Litha: An Anglo-Saxon Solstice.

This weekend, Acle were back at Bamburgh Castle with a midsummer twist. Litha was the Anglo Saxon name given to the two months of June and July, with midsumor around the solstice day. So, we descended on the castle with our crowns of oak and holly to celebrate Saxon style.

Members of Acle wearing crowns of flowers, oak and holly to celebrate Litha.

Little is known about the way in which the Saxons celebrated Litha in the seventh century. However, Saint Bede does write about it, linking it in with St Johns Day which was celebrated exactly six months after Christmas Eve on 24th June. Aelfric also writes about the celebration in De temporibus anti, calling it sunstede - ‘sun stand still’ but the common name for the solstice day was midsumor.

For early Christians, St Johns Day marks the birth of John the Baptist. Aelfric talks about John and Jesus as Anes geares cild - ‘children of one year’ as they were born only six months apart and describes Jesus as the sun rising at Midwinter with John as the waning sun of Midsummer. Therefore, the celebration was of great significance.

Despite this, we don’t know much about the ways that Saxons celebrated the festival. In the later Middle Ages, we know that bonfires, parades, music, feasts and decorations of greenery were popular. However, the lack of seventh century evidence allowed us to have a little poetic license. We had blazing sun over the weekend, and decked out in crowns of oak and holly to represent the Battle of the Oak and Holly Kings, we opened our camp.

The weekend began with combat displays from Sam, our Thegn, and Liam playing the parts of Holly King and Oak King respectively. In the story, the two tree kings battle for their season with the Holly King eventually winning to represent the waning sun after midsummer. Around camp, other members were seen wearing garlands to represent their king.

Members of the public at the medicine tent with Acle member Ian.

The frivolity continued as Charlotte led the group in a dance, with members of the public joining in with Wendy on the drum. The first dance was a traditional village dance, leading the dancers in various snaking patterns, creating archways and lines. The second dance represented Oak saplings growing. Charlotte took inspiration from a traditional dance workshop at the Morpeth Northumbrian Gathering earlier in the year and used this to create a dance for the event. It was a nice addition to our timetabled displays and we enjoyed involving members of the audience.

Wendy and Scarlet cooked up a storm in the kitchen tent, quite literally on Sunday afternoon when the heavens opened during pack down! Since we were celebrating Midsummer, we had to have a feast. On Saturday, we were treated to slow-roasted pork on the spit, with apple and fennel sauce and frummenty with cheese, as well as a cheese and leek pie. On Sunday we had gammon with onion chutney, boiled eggs, cheese and bread. For those of us with a sweet tooth, oat cakes with strawberries, cream and honey was a welcome dessert.

Of course, no midsummer celebration would be complete without music. With Liam on the lyre and Charlotte on the drum, the sounds of Saxon summertime could be heard throughout the camp. The lyre Liam used is inspired by the Vespasian Psalter lyre.

Other displays on camp included Stuart doing calligraphy, coin striking by Jayden and new member Dougie, Ole the fur trader and Colin and Heather doing embroidery. We also had Linda and Helena demonstrating wool carding and nalbinding with Meg and Jim showing keen textile enthusiasts how to spin and weave. Healers Michelle and Ian demonstrated the gruesome medical practices of the time, and Patrick, Sam and Liam demonstrated the weapons used by Saxon combatants.

Acle member Ole with his impression of a fur trader.

The weekend concluded with a storm arriving during pack-down in true British summer style! However, with great team work we managed to get everything away quickly. We had an absolutely lovely time celebrating and we wish all our friends and families a Happy Midsummer.

Written by Charlotte Fielding

Sources: Winters in the World, Eleanor Parker