Heathen and mythological elements in English
place-names
(Written 1999; minor update: 24 August 2014)
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Colour Key:
blue
= current Modern English place-names;
dark red
= first recorded or earlier spellings
of English place-names;
green
= names or words in Old English (OE),
Old High German (OHG) and Old Norse (ON) or cognate terms;
purple
= Modern German, Dutch or Scandinavian
names or words
Heathen
cults do not appear to have
been evenly distributed across England, but instead roll like a tide
from the
south-east northwards keeping more or less to the centre of the
country, until
they reach the north-midlands. Heathen place-name elements are rarer
north of
the Humber or in East Anglia. Place-names can be an invaluable resource
for gleaning
information about our pre-Christian past, which is very sparsely
represented in
the extant documentary sources or archaeological excavations. Margaret
Gelling
[see sources below] argues that some heathen place-names survived the
conversion because they were located in inaccessible areas and a number
of
heathen sanctuaries or bastions of heathendom may have survived for
decades.
Therefore names indicating them became seen as abnormal and something
out of
the ordinary and quite possibly explains why some survived. The
persecution of
pagans by Christians would also have had the effect of pushing pagan
worshippers and their sites into remoter places, which presumably
ensured their
longevity. A certain amount of natural conservatism in place-naming and
place-name
adoption must also play a role, cf. our Celtic-derived place-names and
elements
in England. However, care has to be taken when interpreting a reference
to a
pre-Christian deity in a place-name as indicative of former veneration
of the
named deity in that location. Some such place-names, particularly those
compounded with “grove” or “shrine” may well denote cultic importance,
but
others, such as those relating to topographical features (e.g. Wansdyke,
Roseberry
Topping, Grims Dyke etc.)
might well refer to nothing more
than size and impressiveness of the natural features. These cautionary
comments
apply in equal measure to most, if not all, the place-names discussed
in these
two articles.
As
can been seen from the examples
cited below (of which the great majority find agreement among
scholars), most
place-names indicating pre-Christian worship or else belief in
supranormal
beings still extant are to be found outside the Danelaw, i.e. in what
was Saxon
held Dark-Ages and early medieval England. The settlement of the Danes
and
Norsemen in England probably had little effect in terms of adding to
the number
of heathen place-names since they quickly became Christian and merged
with
their Saxon neighbours (although no satisfactory explanation has been
given to
explain the lack of Anglian
theophoric place-names from the Danelaw). However, where the Danes and
Norsemen
did establish heathen sanctuaries, these may have left their legacies
in
Scandinavian England's toponymic nomenclature because these sites would
no
doubt have been considered remarkable and worthy of distinction by the
Christian majority (even though this attention was negative). In the
south of
England it is known, for example, that heathendom still survived in
Kent as
late as the 660s and in Wessex the 640s and later. Therefore there had
been a
century or more for heathen associated place-names to take root and
become
firmly established in these areas.
It
is possible that some pagan
place-names were more likely to endure when paganism had become
exceptional
than when it was normal social practice. I.e. most people were by then
Christian and it is not safe to assume that a pagan place-name denotes
a very
early settlement.
There
is a notable absence of pagan
place-names in the north-east and East Anglia. Possible reasons why may
be:
-
lethargy
in these areas of popular
heathenism
-
changes
in nomenclature due to the
Danish settlements
-
obliteration
by particularly zealous
Christian kings.
The
names most closely associated with
paganism can be divided into two broad groups: 1) gods and 2) shrines
(e.g. weoh,
hearg
etc.). These form two discrete groups, thus there is no English
equivalent of Odense
(Óðinn’s ví),
a common type of name in Scandinavia.
Our
place-names in England reveal to us the most popular gods among the
pagan
Saxons and locate many former heathen sanctuary sites. These
place-names lie
with the region south of an imaginary line between Stafford to Ipswich
and east
of another such line from Stafford to Weymouth. Theophoric names and
others
associated with heathenism must by their nature be early and some will
date
from just after the Migration Period itself. They belong to early
settled
areas, the majority being in the south and east of England and are
often on
hills, in groves, close to pagan cemeteries or the most ancient strata
of
English villages. Those place-names that still survive to inform of the
pre-Christian past must have been in widespread and popular use for a
long time
before the conversion in order to have survived, as well as often being
somewhat inaccessible, as Gelling has suggested [see above].
Archaeological
studies conducted in this country and elsewhere (such as Scandinavia),
combined
with the little that can be gleaned from documentary sources, leads to
the
conclusion that on occasions churches now stand on sites that were once
pagan
shrines, but this situation hardly seems to have been common. Although
we know
a great deal about Anglo-Saxon burial customs, archaeology has told us
almost
nothing about the pagan Saxons' cultic practices or sanctuaries.
Place-names
provide a valuable source of information (which still needs to be
evaluated
very carefully). The most recent general work on theophoric place-names
in
England has been done by Gelling (1987 in the booklist) and in this she
earmarks some 43 toponyms as being fairly certain, with some
reservations. This
study is important because it tempers some of the earlier enthusiastic
excesses
on this theme by the likes of Stenton, Ekwall and Dickins.
The
most common second element of
English theophoric toponyms is –leah, whether
associated with a shrine or a god
(14 in all according to Gelling). This would have had the meaning
“sacred
grove”, cf. the common ON lundr.
1) Current place-names:
The
Anglo-Saxon parallel to Óðinn was Woden,
whose name is remembered in Wednesday
as well as several place-names
(however we simply do not know if the Anglo-Saxons viewed the god in
the same
way as he is represented in Icelandic sources, written down some 600
years
later. This comment applies to all comparisons that can be made between
English
and Norse gods). Woden
is only recorded as a god-name, therefore it is safe to assume a direct
reference to him in place-names which have the name as a first element.
Wansdyke
(Somer., Wilts.) “Woden's dyke” (903: Wodens dîc), Wednesbury
(Staffs.) “Woden's
fortification” (1086: Wadnesberie;
OE *wodnes
beorg), Wednesfield
(Staffs.) “Woden's open land” (996: Wodnesfeld,
directly corresponding to WN *Óðinsakr),
Woodnesborough
(Kent) “Woden's hill” (1086: Wansberge or Gollesberge
(with Norman
substitution of W
to G,
cf. German Godesberg
from earlier Wodnesberg))
from *wodnes
beorg was probably a tumulus associated with
worship of the god;
1100s.: Wodnesbeorge).
Roseberry
Topping (NYorks.) was recorded in 1119 as Othenesberg
i.e. “Odin's hill”
and the form of the name suggests Scandinavian rather than Saxon
origin. The
present name may have developed from the ancient one, with the initial
R-
having migrated across from the preposition under. Less
certain is Wenslow
(Beds.) “Woden's mound?”
(1086: Weneslai;
1169: Wodenslawe;
OE *wodnes
hlæw).
If it has been correctly interpreted as a Woden- name,
then it would correspond directly
in meaning to WN *Óðinshaugr.
