On a chalk down, in the south of England, a dark figure stands in the shadows, watching; shrouded in a deathly black cloak, his face hidden by a wide brimmed hat, revealing only one wisdom filled eye and his unkempt grey beard. In his hand he carries an ancient spear, carved with strange angular symbols, (Runes). In the distance, two Wolves bay and a pair of Ravens fly across the face of a full moon above him. He watches with interest the small settlement below, then strides past the gallows on that hillside, and merges into the darkness of the night. To any Anglo-Saxon of that period this description could only of been that of Woden.

To our ancestors he was many things; God of the Dead and of the gallows; Lord of the Wild Hunt; God of Wisdom, Magic and Master of the Runes; shaman and shapeshifter; cunning, tricky and devious; and ancestor of the Theign's and many of the Royal Houses of the early Angles, Saxons and Jutes. He is probably the most enigmatic of the old Gods and probably one of the best known aspects of the 'SkyFather' figure in Anglo-Saxon England.We know of Wodens coming to England from many seperate sources, most numerous are place names.

Woden was probably the most widely known of the Anglo-Saxon Gods and the naming of many of Englands old settlements and geographical landmarks are testimonials to this: Wodnesbeorg (Woden's Grave); Wodnesdene (Woden's Valley); Wodesgeat (Woden's gap). All in close proximity to each other in Wiltshire, with Wansdyke (Woden's dyke) close by, indicate a possible cult of Woden in that area; Wednesbury (Woden's earth works) and Wednesfield (Woden's field), in Staffordshire; Wensley (Woden's Grove), Derbyshire; Wodnesfeld and Wedynsfeld (Both translated as Woden's field), in Essex; Wodenslawe (Woden's mound), Bedfordshire; Woodnesborough (Woden's mound), Kent.

There are also place names using Woden's other common name Grim ('Masked one'): Grimsditch, in at least eleven counties, including Berkshire, Cambridgeshire, Cheshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Middlesex, Nottinghamshire, Oxfordshire, Surrey and Wiltshire; the name Grimesworne, occurs in Essex, Herefordshire and Warwickshire; Grimsbury, in Berkshire and Oxfordshire; Grim's Hill, a hillfort in Gloucestshire; and finally Grimspound, a Bronze Age settlement in Devon. The list is continuous. However, one of the most interesting archeological debates in recent times, involving Woden, has been regarding the Long Man of Wilmington, a chalk carving on a hillside in Sussex.

Two archeologists (Mr Christoper Hawkes and Mrs Sonia Chadwick Hawkes) have theorised that the Long Man of Wilmington is a representation of Woden. They base this theory on its similarities with the Finglesham belt buckle. A bronze piece found in an Anglo-Saxon Cemetery during excavation in 1964. The figure on the buckle is in the same pose, and bears a striking resemblance to the chalk carving.

So why were so many ancient features of the English landscape named after him? Was it because he was the most highly revered of the Anglo-Saxon Deities or was it because he was the most widely known? What we do know, to help answer this question, is a statement from the 11th Century Exeter book:

This translates as ' Woden made idols'. It is most likely that it was because of his reputation for roaming the downlands in diguise as 'Grim', that these places were attributed to his presence.

Other evidence for his worship in England comes in written form from the historians of the period. He is often refered to as one of the 'ancestors'of the existing Angle, Saxon and Jutish nobility. The 10th Century chronicler, AEthelweard, records a good example of this:

'Two young men, Hengist and Horsa, had already paid in advance. They were the descendants of Woden, a king of the barbarians. And after his death the pagans, honouring him as a god with respect not fit to be mentioned, offer a sacrifice in order to have victory or be courageous.'

These references to Woden being an ancestor continue, even after the christianisation of England, even though, in many cases they were fictious. It seemed necessary for nobility to prove lineage directly from its patron and Woden is mentioned more than any other god indicating his status as one of the major deities worshipped by the Theigns and Kings of the period.

The Royal Houses of Bernicia, Deira, East Anglia, Lindsey and mercia, Kent, and the Anglo-Saxon Kingdom of Wessex. All trace their genealogies back to him.

The first known reference to Woden is in Tacitus' Germania, where he is recognised as the Roman God Mercury:

' Above all other gods they worship Mercury, and count it no sin, on certain feast-days, to include human victims in the sacrifices offered to him'.

That the Romans should compare Woden to Mercury is hardly surprising, as the points of resemblance between the two Gods are numerous. Both acting as psychopompous, guiding the souls of the dead; both known for their wisdom cunning and trickery; and both having their roots in fertility deities. Their is no doubt that our distant ancestors the Anglo-saxons would have been aware of this similarity, and hence the naming of Wednesday or in Old English "Wodnes-daeg" and the fact it is known in France as Mercredi or "Mercurys day".

