Rædwald's Wife.

Here I would  like to take the time to openly praise a woman hithertofore I think unsung, namely the wife of king Rædwald of the East Angles.  We learn of her only from an unfriendly source, Bede's Historia Ecclesiastica, and he does not tell us her name, but from the rede, or advice, that she gave her husband, it will be seen that she was a woman of great worth.

To begin with then, she first enters the history books for the advice that she gave to her husband when he was being prevailed upon to kill someone who had sought the shelter of his hall, namely the future king Edwin of Northumbria. Thus Historia Ecclesiastica Book 2, chap. 12:

“At postquam Aedilfrid in hac eum prouincia apparuisse, et apud regem illius familiariter cum sociis habitare cognouit, misit nuntios, qui Redualdo  pecuniam multam pro nece eius offerrent; neque aliquid profecit. Misit secundo, misit tertio, et copiosiora argenti dona offerens, et bellum insuper illi, si contemneretur, indicens. Qui uel minis fractus, uel corruptus muneribus, cessit deprecanti, et siue occidere se Aeduinum, seu legatariis tradere promisit. ”

“But when Ethelfrid understood that he had appeared in that province, and that he and his companions were hospitably entertained by Redwald, he sent messengers to offer that king a great sum of money to murder him, but without effect. He sent a second and a third time, bidding more and more each time,  and threatening to make war on him if he refused. Redwald, either terrified by his threats, or gained by his gifts, complied with his request, and promised either to kill Edwin, or to deliver him up to the ambassadors. ”

In the Old English awending of Bede' Historia  made in the days of King Ælfred this is:

“Æfter þon þa Æþelfrið se cyning hine þær geahsode, þæt he mid Rædwold þone cyning wæs, þa sende he sona ærendwrecan to him 7 micel feoh, wið þon ðe he hine ofsloge oðþe him to cwale agefe; ne hwæðre owiht on þon fromade. Sende he eft æfteran siðe ærendwrecan; synde þriddan siðe, 7 maran gife micle 7 feoh, þonne he him ær sende, wið his cwale: ond het eac him onbeodan, þæt he hine wolde mid fyrde to gefeohte gesecan, gif he his word 7 his gife forhogode. þa wæs his mod æghwæðer ge mid þæm beotungum gebreged ge mid þæm geofum gewemmed, þæt he geþafode þæs cyninges  bene 7 gehet, þæt he Eadwine ofsloge oðþe feondum to cwale gefe.”

“... at last he turned and came to Redwald, king of the East Angles, and begged him to protect his life against the snares of his mighty persecutor, and ensure his saiety. The king welcomed him, and promised to do as he asked. When king Æthelfrith found him out there, at the court of king Redwald, he at once sent envoys with large sums, as the price of his murder or his surrender to death. However he effected nothing by this. Again a second time he sent envoys; he sent a third time, with much richer gifts and bribes than before, as price of his death. He also bade them threaten, that he would march against Redwald with an army, if he rejected his request and his gifts. Then the king's mind was moved by the threats and corrupted by the gifts, so that he granted the king's prayer and promised to slay Eadwine or give him up to his enemies to be put to death.”

What would you do if you were Rædwald? A guest was a holy thing to our folk of yore, thus Tacitus Germania 21:

 “Convictibus et hospitiis non alia gens effusius indulget. Quemcunque mortalium arcere tecto, nefas habetur: pro fortuna quisque apparatis epulis excipit. Cum defecere, qui modo hospes fuerat, monstrator hospitii et comes: proximam domum non invitati adeunt: nec interest; pari humanitate accipiuntur. Notum ignotumque, quantum ad jus hospitis, nemo discernit.  Abeunti, si quid poposcerit, concedere moris: et poscendi invicem eadem facilitas. Gaudent muneribus: sed nec data imputant, nec acceptis obligantur.  Victus inter hospites comis.”

 

“No nation indulges more profusely in entertainments and hospitality. To exclude any human being from their roof is thought impious; every German, according to his means, receives his guest with a well-furnished table. When his supplies are exhausted, he who was but now the host becomes the guide and companion to further hospitality, and without invitation they go to the next house. It matters not; they are entertained with like cordiality. No one distinguishes between an acquaintance and a stranger, as regards the rights of hospitality. It is usual to give the departing guest whatever he may ask for, and  a present in return is asked with as little hesitation. They are greatly charmed with gifts, but they expect no return for what they give, nor feel any obligation.”

