998th Ashingdon Memorial

The Ethnic English movement has come on leaps and bounds over the last decade, and with it events such as Battle and Stamford Bridge have grown in prominence. In Essex however where the local population remains largely ignorant of our history and heritage, there remains very little activity despite it being one of the most heavily populated areas in England.

One of the most important battles in our Anglo-Saxon past was fought in Essex, though most would not likely know anything about it. At Ashingdon, Edmund 'Ironside' fought the Danish King Canute and lost in a terrible defeat.

Eadric Streona, England's greatest traitor, led away the English men under his command mid-battle when he saw that Canute's forces were beginning to struggle. In what was likely a pre-arranged agreement between Eadric and Canute, he sold England out for a place at Canute's council. It did not do him much good however, for within the year he would be executed under Canute's orders for his treacherous nature.

Speaking from a Wodenist perspective, all of our actions (or in-actions) can affect a vast tapestry of wyrd beyond which we can even possibly hope to comprehend. To use a more modern analogy that those rooted in popular culture may grasp, it is the butterfly effect. It is this knowledge of cause and effect that spurred our ancestors on to always consider doing the heroic deed. By striving to be great and to do what we feel is the correct course of action, even if it means standing alone, is to live forever in the physical world through those deeds. 

The Battle of Ashingdon then, from the English perspective was almost like someone had cut a huge hole in the English people's web of wyrd. The ability to pursue our own destiny has been stifled ever since that fateful day in 1016, and although most would attribute that loss of liberty with 1066, without the fateful events at Ashingdon, there may never have been a battle of Hastings. Without Eadric's betrayal, our history as a people may have been completely different, and so we must all take this as a lesson always to consider folk before all else, and the rightful loyalties that you have to that folk.

When Canute effectively broke the house of Wessex, there was constant feuding over who was the rightful King of England for decades. Long story short, it was the culmination of this feud that saw Harold Godwinson in 1066 (himself Son of Canute's sister-in-law) facing 

Harald Hardrada's Danish army in the North and William the Conqueror's Army in the South within a matter of a few weeks.

The church which now stands on the battle site. 

Last Saturday I thought I would remedy the lack of local remembrance of this battle, and place a memorial of sorts at the site of battle.

Before I begin, it should be noted that there could be two possible locations of the battle. The most favoured site is the village now known as Ashingdon near Rochford, although there is a chance that it may well have been Ashdon near Saffron Walden. 

Whilst some may take the view that holding memorials whilst the battle site is still debated, I on the other hand think that simply holding it, even if it is in the wrong place, is better than it going unnoticed.

Information board, flowers and candle left in memory of the men
who died at Ashingdon.

A few days before I had informed the local news paper, the Evening Echo to meet me at the site which since 1020 has been a church yard, and got there early in the morning to set out the white wyrm flags and information board.

I placed some flowers and a candle with the information board facing east towards the rising sun. Whilst I set out some of the flags, a small man who was clearly a history buff looked about at the flags and the board which I had set out and we spoke for a while about the battle. It seems he was on some form of historical pilgrimage as I was.

The photographer from the local paper turned up, took some photos, but unfortunately for whatever reason those photos never ended up being published. 

Whilst on the face of it, this may have all seemed a bit of waste of time, I believe this is just the very beginning. The local Parish is likely to have some form of event in 2016 celebrating the 1000th anniversary, and the English community can press some larger presence at Ashingdon in 2015, perhaps we will have some form of influence on the way in which the 2016 event plays out.

We can only hope, but if we can do the right thing and persevere, the web of wyrd with weave in the way we wish it to.

Winterfylleþ

It's getting to that time of year once more, past the equinox and into the darker times. This time of year to our ancestors was a very holy time, and it's relevance still echoes today in more modern life, although we may not always see it.

Winterfylleþ was our Anglo-Saxon ancestors word for 'winterfinding'. As you may gather from the timing of this post, it occurred each year in what is now the month of October and it traditionally marked the start of the winter period at the October full moon.

This whole month (and the beginning of November) is a time of remembrance and honouring of our ancestors, giving thanks to their lives and memories, and a time to reflect on our own lives.

Lets just take a look at a few modern day continuations of our ancestors beliefs:

You would be right in thinking that Halloween today encompasses these themes, but from my Heathen perspective the Halloween that we see today is quite an affront to the original in-depth meaning. Halloween today is more of an amalgamation of European ancestor tribute with Latin American influence in there for good measure. Halloween's re-discovering in the last few decades is nothing more than an American import to the rest of the World, and it's simply there to sell novelties and sweets.

When you really think about it, todays consumer-based attitude to all religious festivals is bad enough, but the Halloween period happens in my opinion to be the worst of all. The idea of profiteering off of a festival that is meant to be for remembering loved ones who have passed on just seems wrong to me.