At first glance though, the identification of Woden with Mercury may not necessarily be obvious. So what else was the identification based upon? Mercury, the messenger of the Gods, has his true nature shown in the the ancient Pelasgic sculptures, not shown as the young flighty God of the later Romans, but of a bearded middle aged man (similar to Woden) with an eminently large phallus (not unlike the figure on the Dorset chalk downs of Cerne Abbas). This identification of Woden with Mercury is also made much later in the 10th Century verse of Kemble's Solomon and Saturn:

Once there was a man who was mercury called; he was vastly decitful and cunning in his deeds, he loved well to steal and all his lying tricks; the heathens had made him the highest of their gods, and at the crossroads they offered him booty and to the high hills brought him victims to slay. This god was most honoured among all the heathen; his name when translated to Danish is Odinn (Woden).

Although there is mention of human sacifice to Woden by both Tacitus and Kemble, there appears to be no evidence of ritual sacrifice to him in early Anglo-Saxon England. That sacrifice to him took place amongst the continental Germanic tribes, there is no doubt. Plenty of archeological evidence has been found, including the famous 'Tolund man', a well preserved hung corpse, found in 1950 by some Danish peat-cutters. Adam of Bremen records similar sacrificial hangings to the god Odhinn, at the great pagan temple at Uppsala as late as the 10th Century. There are no recorded incidences of similar rites in any of the great Anglo-Saxon works of the period and no similar archeological evidence has been found anywhere in England.

We must deduce from the lack of evidence that ritual sacrifice had gone out of favour with the tribes emigrating into England by the time christianity took hold . The Anglo-Saxons were obviously still aware of these sacrificial rites and Woden continued to be associated with hanging as a capital punishment, and continued to be refered to as the 'Lord of the Gallows'.There is no doubt that the other reason for this title might be the way he is attributed as gaining his wisdom.

Odhinn hanging on Yggdrasil (The Gallows Tree) is well recorded in Snorri Sturlsons Poetic Edda of the 12th Century. The myth being that 'the High One' (Odhinn) hung there for nine days and nine nights, without food or water, and was finally pierced in his side by a spear. As a result of this sacrificial act he obtained the knowledge of the Runes (Mystery) for the exchange of one of his eyes. At first this act seems very similar to the Christian calvary, particularly the piercing in the side with spear, but after close examination, we find a very old rite, similar in many respects to the Amerindian Lakota 'Sun Dance'. In both cases the participants hang from a gallow like construction or 'sacred tree'; both denie their participants food or water for a long period of time; and both involve wounding of the body to inflict pain, and therefore cause trance and a spiritual experience. It is without doubt a Shamanistic rite of very ancient origin. Because of the continued naming of Woden as 'Lord of the Gallows' and 'Master of the Runes' we must deduce this rite was known to the early English.

There are also several other aspects of Woden that show his shamanistic heritage. like his Norse counterpart, Odhinn, he is accompanied by two wolves and two ravens. These are the northern-european equivalent of the Amerindian 'Totem' or 'Power' animal.

They represent deep psychological aspects of this deities personality. There is no mention of these animals names in Anglo-Saxon literature, so we must assume that they had similar names to Odhinn's, these being Geri and Freki (Both names signifying greed) for the wolves; Hugin and Munin (Thought and Rememberance) for the ravens. Wolves have long been associated in the northern-european mind with savage ferocity and it is interesting to note that this deity has two wolves under his control; it is obvious this represents Woden conquering his own savage primeval nature.

It must also be remembered that Wolves had a bad press under christianity and that these names (Geri and Freki) come from a script which may have been heavily influenced by christian ideals. To a people heavily in tune with nature, the wolf may easily have been associated with intelligence, bravery, co-operation and the protection of the family or 'pack'. Looking at Wodens nature as wanderer of the English hillsides, watching and protecting his peoples settlements, it is very likely that this meaning was also attributed to Wodens wolves.

If the wolves represent Wodens co-operative, and instinctive nature, it follows that the ravens represent Wodens control over his mental faculties. The raven has long been associated with deities of death for example, the Irish Celtic Morrigan. This has come about due to the birds nature as a scavenger, particularly around battlefields and gallows. The raven, was called waelceasegas (chooser of the slain) in the Anglo-Saxon poem Exodus. We must assume that the raven was associated with Woden as 'Lord of the Gallows'and relates to his preoccupation with death and his role as psychopompous. As the wolves and the ravens are known to relate to both Woden and Odhinn, they must have originated with these deities Germanic predecessor, Wodenaz.

This deity is mentioned by Tacitus. There is no doubt that he was known of by all the Germanic tribes of Tacitus' period, but may have fulfilled different roles in individual tribes. In many tribes he supplanted Tiwaz as supreme Sky Father and God of War, and in other tribes remained a God of Wisdom and Magic. The etymology of his name is of importance. He may originally of had his roots as a southern German storm giant, known as Wode. An indo-european word in origin, meaning ' Wind' (the latin word 'Ventus' and the sanskrit word 'vata'). Adam of Breman refers to him as late as AD 1200 as: 'Wodan, id est furor'. Translated as: 'Wodan, that is to say fury'.