This and other examples involving (burial) mounds
may suggest that the Anglo-Saxons, just as the Norsemen, looked upon Woden
as god of the dead. Wensley
(Derbys.) “Woden's glade” (1086: Wodnesleie)
has a more substantial parallel in West Norse *Óðinslundr,
since the former
example from Bedfordshire is in an area of the country far less exposed
to
Norse or Danish influence and much evidence suggests that OE hlæw
was often applied to natural hills and artificial mounds not involving
burial. Wenslow
Hundred
(Beds) is also a name of the same origin. Claims that ON Óðinn can be
found in Onesacre
(Yorks.) “Odin's open land?” (1086: Anesacre) and Onesmoor
(Yorks.) “Odin's heath?”
are almost certainly wrong. All early forms for both place-names point
to an ON
personal-name Án,
which is known from medieval Norse sources elsewhere. Wormshill (Kent)
(1232: Wodnesell,
1242: Wernesholl)
is rejected by Gelling as having a non-conclusive early spelling.
Grim
was another name for Woden, and
the Norsemen used the name in the same way for Óðinn - Old
Norse Grimr.
It was used when Woden was travelling incognito, and the Anglo-Saxons
clearly
associated him with some of the massive earthworks in the south and
west of the
country. Even in the Danelaw because of the Anglo-Norse parallels in
the use of
this name for Woden/Óðinn,
an earthwork in Grim-
will probably allude to this god. As this pseudonym for Woden is found
in some place-names
in the west of the country, it has been assumed that the name survived
into the
Christian period as an active element (now becoming a name for the
Devil),
since these names are too late to have been coined during the heathen
period.
For names in Grim-
we have: Grims
Ditch (Berks., Cambs., Herts., Middlesex, Notts.
(2), Oxon. (2),
Surrey (2) and Wilts. (3) – one of these last ones called grimes dic
in 956) as well as in
West Yorks, Grims
Dyke (Hants., Oxon.) Gryme's Dyke
(Essex - note that only two
place-names involving Woden are known
from Essex [both lost - see section
2 below] because unlike other Anglo-Saxon royal dynasties, the East
Saxon royal
house traced its origins back to Seaxnot (a
Saxon god) rather than Woden)
and Grims
Dike
(Hants., WYorks.) which all derive from OE *Grimes dîc
(recorded first 956 AD). A Grims Bank
“Woden's earthwork” occurs in Berkshire and a Grimsbury
“fortification attributed
to Woden” (1086: Grimberie)
is known from Oxon. The burh may have
referred to an earthwork. Woden's Dyke
(Hants.) was known in 1272 as Grimesdich,
confirmation of the belief that (at
least in some cases) Grim must
denote Woden
- a fact still recognised in
the late 13th century. Grim’s Hill in
the bounds of Hawling (Gloucs.) is
identified with a hill crowned by a fort. Also possibly containing Grim
are the
Neolithic flint mines Grimes Graves (Norfolk)
and a Grimspound
on Dartmoor (Devon). As with names in Thur- etc., care
has to be taken not to confuse
this nickname for Woden with the
many
personal names incorporating this name as an element or else
stand-alone within
both the Danelaw and Saxon dominated England. The possibilities are
perhaps
further complicated by OE grîma “ghost,
spectre”.
There
are twice as many Grim-names
as Woden-names
and therefore it is doubtful whether all the Grim-names had Woden
in mind. Some may be later and be a pseudonym for the Devil, cf. Devil’s Ditch. Furthermore, many Grim
names will go back to a personal name, e.g. Grimsby.
And
so we move onto Thunor
(OE Þûnor
(cf. WN Þórr)),
the god of thunder, whose
name appears for certain only in Saxon and Jutish areas (suggesting he
was
little known among the Angles). His name including all extant forms is
mainly
found compounded with –lêah. We find
him in: Thunderfield
(Surrey) “Thunor's
plain” (880: Þunresfeld,
has parallels in WN *Þórsakr, *Þórsvin
which are characteristic of eastern
Scandinavia and reflects a role of Thunor
as a fertility god), Thunderley Hall
(Essex) “hall at Thunor's
clearing” (1086: Tunresleam),
Thundersley
(Essex) “Thunor's clearing” (1086: Thunreslea), Thursley
(Surrey) recalls the just-mentioned Thundersley
being a mere syncopated version of it (1292/1296: Thoresle), Thundridge
(Herts.) “Thunor's ridge” (1086: Tonrinch –
Gelling (1961) considers the spelling non-conclusive), Thurstable
(Essex) “Thunor's
pillar” (1066-87: Thurstapell;
OE stapoll
“pillar, column” – disputed by Gelling
as a name in ME Thur).
Tusmore
(Oxon.) is disputed by Gelling (1086: Toresmere).
There is a Thunderlow
Hundred in Essex Þûnor + hlæw “Thunor’s
mound”. As far as the former Danelaw and Norse settled regions of
England are
concerned, all names in Thor- or Thur-
look certain to derive from the personal
names Thor,
Thur,
which were very much in fashion in these areas for several centuries
(and even
adopted in numbers by their Anglo-Saxon neighbours).
Tiw
the Norse and Germanic god of war (OE Tîw; cf. ON Týr)
is less common and it is possible that by
the time some of the later places were named, his cult was already old.
He
appears in our word Tuesday and the
place-names: Tuesley
(Surrey) “Tiw's clearing” (1086: Tiwesle), Tuesnoad
(Kent) “Tiw's piece of woodland”, Tysoe
(Warwicks.) “spur of land dedicated to the war-god Tíw” (1086: Tiheshoche;
OE *Tîges
hôh).
This is near a site of a hill-carved horse where the Anglo-Saxons won a
victory
in battle. A place-name found in Hertfordshire, Tewin (944/6: Tiwingum)
may possibly denote
“the people of Tîwa” i.e. those who venerated Tîw, but this
explanation is
disputed. Toponyms involving the OE patronymic suffix -ing usually
refer to a clan-leader
or some natural feature of the landscape and so “followers of (the
chief) Tiwa”
is more likely.
Freefolk
(Hants.) “Frig's people” (1086: Frigefolc)
possibly names the mother of the gods Frig
(OE Frîg).
The same may be found in Froyle (Hants.)
“Frig's hill” (1086: Froli;
probably OE *frêohyll)
and Frobury
(Hants.) “Frig's hill” (1185: Frolebiri)
once probably also OE *frêohyll.
Worthy of mention are also Fridaythorpe (E.
Yorks.) probably OE *Frigedægesþorp
“the village of Frig's day” and Fretherne
(Gloucs.) possibly “Frig's thorn-bush”
(1086: Fridorne).
However, more recent scholarship has thrown considerable doubt on all
these
putative Frig names. It seems
unlikely that the Hants. names with their persistent -o-
spellings can derive from Frîg and more
reasonably can be said to derive
from freo
“free”. There are no OE spellings for them. Fridaythorpe may
well be derived from an unusual
but secular personal name and Fretherne, it
has been argued, derives from OE frioðu “peace,
refuge”, possibly by extension a meeting-place (thorn-trees were often
landmarks). The current weight of critical opinion now disfavours
association
with the goddess Frig in these
place-names.
Similarly
dubious are those names which
have been supposed to contain evidence that the Anglo-Saxons venerated Balder, ie. Baldersby
(Yorks.) (1086: Baldrebi),
Balderstone
(Lancs.) (1323: Baldreston),
Balderton
(Notts.) (1086: Baldretune),
as well as two names recorded in Anglo-Saxon times, Bealderslêah
and Bealderesbeorg.
