#St. Aldhelm

[lord-aldhelm]

Saint Aldhelm of Malmesbury

Although most of the characters in The Last Kingdom and The Saxon Stories were based on real historical people, Aldhelm was a completely fictional character just made up for the story. However, there was a Saint Aldhelm, a man of historical significance in Anglo-Saxon England. He is the patron saint of musicians and songwriters.

Aldhelm was born in 639 in Wessex. As a young boy he was educated in Canterbury and studied Latin and Greek literature, and could also read and write Hebrew. When he returned to Wessex, he joined the monks at Malmesbury and became a popular teacher, and people would journey from as far as France and Scotland to learn from him. He also loved to write poetry, and composed music and sang. He could play the harp, fiddle, and pipes. Aldhelm was well known for his theatrical way of preaching, and would sing in addition to preach to get the attention of the commonfolk outside of church. Over a century later, King Alfred regarded him highly as one of the great poets and bards of his time, and wrote stories about him.

In 683, Aldhelm was appointed the Abbot of Malmesbury, where he continued to make it a seat of education. He enlarged the monastery and built several churches and founded more monasteries in the area. In 705 he was made Bishop of Sherborne, where he rebuilt the church and oversaw the construction of more churches and a nunnery.

On 25th May 709, Aldhelm died at Doulting in Somerset, and after his death he was sainted. May 25 is a feast day for St Aldhelm. The Church of St Aldhelm (built in the 12th century) and St Aldhelm's Well in Somerset are dedicated to him. St Aldhelm has a flag in his honor, with a white cross on a red background.

Name Meaning

The name Aldhelm and the Old English version "Ealdhelm", is derived from the Germanic elements ald "old" and helm "helmet, protection".

Links:

Wikipedia Article about Saint Aldhelm

Aethelstan Museum

New Advent Catholic Encyclopedia

St Aldhelm's

Early British Kingdoms biography

Catholic Online article about Aldhelm

OrthoChristian.com article about St Aldhelm

[maypoleman1]

25th May

St Aldhelm’s Day

St Aldhelm’s icon at the Digby Chapel of Sherbourne Abbey. Source: Orthodox Christianity website

Today is St Aldhelm’s Day. Aldhelm was a seventh century Bishop of Sherbourne in Dorset. What was different about this saint, was that he was a great tellers of stories, writer of songs and player of music. At a time when the Church was busily converting the English to Christianity, Aldhelm allegedly attracted the curious into his chapel with exquisite harp playing. Unfortunately, the bishop’s copious ditties, hymns and poetry have all been lost with the exception of a treatise on the virtues of virginity, written for a convent, presumably on commission. Some miracles are attached to Aldhelm, including the legend that he thrust his staff into the ground at Bishopstrow in Wiltshire, which then turned into an ash tree, thereafter known as the bishop’s tree.

Several curative stories surround the ash. It is supposed to be able to cure rickets, hernias and toothache, and if combined with a dead shrew sealed up within it, it can cure ailing animals. In 1606, at Brampton in Lincolnshire, an ash tree was famous for its continual but indecipherable moaning and muttering. The locals recognised it as a talking tree and drilled a hole into its trunk, which they believed would enable the ash to speak more clearly. Unfortunately the tree continued to babble gibberish, so this early version of tree hugging ended up with the locals none the wiser.

[thenameswinter99]

Thank you @gemini-mama and @lord-aldhelm for the tag! 💜💜

Go to Pinterest and search:

✨Lifestyle✨House/apartment✨Car✨Vacation✨ Post the first one from each search.

It is all so aestethic... Almost lol

No pressure tags (if you want): @foxyanon @sihtricfedaraaahvicius @whitedarkmoonflower @sylasthegrim @alexagirlie

@zaldritzosrose @st-eve-barnes @arcielee @legitalicat @fallingintoyourlilaceyes

And whoever wants to do it!

[witchofthevale]

↷ september '23 fave fic recs!⋆☂｡☽˚.

Okay, okay here we go! This nearly killed me to make, so you better read them.

I'm kidding... I think.

Gentle reminder that what I consider 'fave' is by my own personal tastes and preferences, and you might not agree with them and that's okay! These are very lovely authors you can peruse on your own to find the right fic for you, and there are always the tags + algo. Just because your favourite fic isn't here doesn't mean it's not good; it could be potentially for a variety of reasons (I haven't read it yet, I have just not this month, I don't vibe with that character, etc).