The Christian church also took the Halloween period and incorporated it into the church calendar all across Europe. All Souls Day in England is not considered a major festival, but essentially it is simply a Christian version of the older Pagan festivals that had preceded it.

In the UK of course we have Guy Fawkes night, when a 'Guy' (an effigy of Guy Fawkes) is symbolically burnt upon a bonfire. Officially this is meant to commemorate the thwarting of the 5th of November bomb plot on Parliament, however it doesn't take a genius to realise the timing of this is far too coincidental. Bear in mind that at the time of the bomb plot, there was a serious puritan ideology within Government that even outlawed some aspects of Christmas celebration (which may explain the bomb plot in the first place.) Parliament in 1605 in the aftermath designated the "Observance of 5th November Act 1605," and from then on bonfires were burnt to celebrate the death of a terror suspect. Seems daft to think that this wasn't simply a case of changing the meaning of an already existing custom though.

Finally, we have remembrance day every year in Commonwealth countries where we remember our fallen soldiers during the wars. Whilst the date set for remembrance day could be entirely coincidental, it is pretty strange how it coincides so well with the themes for the time of year. As such, many heathens today celebrate the 'Feast of the Einherjar', around about the time that remembrance day is observed.

Winterfinding Blot



Lantern and the full October moon rising behind.

So on the night of the full October moon, the sky was clear and although quite cool, was a perfect setting for a woodland blot by my lonesome.

I headed down to a small woodland that acts like my own personal hearth with nothing more than a candle lantern for light and a bottle of decent dark ale. Walking down the single track lane in the dark, holding out a lantern with a jumper hood up, I couldn't help find the funny side when a passing cyclist seemed rather bemused (scared) of what he was seeing.

Easing my way into the woods over a ditch with nothing more than a candle to find my way was a little tricky, and with some stumbling about tripping over leaf litter and bits of branch, I finally made my way to the foot of the largest tree in the small wood. The tree incidentally is that of a great old Oak, surrounded by Horse Chestnut.

Falling over my words at first, I eventually gave thanks and honoured the ancestors, thanked the Gods for blessings that I currently have in my own personal life, and made commitments to my own family in front of the Gods and my ancestors. The beer came out and was again offered to the Ancestors and the Gods.

Thereafter, I sat quietly for a while, wondering whether anyone up there would have a message for me in return. A minute or so later, sitting in the peace and quiet, my eyes now adjusted to the moonlight seeping through the browning foliage above, I caught glimpse of something bright moving at speed through the woods. It was as bright as a torch, and roughly the size of a Ping-Pong ball. Something had sent a message after all. I took it to be either a land Wight or perhaps the spirit of someone who had come to give me re-assurances, but whoever or whatever it was, it was certainly good timing. Satisfied I returned home.

Wilcuma

Welcome to Jötnarjäger!

This is just a quick explanation of who I am and what I'll be writing about, so I won't go on too long. Now I'm sure the articles going into the future will be more than enough to give you an explanation into what sort of person I am and what I'm interested in, but for the moment, there aren't any articles to gauge, so this is just a fill in for now.

Quite clearly, my real name is not Jæßun, but if you have half a brain you can probably work out what my first name actually is. There will invariably be folk out there who seem distrusting of anyone who doesn't use their real name for blogging or personal correspondence over the internet, but it is for good reason that I use an alias.

I am what the "progressive" left wingers would call a far-right extremist. I don't agree with the world that our un-elected social engineers are busy building behind our backs, and that makes people like me a threat to their system. When people, such as myself, begin to grow a thick skin to accusations that we are racist or a fascist for sticking up for traditional values, the only solution they have left is to start ruining lives. Many a man or woman has had their career destroyed because they dared to speak their mind, many even have served prison sentences. I can deal with that. However myself and my significant other are set to start a family very soon, and I cannot risk losing children because of a real fascist nanny-state.

I can't tell exactly what my articles will consist of, but keep in mind that I'm an English Nationalist who follows the Germanic/Norse Gods and also has an interest in geo-politics and science. I enjoy the outdoors, camping, survival stuff and hiking are all good, and I enjoy airsoft when I get the time to do it too. History is also one of my favourite topics, as is topics of a more esoteric nature. 

I'm looking to fund-raise and support the English community going into the future, and well I'm just a bit of an odd-job when it comes to activism too which will no doubt lessen in frequency as time gets taken up by family.

Most of all, I'm writing because I have a passion for writing and exchanging ideas, so if you have any comments on any of my posts please feel free to write one below.

(For anyone wondering, Jötnarjäger is a fake word made up of the Danish word for Jotunn, and the German word for hunter.)