As far as I know there is no evidence whatever that the pagan Saxons
even knew
of the deity who in later Norse sources is called Baldr. It is
much more likely that
these place-names, including the vanished ones, involve the not
uncommon OE personal
name B(e)aldhere
(we would expect to find a genitive singular form of Baldrs- to be
able to even
consider entertaining the possibility of the Old Norse god here).
OE
god
“god, God” hardly appears in English
place-names and there is only one example which seems reasonably
certain, while
a couple of others remain a possibility. Compare that with the
situation in
Denmark (Gud-)
or Iceland (Goð(a)-)
for example [see Scandinavian
section] and in England this term is conspicuous by its absence. The
instance
where OE god
seems likely is Gadshill
(2 instances from Kent) “god's hill” (one of the Kent examples will be
represented in 973: Godeshylle),
where it is possible than an
earlier heathen name took on Christian connotations. Ekwall regards the
near identical
Godshill
in Wight (although probably not the one in Hants.) as meaning the same
as the
Kent example above (1100s: Godeshella;
1270: Godeshull).
Mills, on the other
hand, entertains the possibility of god being
behind Godshill
in Hants. (1230: Godshull)
and Reaney cites the Sussex place-name Godshill Farm as
containing OE god
(1315:
Godeshulle,
but this would more reasonably be “the hill of a man called God (or
Gode)”). No
other toponyms I know of are thought to likely contain this element in
a heathen
context. Godstow
in Oxon. for example, can instantly be dismissed since -stow (OE stôw)
is only found with the
meaning “holy place” in later Christian contexts. Many other
place-names in God-
can
be easily explained as compounding the OE personal-names God or Gôda,
initimate or shortened forms
of compound names such as Godric or Godwine
etc. On the other hand, it seems more
reasonable to entertain the idea of OE god being
associated with very small localities
or nature-names rather than with habitations and more major settlements
(cf.
the Danish Gudensø,
Gudenå,
Gudbjerg
or Icelandic Goðhóll,
Goðafoss
and Goðafjall).
Reaney cites Godsfield
(Hants.) “open land of a deity?”, Godswell Grove
(Wilts.) “divine well in a grove?”
(but early form of 1189 Godeswell
tends to suggest a personal-name), Godsell Farm
(Wilts.) “god's hill?” (1225: Godeshulle -
“God’s hill” but may be the
personal-name Goda
(Godus
is recorded in 1086 for Wilts.) cf. Godshill also in
Wilts.), Gadsey
Brook (Beds.) “brook with an
island consecrated to a god?” (1239: Godeshoslade -
probably God,
a pet form of a name in God-),
and from the plural god(en)a
he derives two instances of Godley
(i) Ches., Macclesfield Hundred, 1220: Goddaley,
1285/6: Godele,
Godelay,
Godelee,
Godelei,
1364: Godley;
ii) Surrey, Godley Hundred, 1060: Goddelie,
1086: Godelie)
“grove of the gods?”
(the EPNS volumes however read God(d)a
+ lêah
i.e. “God(d)a’s clearing” in both cases)
and Godney
(Somer.) “island of the gods?” (971: Godeneia; cf.
parallels in Norwegian Torsøy,
Swedish Onsjö,
Icelandic Helgey
etc.). The putative cases from Hants., Wilts. and Beds. are from early
(and
therefore originally heathen) settled areas and this rules out any
associations
with Christianity in these names. That all of the above place-names can
derive
from an Old English personal-name seems very unlikely and we have to
reckon on
at least some of them compounding OE god. Reaney
suggests a possible instance of OE gyden
“goddess” in a Westbourne hundred-name recorded only once in 1086 as Ghidenetroi,
conceivably OE *gydenne-trêow
“tree of the goddess” but if true, it does not have a parallel
elsewhere, as
far as I know [however, see the lost Frig
names in section 2 below].
OE
ês,
ôs
“god” has been postulated for Easole (Kent)
(824: æt
Oesewalum)
being compounded with walu “ridge”. Eisey
(Wilts) (775-8: Eseg)
being ês
+ ieg
“island” and Easewrithe
Hundred (Sussex) being wrið “thicket”
may also be such names. It may as
Gelling points out only be chance that more pagan place-names in walu,
ieg
or wrið
are not extant.
Three
words show the strength that the
heathen cults once had in England, because taken as a whole they occur
quite
frequently: ealh
“shrine” (cf. Gothic alhs “shrine”,
OSwed. al(a) and OE ealgian
“protect, defend”), hearg
or hearh
“hill sanctuary, sacred grove, temple” (cf. ODan. *hargh, ON hörgr,
OSwed. *hargher
and
OHG
harug (the
last of these meaning “sacred grove”) < Gmic. *haruga) and weoh, wîg
“idol; shrine, sacred spot” (cf. ON vé, ODan. wî,
OSax. wih
these all meant “temple, holy place” <
Gmic. *wîha).
An often cited example of the first of these is Alkham in Kent
(c.1100: Ealhham;
OE *Ealh-hâm)
“homestead by a heathen shrine”. But concerning ealh, literary
evidence does not
point in OE so clearly to a pagan building as do hearg and weoh.
There
are (as noted above) no cases of hearg
or weoh
compounded with a heathen god probably because the sanctuaries would
have
contained images of or altars to several
gods.
Hearg
often comes out as modern Harrow.
E.g.: Harrow-on-the-Hill
(Middlesex) (825: æt Hearge) an
early church was probably built over the hearg
there, Harrowden
(Beds.) (1086: Herghetone)
and (Great) Harrowden
(Northants.) (1086: Hargedone) are
probably OE *hearga-dûn
“hill with heathen shrines”. In Birdbrook (Essex) a prominent hill
called Harrowdown
is connected with a Harewe in a
1300s document. Also worthy of
mention is Peper
Harrow (Surrey) “shrine of the pipers” (1086: Pipereherge).
Note that all these
sites are on hills. Arrowfield Top
(Worcs) probably contains hearg +
feld
(open land). Philippson claims a Harrowick
(Beds.).
Weoh,
wîg
is a very common element and it is
often compounded with OE dûn “hill” or lêah
“woodland glade, clearing”,
suggesting that favourite spots for this type of shrine were hill-tops
or
forest clearings. Generally speaking, weoh becomes Wee-
and wîg
becomes Wy-
or Wye-.
Those sites which seem reasonably certain
to derive from this element are: Wye (Kent) “holy
site, shrine” (839: an Uuiæ),
Willey
(Surrey)
(909: weo
lêage), Wheely Down, Weyhill
(Hants) (c.1270: La Wou),
Weedon
Beck
(Northants.) (1086: Wedone), Weedon
(Bucks.) “shrine hill” (944: Weodûn),
Weoley
(Worcs.) (1264: Welegh;
OE *wêo-lêah)
“shrine near a woodland glade”, Weeley (Essex)
(1000s: Willgelea;
OE *wêo-lêah
“shrine near a woodland glade”), Weeford
(Staffs.) (1086:
Weforde),
Wyham
(Lincs.) (1086:
Widun;
OE wêoum,
the dative plural of OE wêoh). Gelling,
however, questions (p.101)
whether Weoley,
Weyhill
and Weeford
[above] can really derive from weoh. On the
other hand she adds her own
suggestions to the canon of weoh-wîg
names: Wysall
(Notts.) “hill spur of a heathen shrine”
(1086: Wisoc;
OE *wîg-hôh)
and possibly also Wyfordby
(Leics.) “shrine near a settlement by a ford” (1086: Wivordebie;
OE *wîgford).
