Wīlcume

Welcome one and all to The Silver Well Hearth. Ic grēte ēow ealle!

I am a Fyrnsidere, a follower of the “Old Ways” of Anglo-Saxon Heathenry and this site will form an outlet for my thoughts, musings, praxis and journey as I attempt to influence my own way along the path of Wyrd as sole practitioner of the ancient ways and customs for my hearth, the Seolfor Cwylla Heorþ. I invite you to join me on my journey and share your own thoughts, opinions and experiences along the way.

This hearth gained its name from the Silver Well which can be found within the village of Cerne Abbas in the county of Dorset, of the old kingdom of Wessex. The village is said to have been the home of a local deity during the Christianization of England where it is said St. Augustine drove out the heathen goddess that was resident there, known as Helið (Pronounced Hell-ith). Far from being cast aside and forgotten, I have returned there from time to time to make offering at the wellspring in Her name. I say “her” name as, although the attestations appear to reflect this as a male deity connected with, potentially, a local hero, I have found that my reciprocative praxis with Her as a female deity has yielded great results. My hearth is therefore named after that well, although I now live some distance from it and cannot regularly make offering there.

You may find some words used by me on here to be unusual or unknown. The language predominantly used is Old English (Abb. OE) but you may also find reference to Old Norse (Abb. ON) and even Old High German (Abb. OHG). I will try to translate or explain as I go. If I don’t, or I fail miserably then pull me up on it, because I am not an expert in Old English, which many reconstructionist Fyrnsidere use on a daily basis.

Welcome to you all!