Its Christmas ….

These old Christmas cards by the Swedish artist Jenny Nyström feature the Tomten and Julbocken (Yule Goat) of Nordic folklore. The little chaps are likely the origins of the Hobs and Brownies in Britain – so kindrid spirits of sorts.

 The Swedish scholar, Viktor Rydberg wrote a poem called ‘Tomten’ in 1881. Here it is recited in Swedish with English subtitles …

As guardians of the home (Hus-tomten) perhaps we should raise a glass to these wee fellas, that they may never be forgot.

Image credits Jenny Nyström   http://jennynystromsbilder.kalmarlansmuseum.se/

The Brimham Noon Stone – Pillar of the Sun

“The noon-day stone, oldest of dials stands,
On a sweet grassy knoll where Druid priests
Might see the varying shadow, and proclaim
The time of day.”
(James Holme, 1835)

  The Noon Stone is a 4 metre high rectangular block of stone standing on a low hill 1/4 of a mile to the south of Brimham Rocks, and 8 miles to the north west of Harrogate.

  Today the rock stands amongst trees planted on the hill side, but in the past it stood alone on the ridge, and formed a conspicuous local landmark.

  The travel writer Thomas Pennant visited the unusual rock formations at Brimham Rocks in the summer of 1777, and wrote …“On my arrival on the summit of the hill, the seat of wonders, my astonishment was unspeakable ; the whole was new to me; a flat covered with stones of forms the most singular, and many of sizes most stupendous.” (Pennant, 1804).

  After describing several of the oddly shaped outcrops in the main group, he noted … “I finally take leave of these wonderous phenomena by saying, that opposite to a weaver’s-house, beneath the crags, is a round small mount, on which is a rectangular natural stone, quite erect, and, at a distance, taken for a tower ; it is about thirteen feet broad, and about three feet thick. The country people call it the Noon-Stone as the meridian is made known to them by the shining of the sun on it.”

Freda of Wensleydale, and the Fairy Well

  The Fairy Well is located in a field on the west side of Harmby village, 1 mile to the south-east of Leyburn in Wensleydale.

  A strong spring emerges on a grassy hillside in the field, with the water flowing into an old metal trough. Tumbled dry-stone walling partly surrounds the trough, while an old Hawthorn tree over hangs the well – a ‘Fairy Thorn’ perhaps ?

Roseberry Topping – Odin vs Saint Oswald

  A previous post noted that the impressive peak of Roseberry Topping seems to have been regarded as a holy hill in the past.

  Anciently known as Othenesberg or Odin’s Hill, this dedication, along with the possible lost shrine altars at Airy Holme, and a nearby placename suggesting a Danelaw Thing gathering location, could point to the hill being one of the main Anglo-Scandinavian religious sites in the region. The hill’s dedication to Odin and the old religion, might also explain the later reference to a hermitage being located on the hill top. Perhaps the past history of the hill warranted the presence and prayers of a holy man, and yet a hermitage could also be seen as providing a continuity of religious practice on the hill.

Return to Elbolton Hill – The burial cave

  A previous post highlighted the Faerie folklore connected with Elbolton Hill, near Grassington in the Yorkshire Dales. The hill is also significant in archaeological terms as it is the location of a Neolithic burial cave. The modern OS maps mark it as Elbolton Cave, but in the past it was called the Knave Knoll Cave. The local Dales accent must have baffled the OS map surveyors in the 1840’s, who recorded it as “Navvy Noddle Hole”.

  A visit in August 2021 found the entrance to the cave just below a limestone outcrop high up on the east side of the hill. Unfortunately there is a 8m vertical drop down into the actual burial cave, which means that today it is only really visited by cavers with climbing gear. This was a little frustrating as the excavation of the cave had revealed a group of rather unique burials, carbon dated to the early Neolithic (3900BC), and so it would have been interesting to look inside the cave.