An adjective weoh
“holy” is postulated for Wembury
(Devon), and two lost names Weondune
(where the battle of Brunanburh took
place) and Weonfelda
(Berks). Gelling discounts Weeley and also
claims Whyly
(Sussex) for which only late
spellings are extant, is not a pagan name. Wing (Bucks) and
Wingfield
(Suffolk) may contain ingas-group
names, but this seems open to doubt as no unequivocal group names in weoh
or
hearg
have yet been found.
Hoff
Lunn (Westmorland)
is probably of Scandinavian
origin and indicates the presence of a heathen shrine there (Old Norse hof),
as the word hardly occurs in native English place-names (1363: Hoffelund).
The second element ON -lundr “grove”
makes
this interpretation even more
likely.
Three
terms - two from OE and one from
ON - are found denoting “barrow, tumulus” in the English landscape.
These are
OE (West Saxon) beorg
(Anglian berg),
hlæw
or hlâw
and ON haugr.
However care must be taken before deciding for certain that a toponym
incorporating one of these elements denotes a former burial mound
because all
three terms are also commonly used for natural hills in the landscape.
Investigations will need to be made into local historical documents for
evidence of folk tradition of a burial mound(s) in the area and
occasionally
archaeological excavations have proved conclusive. The nature of the
mound
itself (i.e. does it have a hollow in its top (a possible indication of
earlier
grave-robbing)? Where does it lie in relation to the parish church?)
may gave
clues to its earlier functions if it can be proven to be man-made. By
no means
all artificial mounds were used as burial sites and may have had other
uses,
such as meeting-places, landmarks or surveillance points.
Of
the three terms, beorg
is more common in the south of the country and haugr, as we
would expect, is
known from those regions of northern and eastern England settled by
Danes and Norsemen.
If a mound is no longer visible, still greater care is needed with
suspected
instances of beorg,
since this word was often confused in Middle English spellings with the
similar
sounding burh
“fortress, town” or its dative form byrig and
sometimes even with bearu
“grove”. Ideally, all beorg names
would have become -barrow
or -berrow
in modern spellings but sometimes the word has been preserved as -borough
or -bury,
the usual products of burh and byrig
respectively. In the Midlands and north of
the country it has often proved impossible to distinguish between the
Anglian
form berg
and the ON element berg “hill”
(the meanings do not overlap
exactly). Despite these problems of interpretation (and determining the
function of the barrow if it still exists) many man-made mounds are
known to
exist and some have certainly been the sites of heathen burials. The
rather
common Barrow
Hill has undoubtedly been a tumulus in many
cases. Two sites from
Gloucestershire, Longborough
(1086: Langeberge)
and Lambrough
(notice their meanings have been confused by medieval scribes) both
mean “long
barrow” and derive from OE *langan beorge.
Two mounds whose names indicate
that they have either been looted or were at some point containing
grave-goods
are Brokenborough
(Wilts.) “broken barrow” (956: Brokene beregge;
OE *brocenan
beorge) and Idle Barrow
(Berks.) “empty, useless barrow” (Gelling 1988, p. 132). There are far
too many
instances of the word found either alone, or especially, compounded, to
cite
them here. However we can note that the word is found in the simplex
form (both
singular and plural) e.g. Barras (Suffolk)
shows the plural (OE beorgas)
while Barrow
(Somer.) (1232: la
Bergh), Barugh (NYorks.)
(1086: Berch),
Burgh
(Surrey) (1086: Berge)
and Berrow
(Somer.) (973: at
Burgh) all represent the singular. As a second
element in compounds beorg, berg
is even more frequent. For example: Greenborough
(Bucks., Kent) “green hill, mound”, Hillborough
(Kent) “holy mound, hill” (OE hâlig), Stoborough
(Somer.) “hill with stones” (1086: Stanberge;
OE stân)
or Wolborough
(Devon) “wolves' hill” (1086: Ulveberie; OE *wulfa-beorg).
As suggested in the
paragraph on hlæw
below, obviously artificial hills or mounds containing personal-names
have a
much higher probability of having associations with pre-Christian
belief, for
example: Baltonsborough
(Somer.) “Bealdhûn's mound” (744: Balteresberghe),
Symondsbury
(Dorset) “Sigemund's
mound” (1086: Simondesberge)
or Inkberrow
(Worcs.) “Inta's mounds” (789: Intanbeorgas).
Nevertheless, great care must be
exercised before concluding that even a man-made barrow from the
Anglo-Saxon
period unquestionably had a role to play in heathen worship or beliefs.
For a
more extensive and varied list of toponyms containing beorg see for
example Smith,
Vol.I, pp.29-30.
OE
hlæw
as a rule gives the modern form -lew,
while hlâw
gives -low
(-law
in northern England). Sometimes both forms are replaced by -ley
(see
for example Dragley
below). This word is more widespread than beorg but in
the north of the country is often
used to denote “hill” (Gelling 1988, p. 134). The term is well known
from OE
literature in connection with a dragon sitting upon a mound and
guarding a pile
of treasure [for which, see below], as well as serving to denote
“burial
mound”. Indeed, the number of place-names in -hlæw is one of
the distinctive
features of the Derbyshire landscape and from this county Kenneth
Cameron
claims that of the c.70 instances which have early recorded forms, 30+
are
unquestionably burial mounds. He further calculates that about 1 in 6
of the
early forms with -hlæw compound
an OE monothematic personal name - a situation
which strongly connects the mounds to a preservation and commemoration
function. As such this element is known in its simplex form in the
singular Lew
(Oxon. - a tumulus is in the vicinity of the village - 984: Hlæwe)
and the plural Lewes
(Sussex) “(site of the burial) mounds” - (961: Læwas; OE *Hlæwas).
Of the many compounding
OE personal names, Taplow (Bucks.)
and Offlow
(Staffs.) are especially
interesting. At the site of the first of these excavations have
uncovered
adorned buckles and grave-goods, probably belonging to Tæppa (1086: Thapeslau),
the man whom it seems
was important enough to merit his own burial mound (probably a 7th
century
chieftain). The second of these “Offa's mound” although not directly
connected
to the great Offa of Mercia himself (whom it may well pre-date), is in
the
right region and of antiquity enough to be in some way connected to the
Merican
royal house, if only by name. Slightly more mundane instances are Bledlow
(Bucks.) “*Bledda's mound” (900s: Bleddanhlæw), Thriplow
(Cambs.) “*Tryppa's mound”
(1086: Trepeslau),
Publow
(Somer.) “Pubba's mound” (1219: Pubelawe) and Osmotherley
(Lancs.) “Ásmundr's
mound” (1246: Asemunderlawe).
Hlæw
or hlâw
also appear compounded with plant/tree names, e.g. Bartlow (Cambs.)
“birch-mound”
(1232: Berkelawe;
OE beorc),
adjectives e.g. Greenlow
(Lancs.) “green mound”, animals e.g. Foxlow Field
(Cambs.) “fox-hill” (1235: Flaxlewe),
words denoting customs or belief e.g. Wardlow
(Derbys.) “look-out hill” (1258: Wardelawe;
OE weard
“watch”) see also Drakelow below,
and meeting-places e.g. Mutlow (Ches.)