So we have a God of the wind and of fury. But were the Anglo-Saxons aware of these attributes? There is no doubt that they were, for he is often refered to as the leader of the Wild Hunt. The Hunt combined both aspects of wind and fury in contemporary decriptions of the period, and was hence known as the 'wodenream'. His association with the Wild Hunt is also evidence

to link the Woden of the early Anglo-Saxons with an indo-european deity even far older than Wode, that is Herne, known in latinised form as 'Cernunnos';'the Horned One'.

Woden is often described as riding through the night with his ghostly huntsman, followed by a pack of hellish hounds looking for lost souls. This myth has continued in English folklore for a long period, and reports of people seeing the Wild Hunt have continued right up until recent times. The last report being in 1962, in Berkshire. The Master of the Hunt has undergone some changes during this period, though, the first being Woden turned into the Devil and the most amusing being his transformation into Sir Francis Drake, according to Devonshire folklore! It is interesting to note that no legend about the Wild Hunt exists in contemporary Norse mythology of the period. The Viking Odhinn, who like Woden has his roots in the Germanic Wodenaz, does not appear to have fulfilled this role in Scandinavian myth.

No reference of the Wild Hunt can be traced in Snorri Sturlsons Poetic Edda, So why are there differences in character, between the Saxon Woden and the Norse Odhinn? Many of the changes occurred in Wodenaz, due to the nomadic nature of the tribes. In Germania, Tacitus mentions several tribes, including the Suebi and the Ingaevones.He also mentions their geographical locations, stating that the Ingaevones lived close to the sea and the Suebi further north.We also know that during his period of writing, that competition existed between Tiwaz (Later to become Tiuw) and Wodenaz, as the primary SkyFather figure in the Suebi. This does not appear to be the case with the Ingaevones and their relatives.

It is most likely that as the Suebi moved north many of the aspects of Tiwaz were absorbed by Wodenaz. These tribes eventually became the Norse, with Odhinn being the 'All-Father', and Tyr (The deposed Tiwaz) becoming relegated as a secondary war deity. The descendants of the Ingaevones and their relatives, which included the Saxons, Angles and Jutes, were to move closer to the western coast line. Woden, at this point may have absorbed many of the aspects of the indo-european Horned God from native coastal tribes. Tiuw appears to have continued to maintain his position as supreme SkyFather with some of these tribes and with others, an equal position with Woden. There is also the possibility that many of the Wild Hunt aspects were absorbed by Woden from Celtic tribes after the migration period into Britain. Woden certainly does not appear to be the all encompassing 'All-Father' figure of the Norse, and no reference can be found in the Literature of the period to indicate this role. It is also interesting to note the continued references to Woden as Mercury even in late Anglo-Saxon literature (such as the Kemble reference, noted above). If Woden had been seen as the primary SkyFather he would surely have been seen to correspond with Jupiter. Also no reference can be found to an Anglo-Saxon equivalent of Valhalla (this would appear as 'Waelheall'), so we must assume that Wodens primary role was not as a war god. Brian Branston, in his book 'The lost Gods of England' sums up the differences between Woden and Odhinn:

'The Woden of the Old English never became the warrior-king in golden helmet, exclusively patron of princes and jarls, such as Snorri depicted in his Edda; he was never preoccupied with the problems of organising his battalions of slain into a doomed army to oppose the children of Muspell at the Ragnarok. Instead, the Anglo-Saxon Woden stalked the rolling downland, one-eyed and wise beyond all knowing in cloak and hood when the weather was fine, stopping at the cross-roads to recognise his own dangling from the gallows; but on black and stormy nights he racketed across the sky at the head of his wild hunt of lost and noisy souls'.

Looking at Woden from a modern Wiccan viewpoint, we have a male deity representative of the Element of Air, due to his mercurial aspects. A deity of shamanic practises, including rites of self sacrifice to master the mysteries, particularly Runes; a deity of Runic practise. In short, he is the archetypal 'Wizard', complete with beard, staff (In this case spear) and cloak. He diverges from this aspect when he becomes the more mercurial psychopompous; the Lord of the Gallows and chooser of the slain; cunning and shifty to his enemies, but a watcher and protector of his own people. He is primarily a god of self-knowledge in his shaman aspect; he sacrifices himself to himself to obtain wisdom. He is the Anglo-Saxons deity of initiation, due to his sacrificial and death aspects. A deity who is best worshipped by being emulated, by the Pagan being willing; to give up the more negative aspects of their character; being willing to go through the personal pain that will involve; being willing to 'hang' on ones own personal 'gallows' or 'world tree'.