That's what I love about the individuality in fandom and writers— there will always be that right fic from that right author that just hits all your good spots.

This is mine. For the month of September. If you find your next favourite fix here— I'm glad! If not, that's still swell! Hope you find it!

To the writers— thank you for writing such brilliant fics! I struggled setting this up because of how many I enjoyed 💝.

Anyways...

More quick reminders!

This is set chronologically; both by character name and by fic title.

If you are familiar with my blog, you will mainly see HOTD, some TLK, then random characters.

There may be smut! There may be dark fiction! I support and consume both! Please read trigger warnings actively! You are responsible for your own person! Community Labels ruin fandom ecosystems, stop snitching! Ignore or block at bloody will!

There are no series parts here. That is in a different display post that is still being processed lol.

If you see repeated author names, it can be numerous things— mostly, they're just that good, okay? Okay.

These are only for September 2023. I've read about 500+ on this account alone, and would die if I tried to go back before then, sorry. You can still check them out through tag navigation here!

I've also added some of my works that I enjoyed writing for the month, because why not.

Now that's fucking over, I hope you enjoy!

ABRAHAM (Grantchester)

*Untitled Piece by @ewanmitchellcrumbs

AEGON TARGARYEN II

Ceilings by @sapphire-writes

Lemon Cake To My Tea by @darlingofvalyria

Merciless or Ruthless? by @lovelykhaleesiii

Moan for Me by @st-eve-barnes

AEMOND TARGARYEN

A Mutual Feeling of Hate by @fan-goddess

Gelato by @oneeyedvisenya

Hell Hath No Fury @fromforeigntofamiliarity

His Love by @valeskafics

I'm A Fire, And I'll Keep Your Brittle Heart Warm by @randomdragonfires

Revolution by @valeskafics

The Black Stag by @darlingofvalyria

Til Death Do Us Part by @asumofwords

Unnerved by @dulcewrites

*Untitled by @ewanmitchellcrumbs

*Untitled by @missglaskin

Vulnerability by @valeskafics

ALDHELM

My Heart by @silens-oro

BILLY TAYLOR

The Perfect Send Off by @ewanmitchellcrumbs

BILLY WASHINGTON

Lonely This Christmas by @ewanmitchellcrumbs

DAEMON TARGARYEN

Ask, and You Shall Receive by @ewanmitchellcrumbs

A Thousand Words by @arabellasleopardcoat

Capital by @arabellasleopardcoat

Curse of Womanhood by @just-some-random-blogger

*Untitled by @barbiedragon

Valyrian Bride by @cryingforlife

HARALD SIGURDSSON

A Political Arrangement by @valeskafics

JACAERYS VELARYON

In Bastards of Blue, Wager in War by @darlingofvalyria

MAEGOR TARGARYEN

Little Lights by @dreamsofoldvalyria

OSFERTH

Lacnunga, Or, Remedy by @assortedseaglass

SIGTRYGGR IVARSSON

Little Warrior by @ewanmitchellcrumbs

SIHTRIC KJARTANSSON

Hours by @valeskafics

It's Urgent Darling by @sihtricfedaraaahvicius

Take No Wife by @valeskafics

TOM BENNETT

A Good Wife by @valeskafics

Rest by @fidelias

VISERYS TARGARYEN III

*Untitled by @barbiedragon

MULTIPLE CHARACTERS

Conquerors Reborn by @undertheorangetree | Helaena, Aemond x Reader

El Tango De Roxanne by @valeskafics | Jace, Aemond x Reader

Royalty Fucked by @oorhaellaoo | Baelon, Alyssa x Reader

[whitedarkmoonflower]

Aesthetic's tag game

Place your dream cottage/cabin/castle/home, view, pet, activity, food, outfit, flowers/plants, and the character you'd love to share this life with. Just literally make the (fairycore/witchcore/cottagecore/etc) life of your dreams!!!

Thank you @lord-aldhelm @thenameswinter99 and @foxyanon for the tag 😘

This Saturday I'm going back to Alps to live my dream life for a whole week 🤩 unfortunately without my cats

No pressure tags: @alexagirlie @st-eve-barnes @thelettersfromnoone @little-diable @bhxrdy

[sihtricfedaraaahvicius]

I was tagged by @lord-aldhelm and @st-eve-barnes! 🥰 I recently did this I think but 🤷🏻‍♀️

Tag game: tag 9 people you'd like to get to know better

Last song: Svört Augu by Kælan Mikla

Currently watching: The White Lotus (obviously)

Three ships: I don't really ship, but Finan x Eadith I guess..