“hill for meetings”
(1354: Motlowe;
OE *(ge)môt-hlâw).
More examples are cited in Smith, Vol. I, p. 250. As with beorg
above, certain conditions
need to be met regarding derivation of name elements, location and
situation,
age, local history and possible archaeological finds before one can
claim with
any confidence that a particular barrow is likely to have had a
pre-Christian
religious function.
ON
haugr
“mound, hill” is typically preserved in
modern spellings as Howe(-) and must
have come into use after Danes
and Norsemen began to settle down and make their own homes in England
during
the late 800s onwards. It is more difficult to recognise as a
meaningful
element in the cases where it has been syncopated to -a or -o
in modern place-names. Nor is it
always easy to distinguish from OE hôh
“hill-spur”, although if the first element
of a compound incorporating it is a Scandinavian word, haugr has
probably been the
source. As a hundred-name, it often denotes “grave-mound, barrow”
(Ekwall,
p.225). Well-known examples of the simplex form are Howe (Norfolk)
“barrow” (1086: Hou, Howa),
identical Howe
in north Yorkshire (1086: Hou) and Hoon
(Derbys.) “at/by the hill mounds” (1086: Hougen;
ON haugum,
dative plural of haugr).
Compounded forms can vary a great deal in elements they incorporate,
e.g. Clitheroe
(Lancs) “song-thrush mound” (1102: Cliderhou; ON *kliðra-haugr),
Candleshoe
(Lincs) “*Calunôþ's mound” (1086: Calnodeshou), Haverstoe
(Lincs) “Hávarðr's mound”
(1086: Hawardeshou;
ON *Hávarðar-haugr),
Stanghow
(Yorks.) “mound with a pole” (1272: Stanghou; ON stöng
“pole”), Carlinghow
(WYorks.) “old woman's (or witch's) hill” (1307: Kerlinghowe;
ON kerling
“hag, old woman”), Dringhoe
(EYorks.) “hill of the brave young men”
(1086: Dringolme;
ON drengr),
Birka
(WYorks.) “birch-hill” (ON birka) or Hackinsall
(Lancs) “Hacun's mound” (1190: Hacunesho).
As in the case of the two words for “mound, hill” discussed above,
incorporation of a personal-name increases greatly the likelihood that
a
particular mound was used as a heathen grave-mound. It is known for
certain
that many haugar
were used simply as look-out points or as meeting-places for various
kinds of
local administrative assemblies.
ON
lundr
“(sacred) grove” is found in England,
although as we would expect, it never gained the frequency it has in
Sweden,
for example. Nevertheless there is no question of its importation into
England
as a toponymic element in Danish and Norse settled areas, competing in
some
contexts with native lêah. Whether
it ever carried the meaning
“sacred grove”, as in many sites in Scandinavia, is much harder to
ascertain.
But bearing in mind the Scandinavian settlers were probably, by and
large,
quickly converted to Christianity and nowhere is lundr found
with a theophoric name
(cf. the Swedish Närlunda,
Fröslunda,
Torslunda
or Danish Torslunde,
Tislum),
the likelihood of this element to denote “sacred grove” greatly
diminishes.
However when found compounded with a Scandinavian personal-name as a
first
element, the possibility that such a site at some point had some kind
of ritual
function could be entertained. Where it is a matter of wapentakes,
important meeting-places for things
“assemblies” (ON þing, ODan. thing)
in Scandinavian England, we might be
dealing with sites which were considered important and functioned as
sacred
groves. Thus we find Aveland (Lincs.)
“Ave's grove” and Framland
(Leics.) “Fráni's grove”. Lundr is quite
often confused and becomes -land as
a final element in compounds, but it is also found as a simplex in such
forms
as Lound
(Lincs., Notts., Suffolk) “grove” (1086: Lund or Lunda),
Lount,
Lunt
(Lancs. - 1251: Lund) and
sometimes Lund
itself (Lancs. (1268: le Lund),
EYorks. (1086: Lont),
WYorks.). It is most
frequent in various kinds of compounds, including those with
personal-names: Birklands
(Bassetlaw Wapentake, Notts.) “grove with birch-trees” (1251: Birkelunde,
1252: Birkelound,
1325: Birkeland;
ON birki
+ lundr),
Timberland
(Lincs.) “grove where timber is obtained” (1086: Timberlunt), Kirkland
(Lancs.) “church grove”
(1230: Kirkelund),
Owlands
(NYorks.) “wolf-grove” (medieval Ulvelundes -
gen. pl. of ON úlfr),
Natland
(Westmorland) “Nate's grove” (1175: Natalund), Snelland
(Lincs.) “Snjallr's grove” (1086: Sneleslunt),
Swanland
(EYorks.) “Svanr or Sveinn's grove” (1189: Suenelund).
The lack of theophoric names
combined with lundr,
its frequent association with nature-names, animal-names and
personal-names, as
well as apparently early confusion with OE and ON land (which is
easy to
understand), add up to the impression that a meaning of “sacred grove”
was
uncommon, probably early and often superseded by other later meanings.
Popular
beliefs survived for much
longer than heathen gods, both among the English and Dano-Norse
immigrants.
Belief in supranormal beings can be seen in: Shincliffe (Co.
Durham) (1085: Scinneclif)
from OE scinna
“ghost, spectre” and which was presumably believed to haunt this cliff.
There
is also a Skinburness
(Cumbria) “headland near a stronghold haunted by a ghost” (1175: Skyneburg,
1298: Skynburneyse;
OE scinna
+ burh
+ later addition of ON nes) - the
sound and orthographical change of sc- to sk-
is
due to Scandinavian influence. Another word used by the Anglo-Saxons to
denote
ghosts or apparitions was grîma. Such is
believed to be the first element
in Grimley
(Worcs.) “woodland glade of the spectre” (851: Grimanlêa) and
with some
corruption Greenhill
(Worcs.) “hill of the spectre” (816: Grimeshyll).
In this last example however, we
may simply be dealing with occurences of the personal names Grima
or Grim.
Fairly certain instances are Grimescar
(Morley Wapentake, WYorks.) probably
“spectre’s skerry” (1771: Grimscar; OE grîma
+ ON sker
“skerry”, but alternatively
the first element may be ON grímr “masked
person” (EPNS); cf. the Óðinsheiti Grímr) and Grimeshaws
(Upper Claro Wapentake,
WYorks.) “goblin mound” (1543: Grymhowe,
1846: Grimeshaw;
OE grîma
+
ON haugr
“mound”). Further claimants for this element are Greenacre (Kent)
with OE æcer
“cultivated land” and Grimshaw
(Lancs.) “wood haunted by a spectre” (OE
sceaga).
The first of these is unlikely, since features like hills, woods, holes
and
pits are associated with haunting rather than open land. Shobrooke
(Devon) “goblin-brook”
(938: Sceocabroc),
Shuckton
(Derbys.) “goblin's farmstead” (1330: Shuktone), Shuckburgh
(Warwicks.) “goblin-hill” (1086: Socheberge),
Shucknall
(Hereford) “goblin-hill” (1377: Shokenhulle), Shocklach
(Ches.) “bog haunted by a
spectre” (1086: Socheliche;
OE *læcc
“bog, stream”), Shugden
Head (Morley Wapentake, WYorks.) “demon haunted
valley” (1488: Shugdenhall,
1492: Shukden;
OE denu
“valley”), as well as Shucklow Warren
(Bucks.) (OE scucca
+ hlâw)
and Shuckborough,
Shugborough (both
Staffs.), all contain the element OE scucca, sceocca
“goblin” (or possibly “demon”).
