Our Guild

Our title

The ‘official’ title of the Guild is Halig Eadmundes Gesiþas, pronounced ‘Hah-liy Ayadmoondes Yeseethas’. This is Old English for ‘The Comrades of St Eadmund’.

St Eadmund was a King of East Anglia, and was martyred by the Vikings because he would not yield his kingdom to them, and refused to deny Christ. They shot him with arrows, and then cut off his head. His body was subsequently recovered by his faithful followers, who were guided to it by a miraculous light, and a wolf was found guarding his severed head. He was subsequently revealed as a Saint, and quickly became regarded as the Patron Saint of England.

The real-life St George (who did not fight with a dragon!) was known about by the Anglo-Saxons, but not especially venerated by them. His cultus was brought back to England by the Norman Crusaders during the Middle Ages. Contrary to popular belief, he has never been formally recognized as the Patron Saint of England, unlike St Eadmund. St Eadmund’s relics currently rest in the private chapel of the Duke of Norfolk at Arundel Castle in Sussex.

Our language

The ‘official’ language of the Guild is Old English, which we call Englisc (pronounced ‘English’), the original language spoken by our nation; but there is no need for you to learn this language if you do not want to. All our business will be conducted in Modern English for the foreseeable future. However you should become used to seeing the language, both in modern type and as it would have been written in manuscript form, as it is an important root of our culture that every English person needs to know about. If you do wish to learn it, or find out more about it, there will be opportunities for you to do so when you join.

You will also need to know about the symbols that appear in it. ‘Þ’ (capital) ‘þ’ (lower case), called ‘þorn’ (‘thorn’ in Modern English) is part on the old Runic fuþorc (alphabet) and stands for the sound represented in modern times by ‘th’. It is also written Ð (capital) and ð (lower case). ‘Æ’ (capital) ‘æ’ (lower case) is another runic letter, called ‘æsc’ (‘ash’ in Modern English), and also represents a distinct sound – either the ‘a’ in ‘apple’; or the ‘ai’ in ‘fair’. You will have the opportunity to learn about the other runes when you join.

Our calendar

In common with the Orthodox Church we use the Julian Calendar, used by the Anglo-Saxons as it was at that time by all Christians. We use it in its Latin form, which would once have been familiar to western folk, so that a date might appear as: ‘iij Kal Iun’ or ‘iv Id Apr’. However we shall always give the same date in the modern, Gregorian Calendar as well, so do not worry that you will not be able to understand it. If you are interested in learning more about the calendar, the information will be made available when you join.