Favorite color: black and pastel colors

Currently consuming: tomato soup 🤧

First ship: no idea tbh

Relationship status: 🌸💍💕engaged 💕💍🌸

Last movie: Lord of the Rings

Currently working on: nothing, as I feel too shitty to think, so I'm just gaming and watching tv when I'm not sleeping 🥲

Tagging @sihtricsafin @neonhairspray @whitedarkmoonflower @thalygremlinsson no pressure!

[medieval-elephants]

Riddle me this: "‘As armoured troops and soldiers pack in tight (Wretches who with vain lust incite a fight While arms taint sacred civil loyalties), A trumpet sucks in air with bursts of breeze And raucous, clanging battle horns resound; Fierce, bold, I’ve come to know their savage sound. Although God made me ugly at my start, I picked up gifts of life once I debuted. Behold! Death sneaks up on my pulchritude As doom is snaking through each helpless part. I can’t be beaten by fine sheets of gold, Although the precious polished metal’s decked With gleaming gems and stylish luxuries. Nature won’t let me kneel when I feel old Or rest my eyelids while on bended knees. Indeed, I have to spend my life erect.’

Translated by A.M. Juster, St Aldhelm’s Riddles, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, p. 59.

The author of that riddle was Aldhelm (d. 709 or 710),abbot of Malmesbury and bishop of Sherborne. Aldhelm lived in the kingdom of the West Saxons on the island of Britain, so he had probably never seen an elephant himself. However, elephants were mainstays of Christian literature from North Africa and beyond, and Aldhelm had been taught by people who had probably seen elephants. He was a student at the school that Hadrian of Africa and Theodore of Tarsus set up at Canterbury. (Theodore had been appointed archbishop of Canterbury.) A copy of notes which Hadrian's and Theodore's students took survives in a manuscript in Milan. The elephant riddle was number 96 out of 100 in Aldhelm's collection. In the riddle, Aldhelm drew on classical ideas about war elephants and also alludes to the extent to which ivory was prized. Aldhelm's riddles continued to be studied for hundreds of years after his death: the manuscript above was made around 1000 AD. Origin: England (possibly made at Christ Church Canterbury; later owned at Glastonbury Abbey) Date: late 10th or early 11th century Now British Library, Royal MS 12 C XXIII, ff. 100v-101r

[benalias]

Shuffle your ON REPEAT playlist and list the first 10 songs

Thanks for tagging me @lord-aldhelm :)

I'll be outing myself as a Kpop stan with this one...

BIBI - BIBI Vengeance

ATEEZ - Precious

Woosung - Phase Me

Twice - Trouble

Fletcher - Serial Heartbreaker

Beyoncé - Pure/Honey

TXT - Good Boy Gone Bad

Enhypen - Blessed-Cursed

One OK Rock - Save Yourself

Blackpink - Ready For Love

list your top 15 tv shows because it reflects your personality :P

This is listed in no particular order, I don't even know if I can come up with 15 shows, let's see...

The Last Kingdom

House of the Dragon

Game of Thrones

Sex Education

The Witcher

Sherlock

Supernatural

Shadowhunters

Orange is the New Black

Euphoria

Dance Academy

Grey's Anatomy (stopped watching at season 8 or 9 though)

Money Heist

There's probably more but my brain is empty right now.

I'm tagging @st-eve-barnes because we became mutuals today :) feel free to ignore this if you have already been tagged/don't want to :)

[anastpaul]

Saint of the Day – 25 May – St Aldhelm of Sherborne (640-709) Confessor, Abbot, Bishop

Saint of the Day – 25 May – St Aldhelm of Sherborne (640-709) Confessor, Abbot of Malmesbury Abbey and Bishop of Sherborne, England. Latin Scholar and Poet and Ecclesiastical writer. Born in 640 in England and died on 25 May 709 at Doulting, Somerset, England of natural causes. Also known as – Adhelm, Aldelmus, Ealdhelm, Ældhelm, Adelelmus, Adelme. The Roman Martyrology states: “In England,…

[lord-aldhelm]

New Sideblog - LadyAldhelm

Hey y'all I have decided to clean up the Lord-Aldhelm blog and bring the focus back to Aldhelm/The Last Kingdom-centric posts only. I will keep this blog for posting my own stuff (gifs, edits, art, fics) as well as reblogging anything Aldhelm-adjacent (as well as the other Mercians).