However, Shacklow
(Derbys.) probably derives from the OE personal name Scæcca.
An
ON word which is uncommon in the
place-names of Scandinavian England is skyrsi, meaning
“spectre, phantom”. It is
however thought to appear in Skirse Gill (i)
East Staincliffe Wapentake
(Rylstone), WYorks. (1840: Skirsgill Bridge)
and ii) Ewcross Wapentake,
WYorks. (1690: Skirsgill)
which are both “spectre’s gorge” (ON skyrsi + gil
“ravine, gorge”)), in addition to Skirsgill
(West Staincliffe Wapentake, WYorks. (1580: Skirskell
“spectre’s spring”; ON skyrsi
+ kelda
“spring, well”)).
An
OE word related in meaning, pûca
“goblin, sprite” (usually preserved as Puck-, Pook-)
is known to appear in Puckeridge
(Herts.) “stream of the
goblin” (1314: Pokerich;
OE *pûca-ric),
Purbrook
(Hants.) “brook haunted by a demon” (1248: Pukebrok).
Smith (p.74) supplies further
instances (including some from the derivative pûcel) but
based upon their modern
forms none of these seem likely to me (Puxton (Worcs.)
for example has been proven not
to derive from pûca).
Further examples are cited by Gelling, e.g. Puck Pit, Puck Pits
and Puckshole
all names of small localities in
Gloucestershire. From Sussex alone, according to Reaney, we find Pookhill (Alciston
Hundred, 1350: Poukehale,
1457: Pokehale
“goblin nook” from pûca + healh
“nook, corner of land”), Pookreed (Shiplake
Hundred, probably from personal-name Henry
Pouke, see EPNS VII, pt. 2), Poppets
(Dumpford Hundred, 1350: Poukeput,
1386: Pokeputte
“goblin haunted hollow”; OE pûca + pyt “pit,
hollow”), Puckscroft
(Steyning Hundred, in
1614 both Powkhill
and Powcrofts
are found; probably pûca + hyll
originally), Puckstye
Farm
(Hartfield Hundred, 1287: Pukestie,
1327: Powkestie
“goblin-path” from OE pûca + stîg;
there is a steep hill there (EPNS)), as
well as Puckshot
Farm
(Godalming Hundred, Surrey) “hut visited by a goblin” (1332: Pokshudde,
1377: Pokeshedde,
1483: Pukkyshud,
1596: Puckshott;
OE pûca
+ scydd
“shed,
hut”), Popple
Drove (Cambs.), Poppetts Hill
(Oxon.), Puckwell
(Wilts.) and Puck
Shipton
(Wilts.) “cow-shed haunted by a goblin” (1303: Puckeshepene).
Field-names in
Wiltshire compounding pûca are also
found e.g. Pookscroft,
Puck
Hay and Pock Ridge. From
Hampshire we have
local names Purbrook
(1248: Pukebrok),
Pugdells
(1263: Pukedelle)
and from Cambridgeshire Pock Field (1190:
Pokefelde).
From the north of
England can be added Pugneys (Agbrigg
Wapentake, WYorks.) “goblin’s
nook of land” (1310: Pukenhale,
1323: Pokenhale,
1699: Pugnall,
1709: Pignall,
1845: Pugnals;
OE pûca
+ halh
“nook of land” (EPNS)). The derivative and diminutive pûcel “little
goblin” is known
from Putshole
(Hartland, Devon; 1301: Puchelahole), Puxley
in Northants. (1086: Pocheslei,
1161: Pocheslea;
OE pûcel
+ lêah
“glade”) and 2 instances of Pucklechurch
(Gloucs. (950: æt
Puclan cyrican, 1167: Pokelekirche),
and a Wilts. field-name) “goblin haunted church”, as well as a lost
name
compounding OE pûcel
+ cirice
+ mædwe
[see section 2 below]. Mills derives the Pucklechurch in
Gloucestershire from an OE
hypothetical name *Pûcela but this
is a weaker argument I think
than the derivation from pûcel, since to
find an otherwise unrecorded OE
name compounded three times only with “church” would be unlikely
indeed. Two
dubious instances from Surrey are Pookpit
(Loxfield Camden Hundred) and Pook’s Wood
(Hawksborough Hundred) which probably contain the personal names le Poke and (John) Pooke respectively
(see EPNS VII, pt. 2).
Worth
noting here is Elveden
(Suffolk) “elf-haunted valley?” (1086: Eluedena; OE *elfadenu?)
but this derivation is
still disputed, the alternative being OE elfitu “swan”
(Mills leaves the question open
but Ekwall is certain it is *elfetdenu “swan
valley”). Smith (p.149) offers Alveden
(Lancs.) “elf-haunted valley” (potentially the same derivation as Elveden
above), Elva
Hill (Cumbria) “elves' hill” (which may in fact
be another instance
of Elf
hall
(Cumberland, 1631: Elfe-hole
“elf’s hole” (EPNS)) and an
adjectival offshoot Elvenfen
(Lancs.) “fen associated with elves?”.
While derivation from an hypocoristic OE personal-name Ælfa is
possible in at least some
of these names, OE elf seems to be
behind most of them. Finally, OE
dwerg
“dwarf” very probably appears in two northern English place-names, Dwarriden
(Upper Strafforth Wapentake, WYorks.) “dwarf's valley” (1290: Dueridene,
1335: Dwerydene,
1362: Dwarriden; OE dwerg + denu)
and Dwerryhouse
(Lancs.).
The
early Anglo-Saxons also believed in
giants, a common
word for
which was þyrs
(but many place-names in the Scandinavian settled counties with this
element
will stem from ON þurs - also
“giant” - where it is often compounded with words
for ravine or fen). This belief is attested by Thursford
(Norfolk) “giant's-ford”
(1086: Tureforde;
OE *þyrsford),
Tusmore
(Oxon.) “lake haunted by a giant or demon” (1086: Toresmere; OE *þyrs-mere
- but see section on Thor above!), Thursden
(Lancs.) “giant's valley” (1324: Thirsedeneheved),
Thirst
House (a cave in Derbyshire;
1417: Tursthous),
Thruss
Pits
(Notts.) and Thirlspott
(Cumb.) “giant's deep hole” (1616: Thirspott,
1622: Thrispott,
1774: Threspat;
even the late forms point to *þyrspott, with pott
an unmutated version of pytt;
there is a Thirlmere
closeby, i.e. OE *þyrs-mere “lake
visited by a giant” (EPNS)). OE þyrs is
also to be found in a number of now lost toponyms [see section 2
below]. The ON
word þurs
is to be found in Thrushgill
(Lancs.) “giant's ravine” (1631: Thursgill,
ON *þurs-gil),
Thrispin
Head
(Upper Claro Wapentake, WYorks.) originally “giant’s fen” (medieval Thursefen,
1576: Thrisfen,
1769: Thrisfen-Head;
ON þurs
+ OE fenn
“fen, marsh”) and Thursgill
(Ewcross Wapentake, WYorks.) “giant’s ravine”
(1220-50: Thursegilemos;
ON þurs
+ gil
+ OE mos
“bog”) as well as in several now lost place-names [see section 2]. The
ON
personal name Þûr
may be in some of the above names. An OE synonym ent Reaney
claims to be preserved
in Andyke
“giant's ditch?” in Barton Stacey, Hants. (1200s: Auntediche)
but on the form of
the early spelling, it looks by no means certain. He also supplies a
lost
place-name containing this word [see section 2]. ON troll “troll,
ogre, sub-human
being” is thought to appear in Trollers Gill
(East Staincliffe Wapentake,
WYorks.) originally “the troll’s arse” (1817: Trowlers Gill;
ON troll
+
OE ears
“arse” + ON gil
“ravine”; the name refers to a large bank in the ravine (EPNS)).
