September ushers in the Autumn (or Hærfest, which is very succinct and descriptive, like so much of Old English). The changing of the seasons excites some, depresses others - I must admit, I'm not a fan - and one of the first things that happens in the new school year is the Harvest Festival.
In Anglo-Saxon times, August was Weod-mōnaþ, literally weed month but really perhaps simply "Plant month" (after all, a weed even in modern times is only a plant growing in the 'wrong' place). Bede, the eighth-century monk who gives us so much of our information for this period, said it was the time when weeds grow most abundantly. But this is the time when the flowers tend to bloom, the crops grow and by the end of August/the beginning of September, the harvest is usually in full swing.
In the UK this year it hasn't been the best of summers, with the weather doing unusual things. There's an entry in the Annals of Fulda, composed in East Frankia in the ninth century which records equally unpredictable weather. In Mainz, the sky appeared red for a number of nights and then two clouds, one from the north and one from the south and east fought what was described as a great battle. The land was shaken by two earthquakes and a number of people who were gathering in the harvest were found dead, having died of heat stroke. The chronicle also reports that there were several drownings in the River Rhine.
At this time of year, the hedgerows change and round here it looks set to be a bumper year for blackberries (Old English blackberry = brǣmelberġe. You can see instantly why our alternative word for these is 'bramble'. Imagine that final 'g' as soft, so a 'y' sound, and you get 'brambleberry')
You might find that the teasel (Old English tæsel or wulfescamb) is still in flower, but on the lane by my house, they've finished flowering. This was a photo taken in the last week of August:
Anyone who is familiar with my book, To Be A Queen about Æthelflæd, Lady of the Mercians, will know that in the novel, her family nickname is Teasel, because as a child she used to sit and comb her uncle's beard. That uncle was called Wulf, so 'Wulf's comb' was an apt name.
If you're lucky, you might also spot a weasel (weosule) or a field vole. I can't find an Old English word for vole, but the Anglo-Saxons must have known these creatures, surely? Let me know in the comments if you know differently.
September was known in Anglo-Saxon times as Hālig-mōnaþ "Holy Month" but an alternative is Hærfestmōnað - which is very recognisable as "Harvest Month". Bede described this a month of sacredness. Of course there are many Harvest traditions to this day, a way of celebrating and giving thanks for the abundance. In Anglo-Saxon times, the harvest was crucial to see folk through the winter months. One crop that would have been harvested then, as now, to be stored away was the humble æppel, which I'm sure needs no translating! (Here's some from my small tree a few years ago)
Another Old English word associated with September is em-niht which means "equal-night", so the equinox. One of the reasons I mentioned at the top that this time of year depresses some people is that of course, in the Northern Hemisphere, it signals that the nights are drawing in.
Firstly, I've been honoured to be part of the judging panel for the prestigious Historical Writers' Association Nonfiction Crown Award, and we meet early in September to decide the longlist for this year's competition.
Midway through the month, on the 14th, I'll be back in Tamworth talking about King Offa's 'Wicked' Wife and Daughter (tickets available here)
At the very end of August I returned the edits, along with the index, for my forthcoming book Murder in Anglo-Saxon England, which will be published in February 2025 but can be pre-ordered HERE and of course on the Amazon sites.
This year, September begins on a Sunday, which in Old English was Sunnenday which again, needs no translation, I'm sure!
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