So for everything else, I have opened a sideblog (Lady Aldhelm) This will be for reblogging anything only tangentially related to TLK, like writing resources, gifmaking resources, tumblr stuff, silly posts, general fandom stuff, and honestly whatever else that crosses my dash that I fancy.

From now on, all the tag and ask games (that are not TLK specific) will be posted to this blog. I would greatly appreciate follows on this sideblog, as it will be pretty active with reblogs of all kinds of interesting stuff.

Tag List (mutuals):

@daethelflaed @gemini-mama @thelettersfromnoone @synintheraven @sihtricfedaraaahvicius

@thenameswinter99 @whitedarkmoonflower @paula-in-dreamland @hardestysally @cleopatraclementine

@poetic-fiasco @alexagirlie @sigtryggrswifey @lonnson @itbmojojoejo

@garunsdottir @timetravelingpenguin1066 @bagheerita @solinarimoon @ladyinred2248

@king-alfred @arcielee @st-eve-barnes @foxyanon @holy3cake

@aegonx @king-alfred @kingslionheart @ladyfenring @brayinghorses

@lonnson @solinarimoon @lllostgirlll @morganamayne @charming-merlin

@emilyhufflepufftlk

And whoever else sees this on their dash and wants to give it a follow! I would greatly appreciate it.

[keep-tilting-at-windmills]

Sherborne Pageant: an historical pageant staged in 1905 in the grounds of Sherborne's ruined 12th century castle, celebrating the founding of Sherborne by Bishop St. Aldhelm in 705.

The town of Sherborne was named 'scir burne' by the Saxon inhabitants (a name meaning 'clear stream'), and is referred to as such in the Domesday book of 1086.

An indication of Sherborne's important position in English history: like Winchester, Sherborne was also the capital of Wessex for a time (Wessex, having been the only region of England to have successfully resisted the Viking invasion). King Alfred the Great (849 – 899) was crowned in Winchester; his elder brothers (King Ethelbert and King Ethelbald) are buried in Sherborne Abbey. King Arthur is also thought to have been a pupil at Sherborne School.

For the serious devotees of Tradition: Bishop St. Aldhelm's Feast Day is May 25 (the day of his death in 709).

[ladyfenring]

and now for something completely different

for @aadmelioraa

.

Aldhelm barely has time to register the blood-soaked body on the ground before he sees movement out of the corner of his eye; when he looks up, he sees an all-too-familiar cloak whipping over a rooftop, followed by a pair of feet.

The teenage boy on the ground groans, stirring feebly in the pool of his own blood. 

The bloody fool didn’t finish him off. He never does. He’s too impatient. There might be a chance for the boy’s survival…but if he does live, he’ll tell someone what happened, and Aldhelm simply isn’t willing to risk it.

He takes out his knife, gingerly avoiding the puddle of blood. 

“Sorry about this,” he sighs, pushing the knife into the boy’s throat.

The boy goes still, his eyes staring, unseeing, into the distance, and Aldhelm steps back, wiping his knife on the boy’s shirt before he tucks it back into his belt. Heaving another sigh, he mutters, “Damn it, Aethelred,” and takes off in the direction he’d seen the vampire crawling in his lizard fashion. 

He finds another victim on Piccadilly, and another on Pall Mall, both of whom require Aldhelm’s dispatching; certain now of his quarry, he forces his screaming knees and gasping lungs to keep going until he’s in the heart of St. James’s Park, where he finds Aethelred feasting on a man faintly moaning in distress.

Aldhelm wheezes as he catches up with the vampire, trying to catch his breath. “Aethelred, you cannot simply feed on people as you please, this is the nineteenth century. These feeding sprees of yours are all over the papers–”

Aethelred releases the man roughly, letting him fall to the ground with a small wail. The vampire raises his arm, wiping the blood from his fangs with his sleeve. “You know perfectly well that I need to feed or else I’ll starve, Aldhelm. If you would just bring me victims I wouldn’t have to go out and hunt–”

“I’m not going to do that, you know how I feel about delivering up people just for you to kill,” Aldhelm said irritably. “It would feel like I was the one killing them.”

“I don’t always kill the ones I feed on,” Aethelred pointed out.

“No, you just leave them on the street for me to finish off, lest they tell someone what they saw, and then we’re both done for! I’m getting too old for this, Aethelred.”

“I have offered to make you a vampire, you know. Then you wouldn’t get old.”

“And I’ve told you why I won’t do that.”

The man on the ground moans.

