readily reconstructable as a deity in early Germanic paganism.

How do you think the near total absence of Baldr in contemporary Germanic paganism happened?

Do you think there has been an aversion to the worship of Baldr because contemporary neopagans see him as too analogues to Jesus in Christianity?

Or do you think this is a byproduct of the absence of adaptations of Baldr in, for example, Disney-Marvel properties? (Note too that Baldr does not appear in Wagner's Ring Cycle).

The nigh absence of Baldr in contemporary Germanic neopaganism is especially interesting when placed next to a major contemporary focus on worshipping the god Loki, especially since in Old Norse texts (the only early texts that mention Loki) Loki is responsible for engineering, in as sinister a manner as possible, the death of Baldr, denying his resurrection, and, rather than being beloved by the gods, is bound and tortured by them.

Has this always been the case in contemporary Germanic neopaganism or has ignoring Baldr and worshipping Loki been a development since the 90s or so?

What do you think?

Many of you here will be familiar with Eggers's films, which are typically heavily influenced by folklore. This is the first look at Eggers's upcoming Werwulf.

Today we removed an image from this subreddit that had been posted as a "first look" at the film Werwulf.

However, we can confirm that this is not from the film at all.

As the movie draws closer, it's wise to be on your guard about misinformation and confusion.

And don't worry, lots of promotional material, including trailers, will materialize soon!

URL: https://news.kent.gov.uk/articles/kent-find-suggests-sutton-hoo-type-helmets-could-have-been-made-in-england

Summary: "A rare Anglo-Saxon die stamp discovered near Lynsted, Kent, could change our understanding of where some of Britain’s most iconic archaeological treasures were made."

Edit: I've added this to our list of Anglo-Saxon examples of this motif here: https://www.reddit.com/r/AncientGermanic/comments/1t92hrn/list_of_all_known_birdhorn_helmeted_motif/

Hello, I'd like to moderate r/williammorris. I mod several subreddits, have written on Morris topics a lot, and am a member of the William Morris Society. A mod bot recommended that I post here to take it over. I am not sure what else it wants from me.

Edit: Please note that this is from Cambridgeshire and not Lincolnshire but I can't change the title.

From the entry:

>A cast copper-alloy Early Medieval Pressblech die for making thin, sheet metal, mounts. The die is triangular but with two lugs either side of its wider end. It is now slightly curved and has a perforation at the pointed tip but appears to be complete. Depicted in low relief on the die is a human figure with the head of a wolf. The head and feet are in profile stance, facing left, but the torso is facing front. The warrior wearing a hauberk, or a tunic, its surface covered with cross-hatching suggesting mail. In proportion to the body, both the arms and the angled feet are thinly depicted. The right arm is close to the body with the elbow bent and the hand on the hilt of a sword worn at the waist. In the left hand is a spear, pointing upwards. The wolf-head is worn, but the open mouth, with sharp triangular teeth and a large annular eye are clearly visible. The reverse of the die is plain and rough-cast. The length is 56.2mm, the maximum width is 30.9mm, the thickness is 3.3mm and the weight is 22.93g.

>An account of this important object by Dr Kevin Leahy will be included in the journal Medieval Archaeology vol. XLX 2006.

See comments from other examples of this motif from the Germanic Migration Period.