August in Old English was Weod-mōnaþ (Plant month). Bede, writing in the eighth century, said it was so called because this is the month when weeds grow the most. Did he mean weeds as we understand them though, or plants generally? 1st August is also Lammas Day (Old English hlaf-mas, "loaf-mass").
The plant for the month of August is generally said to be either the gladiolus or the poppy. I prefer poppy, not only because it my favourite flower, but because of the simplicity of the Old English word, an example of a direct connection between our language today and that of the Anglo-Saxons: poppig. That g at the end is pronounced more like a y, so in essence it's the exact same word.
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| A poppy from my garden |
It seems a bit incongruous, but I've not just got flowers and plants on my mind at the moment, but murder too! In February of this year, my new book, Murder in Anglo-Saxon England, was published, and there are three notable dates from the month of August.
The first I want to mention is August 5, when Gruffudd of Wales was killed in 1063. Gruffudd was ruler at one time of all of Wales, but made many enemies in the process. His great ally was Ælfgar of Mercia, whom he'd helped out when he was forced into exile by Harold Godwineson and his brothers. Gruffudd married Ælfgar's daughter, Ealdgyth (read about her in my short story HERE) but when Ælfgar died his teenage son Edwin took over Mercia, and Gruffudd was suddenly isolated and vulnerable. His royal palace at Rhuddlan was attacked by forces loyal to Harold Godwineson and, though he managed to escape, he was eventually killed and his head sent to Harold. This was probably at the connivance of his Welsh enemies, but it seems the old saying that 'the enemy of my enemy is my friend' probably sealed Gruffudd's fate. Harold went on to marry Ealdgyth, though how she felt about this was not recorded.
Last month I wrote a little bit about Æthelwold Moll, king of Northumbria, who appears to have gained his kingdom after being involved in a spot of unlawful killing in 759. The history of Northumbria in the eighth century is one of brutal coups, bloody killings and constant threats to the king. In 761 Æthelwold Moll reportedly fought a rival, the atheling Oswine, and killed him on August 6 in the Eildon Hills near the modern-day Scottish border. Moll was himself later deposed and I imagine that even as king he must have felt the need always to sleep with one eye open.
There's no lingering doubt that Oswine was murdered, but the last on the list of August deaths is a bit more conjectural.
On August 2 924 a young man named Ælfweard was buried. None of the sources suggests foul play, but I have my suspicions, because this young man was the son of Edward the Elder, who himself was the son of Alfred the Great. Edward had some fourteen children by three wives, although many said that the first marriage wasn't legal, and consequently his eldest son, Athelstan, wasn't considered by everyone to be legitimate. He'd been brought up in Mercia and when his father Edward died, Athelstan was voted king in Mercia, while Wessex went to his half-brother Ælfweard. Sources vary, but either Ælfweard survived a mere sixteen days after Edward's death, or reigned for four weeks, but either way, his rule was cut short. All we know is that he died at Oxford, very close to the Wessex/Mercian border. Had he been on his way to visit his half-brother Athelstan, and was he intercepted and removed from the political scene? Athelstan became king of Wessex, but it was also suggested that he played a part in the death of another half-brother, Edwin. Hmm...
You can of course read more about these deaths and my analysis of the stories in my new book Murder in Anglo-Saxon England.
I've done a whole year of monthly blog posts now - I started them in September 2024 - and I hope you've enjoyed them. Perhaps I'll come up with a new theme for future posts, or maybe they'll be unconnected except for the fact that they will, of course, all concern some aspect or other of Anglo-Saxon history...