“Why aren’t you dead yet?!” Aethelred demands. “Aldhelm, finish him.”

Aldhelm heaves a sigh, drawing his knife. “You are done for, my friend,” he tells the man on the ground, sliding his knife into his throat. “As we may all be done for.”

“You’re so melodramatic,” Aethelred scoffs. “I don’t–”

“Oi!”

They both look up and see a wide-eyed constable take in the dead body on the ground, the knife in Aldhelm’s hand, and the pair of them standing over the dead man. The constable’s wide eyes get even wider as he opens his mouth to shout for help.

“Damn it,” Aldhelm whispers.

Aethelred is on the constable in an instant, fangs sinking into the man’s neck and silencing him permanently. The constable sinks to the ground, twitching as Aethelred drinks.

But before he’s killed the man, he sits up, wiping his mouth. 

“What are you doing?!” Aldhelm hisses. “Of all the people you’ve fed on tonight, you can’t let this one live to tell the tale!”

“I know, but…I’m full,” Aethelred says pathetically.

Aldhelm grips a handful of Aethelred’s golden curls, pulling his head back so Aethelred can see that he means business. “You are going to finish your meal or else.”

Aethelred’s pupils are blown wide–the only sign Aldhelm has that his words have landed, since the undead Aethelred has no pulse and no breath. He licks his fangs, giving a small nod; once Aldhelm has released him, he lowers his head to the constable’s neck, his eyes locked with Aldhelm’s.

[myfraternity]

St Aldhelm’s, ably supported by some of the other Branksome Lodges https://www.myfraternity.org/post/st-aldhelm-s-ably-supported-by-some-of-the-other-branksome-lodges

[whitedarkmoonflower]

Thank you for the tag my dear ladies: @thenameswinter99 @synintheraven @lord-aldhelm @foxyanon @sihtricsafin I'm sorry if I forgot somebody else who tagged me

rules: open pinterest, make a moodboard out of the first nine pictures that show up, and tag your mutuals!

I honestly have no idea what Finan is doing there 🤣 and I have never looked up any coffee pictures, but knowing how addicted I am to coffee I suspect Pinterest is somehow spying on me 😅

No pressure tags: @sihtricfedaraaahvicius @st-eve-barnes @bhxrdy @gemini-mama @verenahx @sigtryggrswifey @neonhairspray @tinumiel

[silvestromedia]

SAINTS OF THE DAY FOR MAY 25

ST. BEDE THE VENERABLE, BENEDECTINE, DOCTOR OF THE CHURCH-Venerable Bede. Bede was born near St. Peter and St. Paul monastery at Wearmouth-Jarrow, England. He was sent there when he was three and educated by Abbots Benedict Biscop and Ceolfrid. He became a monk at the monastery, was ordained when thirty, and except for a few brief visits elsewhere, spent all of his life in the monastery, devoting himself to the study of Scripture and to teaching and writing. He is considered one of the most learned men of his time and a major influence on English literature.

ST. GREGORY VII, POPE

ST. MARY MAGDALENE DE' PAZZI, VIRGIN

St. Aldhelm, 709 A.D. Bishop and abbot, also called Adelemus, Athelmas, Adelnie, Eadelhelm, Aedelhem. Born about 639, and a relative of King Ine of Wessex, he received his early education at Malmesbury, in Wiltshire, England. There he was trained by an Irish teacher, Maildubh, and by Adrian, a native of Roman Africa. Adrian arrived in England with Bishop Theodore and was made abbot of St. Augustine's, Canterbury. After his training in Malmesbury, Aldhelrn was named abbot of Malmesbury, where he practiced great austerity. During his term in office the abbey prospered, and he also founded St. Lawrence monastery, in the area of Bradfordon-on-Avon. Aldhelm went to Rome to represent Malmesbury before Pope Sergius. He also counseled the Wessex Synod. In 705, Aldhelm succeeded Hedda as bishop of Sherborne, Hedda's original diocese being divided. He died only four years later. A silver shrine was erected at Malmesbury in 857 by King Ethelwulf. The shrine honored not only the saint's holiness but his extraordinary and long-lasting impact on English scholarship. He was the first Englishman to promote classical learning in the isles. Some evidence of his own remarkable literary skills is extant.

St. Dunchadh, 717 A.D. Abbot of lona, in Scotland, from 710 until his death. Roman liturgical customs were adopted in Scotland in his time.

[philippawriter]

Photopoem shared 26th January 2024

A meeting on the way to St Aldhelm's well.