An
Old English word for witch,
hægtesse
(cf. German Hexe,
Norwegian hekse),
is also attested, in the places of Hascombe
(Surrey) (1232: Hescumb) and Hescombe
(Somer.) (1086: Hascecomba)
- both mean “the witch's valley” (OE cumb “valley,
hollow”). A further possible
instance is Hessenford
(Cornwall) “witch's ford?” but as yet I have no independent
corroboration of
this. Concerning Carlinghow
(WYorks.) “old woman's hill” (1307: Kerlinghowe;
ON kerling
“hag, old woman”) and the
identical in meaning Carling Howe
(NYorks.) (medieval Kerlinghou),
it is by no means unreasonable to conceive of them having an original
meaning
of “witch's hill”.
A
word which probably originally meant “evil
wizard” in ON but later shifted meaning to “devil, demon” is skratti
(glossed in modern Icelandic as “galdrakarl, seiðmaður;
púki”,
cf. OE pûca)
i.e. retaining both
meanings, OHG scrato
“demon”, (cf. also Norwegian skratt
“cackling, loud laughter” - original
demonic associations seem likely), while on the pre-Christian Glavendrup Stone, from Odense amt, Fyn,
Denmark, we find a curse carved: at rita : sa : uarþi : is : stain :
thansi : ailti :
iþa.... aft : annan : traki “May he become a “ræte” who damages this stone or drags it
(away to stand) in memory
of another”. Niels Åge Nielsen says ræte has a
parallel in ON skratti
“wizard, magician”, and
probably carries unmanly implications and homosexuality. ræte could have
a cognate in skratti
or seiðsskratti
and the later due to sound changes, although the precise relationship ræte
may have had with skratti seems
to have been obscured). The term is thought to
be evidenced in: Scarthing
Moor, Scratta
(Norfolk), Scratta
Wood (Worksop, Notts.), Scrathawe
(Northants.), Scrathowes
(Allerton Wapentake,
NYorks.; 1388: Scrathowe),
Scratters
(EYorks.; 1200s: Scrathou)
“Devil's mound”, as well as a lost name [see section 2 below]. The word
also
survives in the northern dialect phrase Awd
Scrat i.e. “The Devil”.
Finally,
as indicated earlier, the
concept of fire-breathing, flying dragons
was very real to the Anglo-Saxon mind: king and peasant alike. It not
only
features in Beowulf but also in the
Riddles, while The
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle entry for 793 is a clear statement of
this aspect of folk-belief: ...ond wæron ge seowene fyrene dracan on
þam lyfte fleogende.
If not flying through the air, dragons were to be found in barrows or
caves. It
comes as no surprise then to find it in several English place-names:
the
well-attested Drakelow
(Beds., Derbys., Worcs.) “dragon's mound” (942 (Derbys.): æt
dracan
hlawen; OE dracan hlâw)
- no doubt it was thought to guard over some treasure like the dragon
in Bêowulf, in
addition to Drakedale (Ryedale Wapentake,
NYorks., 1376: Drakedalehevid;
the first element is draca and the
second, heafod
“head”), Drakehill
(Godalming Hundred, Surrey) “dragon hill” (1318: Drakehull,
1521: Drakhulle,
now called St.
Catherines Hill), Drake Hill
(Upper Strafforth Wapentake, WYorks.)
a field-name originally meaning “dragon’s mound” (1335: Drakehowe; OE draca
+
ON haugr
“mound”), Drakeholes
(Bassetlaw Wapentake, Notts., 1695: Drake-Holes,
1716: Drake
hole) apparently “hollows
inhabited by a dragon”, Drakenage Farm
(Warwicks., 1183: Drakenes, Drakenech,
1232: Drakenech,
1387: Draken
egge) apparently “dragon’s edge” (OE draca
+ ecg;
the spot is at end of a long,
low hill (EPNS)), Drake North
(Wilts., 940-6: to þes dracenhorde
i.e. “dragon's
gold-hoard”, 1518: Drakenworthe,
1539: Drakenorth Coppice) and Drake Pits
Wood
in Lower Claro Wapentake, WYorks. (c.1180: Drakepot
“dragon hole”, from OE draca +
pott
“hole, hollow”). Gelling (1988, p. 142) cites a more localised example
in Dragley
in Ulverton (Lancs.) “dragon's mound” (c.1270 Drakelow),
with the same elements
as Drakelow
above. A field-name in Surrey Dragberry (1384:
Drakeberghe)
appears to have
meant “dragon's mound” (OE draca + beorg).
Regarding a partial synonym in OE, wrym
“reptile, serpent; dragon”, Ekwall considers that only one of several
modern
place-names in Worm-
may denote “dragon”, while the context or spellings of the rest imply
“reptiles”. This is Worminster
(Somer.) “dragon's hill?” (946: Wormester;
OE *wyrmes-torr).
It is much easier to be certain of the draca- names.
The dragon's role apart from
vexing humans was to watch over its gold-hoard. According to Gelling
(1988,
p.142) this function is preserved in several place-names: Hurdlow
(Derbys.) “hoard-mound”
(1244: Hordlawe;
OE *hord-hlæw),
Hordley
(Shrops.) “hoard-glade” (1086: Hordelei; OE *hordlêah),
Goldsworth
(Woking Hundred, Surrey)
ostensibly meaning “enclosure associated with gold” (but originally
meaning
“the gold hoard or treasure”, 1229: la Goldhorde,
1294: ate
Goldhorde, 1548: Goldhourd,
1603: Goldword)
and Goldhard
in Tandridge Hundred, Surrey “gold-hoard or buried treasure” (OE goldhord).
Gollard
Farm
in Amport, Hants., originally meant “gold-hoard or buried treasure”
(1248: la
Goldhord,
1327: atte
Goldhord, 1548: Goldhurd (EPNS)).
The fact that these locations
record the presence of a gold-hoard may suggest that the treasure was
discovered and taken sometime during the Anglo-Saxon period but may
also
indicate the existence of a burial-mound which is no longer visible.
Presumably
related to the dragon, since
the Anglo-Saxons appear to have conceived of it as being in serpentine
form, is
OE nicor
“water monster”. One current toponym appears to compound this element, Nicker Wood
in Upper Strafforth Wapentake, WYorks. The name is first recorded in
1841 but
apparently compounds OE nicor + wudu
“wood” (EPNS), while several lost names
with the element nicor
are recorded in section 2.
Concerning
the number of so-called animal-head names
postulated by
Professor Dickins, Gelling (1961) considers there to be too many of
them
compared to other pagan place-names for them all to be pagan-related.
Two quite
possible ones are Manshead (Beds.)
and Swinehead
(Gloucs).
Philippson
notes the veneration of water
in Anglo-Saxon England, there are many holy wells dotted around the
landscape: to
halgan wyllan
(800, Gloucs), of
halgan wylle (854, Devon), on halig wylle (970,
Suffolk), on
halgan wylle
(979, Somerset). There are frequent place-names with these elements: Holywell
(Oxon., Derbys., Lincs., Kent, Somerset), Halliwell
(Lancs) and Hallikeld
(Yorks. – ON keld
“spring”) just to name a few.
2) Lost place-names:
Many
have been recorded in
medieval and earlier
sources: Wodnes
beorg (Hants. and at Alton Prior, Wilts. – now
called “Adam’s
Grave”, possibly an attempt to Christianize a site with obstinately
pagan
associations) “Woden's barrow” (burial mounds which correspond directly
to
1119: Othensberg,
WN *Óðinsberg
- see Scandinavian section, although this is a natural hill and not a
tumulus),
Wodnes
denu
(in West Overton, Wilts.) “Woden's valley”, Woddes geat
(Wilts.) – these last two Woden
names are on the line of the ancient earthwork there; on wodnesdene
(939, Wilts.), Wodnes
dene
(Hants., recorded 939) “Woden's valley”, ofer wodnes dic
(903, Wilts.), on
wodnes dic
(961, Somerset), Wodnesfeld
(Widdington in Essex, Gloucs.) “Woden's open land”, æt wodnes beorge
(ASC, 715),Wednysfeld
(Theydon, Essex) “Woden's open land” (but late spelling from 1446 makes
this
doubtful), Wodneslawe
(Beds.) “Woden's mound”, Grymesdich
(Herts.) “Woden's dyke”, Grimesdich
(Middlesex) “Woden's dyke”, Þunreslêa
(Southants.) “Thunor's glade” (has a
parallel in WN *Þórslundr),
Thunres
lêa
(in the bounds of Droxford, Hants.), Thunreslêa
(939; in the bounds of Millbrook,
Hants.) “Thunor's glade”, Thunores hlæw (near
Manston, Kent) “Thunor's mound”, on þunres lêa
(Hants.) “Thunor's glade”, on þunorslege
(in the bounds of Barnhorne, Sussex) “Thunor's grove”, to ðunres
felda
(854; in the bounds of Hardenhuish, Wilts.)
“Thunor's open land”, on þunres feld
(947, Surrey), besides there are several examples of æt Ðunresfelda,
Tislêa
(Hants.) “Tiw's glade” is disputed (recorded 1023), in Tyes mere
(Worcs.) “Tiw's lake”
(recorded 849), Godeshoslade
(1239), Cusan
weoh (in Farnham, Herts.) “Cusa's shrine”, Weondune
(where the battle of
Brunanburh took place) and Weonfelda
(Berks), ealhflêot
(in the bounds of
Graveney, Kent) “river by a shrine”, æt hæðnum herge
(921) “at the heathen shrines”,
Nikerpoll
(Sussex, Wilts.), Nycharpool
(Lincs.) “water-monster pool” (OE nicor
“water-monster”), Nickerwells
(Lincs.), Nikresaker
(Cambs.) “cultivated land associated
with a water-monster”, Nikersmadwe
(Essex) “meadow associated with a
water-monster”, þyrs
pyt (Warwicks.) “giant's pit”, þrispit (1250
from Cambs.) “giant's pit”, þyrspit
(872-4 from Worcs.) “giant's pit”, Therspettes
(1256 from Northumb.) “giants'
pits?”, Thursput
(1280 from Notts.) “giant's pit”, Thurspyttys
(1491 from Derbys.) “giant's pit”, innon þone þyrs
pyt (872, Warwicks), Thirsqueche
(1292 from Notts.) “giant's
thicket”, Thruslane
(York) “giant's narrow road” (ON þurs), Thursmare
(EYorks.) “giant's marsh” (ON þurs + marr
“marsh, fen”), Thursgill
(1384 from Cumbria) “giant's ravine” (OE þyrs + gil),
Thirsley
Holme a field-name in Morley
Wapentake, WYorks., was recorded in 1596 (OE þyrs “giant” +
OE lêah
“glade” + ON holmr
“islet”), Thirslande
and Thyrspec
are two lost field-names from Lower Strafforth Wapentake, WYorks., both
recorded in 1268, they compound OE þyrs “giant”
with either OE land
“open land” or pêac
“knoll, hill” (EPNS), Thurescloch
(1267), Thyrspoone
(1568 from Cumbria), Thrushhowe
(1578 from Cumbria) “giant's mound” (ON þurs + haugr
“mound”), Thirsepol
(c.1275 from Notts.) “giant's
pool” (OE þyrs
+ pôl),
Thruspole
(1565 from Notts.) “giant's pool” (ON þurs + OE pôl),
Thrushpulle
(1577 from Notts.) “giant's pool”
(ON þurs
+ OE pôl), to ænta dic
(1026) “giant's ditch” (OE ent “giant”), on entan
hlêw (940) “giant’s
mound”, Dwarfholes
(Warwicks.) from OE dwerg “dwarf”, scuccan
hlau (Bucks.) “spectre's
mound” (OE scucca
+ hlæw),
Shuckelawe
(c.1215 from Oxon.) “spectre's mound” (OE scucca + hlæw),
Shokeforth-brooke
(Morley Wapentake, WYorks.)
“spectre’s ford”, recorded in 1412-14 (OE scucca + ford),
Scratgate
(Cumbria) “demon's (or warlock's)
street” (ON skratti
+ gata),
Poukstrete
(Sussex) “goblin's road”, Poukebrugge
(Oxon.) “bridge haunted by a
goblin”, on
pucan wylle (772) “goblin’s well”, Poculchurchmede
(recorded 1529 in
Wilts.) “church-meadow haunted by a goblin” (OE pûcel), drakenhorde
(940-6 from Wilts.;
now Drake
North)
“dragon-hoard”, Drakenhord
(field-name, recorded c.1230 from Oxon.), Drakestone
(field-name from Oxon.), Drakenhull
(1318 field-name from Artington, Surrey) “dragon-hill”, Drakehov
(Osgoldcross Wapentake,
WYorks.) recorded c.1220 “dragon’s mound” (OE draca + ON haugr
“mound”), Goldwhurd
is a now lost name recorded in 1610 from Tandridge Hundred, Surrey
originally
meaning “gold-hoard or buried treasure” (OE goldhord), Frîgedæges
treow (EYorks.) “day of Frig's tree”
(recorded 1047) and Frîgedægæs east
(EYorks.) “east Frig's-day”
(recorded 1047) [but see the reservations on the Frig
names above]. Thures
lege in Ayston (Rutland) probably
contains an Anglo-Scandinavian personal name.
*Bibliography:
*Credits: Many thanks to Dr
Paul Cavill of the English
Place-Name
Society (based at the University of Nottingham) for his
expert comments,
helpful advice and patient answering of my persistent questions for the
England
section.
© Edward Smith 2011