But as well as the breach of the law of hospitality, we have Rædwald's further loathsomeness in the sight of all good folk for allowing money and gifts to turn his mind from doing right. Now it would be a good thing if all who followed the old gods, or said that they did, were always righteous men and women. With Wōden and Frīȝ on their high seats above, and Thunor and Tīw beside, wherein is the well-spring of all the Wisdom, Strength, Meath and Righteousness that may be, it seems to me that to be a wrong doer here below is utter foolishness, and yet it still does not stop some nevertheless. And with Rædwald we have a man who should know better, but as he came back to the right way before too much harm had been done, we'll call it a slip on his part and forgive him.  But his tale shows us all to be wary. That not all those that say they are for the gods, are needfully such as they should be. Try before you trust. And as well as saying we “follow the gods”, or whatever way you like to put it, we all must, on top of this, try and do the right thing whereby we will not bring what we worship into disrepute among all men through our own misdeeds.  And also maybe to think that there is nothing worse than not marking good rede, good advice, for what it is in time.  Rædwald might never have come back to good in the end if it were not for his wife's timely words. For this it seems was all her doing, as Bede freely acknowledges:

“Et cum regius iuuenis solus adhuc ibidem sederet, … uenit ad eum praefatus amicus illius, laetoque uultu salutans eum: ‘Surge,’ inquit, ‘intra, et sopitis ac relictis curarum anxietatibus, quieti membra simul et animum conpone, quia mutatum est cor regis, nec tibi aliquid mali facere, sed fidem potius pollicitam seruare disponit; postquam enim cogitationem suam, de qua tibi ante dixi, reginae in secreto reuelauit, reuocauit eum illa ab intentione, ammonens, quia nulla ratione conueniat tanto regi amicum suum optimum in necessitate positum auro uendere, immo fidem suam, quae omnibus ornamentis pretiosior est, amore pecuniae perdere.’ Quid plura? Fecit rex, ut dictum est; nec solum exulem nuntiis hostilibus non tradidit, sed etiam eum, ut in regnum perueniret, adiuuit. ”

“Whilst the royal youth [Edwin] still sat there alone, … his above-mentioned friend came to him, and saluting him with a pleasant countenance, "Rise," said he, "go in and compose yourself to sleep without fear; for the king's resolution is altered, and he designs to do you no harm, but rather to perform the promise which he made you; for when he had privately acquainted the queen with his intention of doing what I told you before, she dissuaded him from it, declaring it was unworthy of so great a king to sell his good friend in such distress for gold, and to sacrifice his honour, which is more valuable than all other ornaments, for the lucre of money." In short, the king did as he was advised, and not only refused to deliver up the banished man to his enemy's messengers, but assisted him to recover his kingdom.”

In Old English:

“Ond mid þy he ða se geonga æþeling ana þer þa gyt sæt, … þa com eft to him se foresprecena his freond 7 mid bliðe ondwleotan hine halette 7 grette ; 7 þus cwæð: Aris, gong in ; ærest þinne lichoman 7 þin mod buton sorgum, forðon þæs cyninges heorte is oncerred ; ne wile he ðe owiht laðes gedon, ac he ma wile his treowa 7 his gehat wið þe gehealdan 7 þe feorhhyrde beon. Sægde him þa, æfter þon þæt : Se cyning his geþoht, bi ðæm þe ic ðe ær sæde, þære cwene in deagolnesse onwreah. Ða onwende heo hine from þære yflan inngehygde his modes; lærde hine 7 monade, þætte þæt nænige þinga gedafenode swa æðelum cyninge 7 swa geþungennum, þet he sceolde his freond þone betstan in neede gesetum in gold bebycgan, 7 his treowe for fea gitsunge 7 lufan forleosan, seo wære deorwyrðre eallum maðmum. Hwæt sculon we þæs nu ma secgan'? Dyde se cyning swa hit ær cweden wæs; nales þæt an þæt he ðone wreccan to cwale ne gesealde, ac eac swylce him gefultumade, þæt he to rice becwom.”

“As the young prince still sat there alone, … then the aforesaid friend came again to him, and with cheerful face hailed and greeted him saying thus: 'Arise, and go in; rest body and mind without anxiety, because the king's heart is turned; he will do you no harm, but rather keep his faith and promise to you and ensure your safety.  He then told him this: 'The king disclosed to the queen in secret his intention of which I told you before. Then she diverted him from the evil purpose of his heart, instructing and admonishing him, that it in no wise became a king so noble and so excellent to sell for gold his best friend in the hour of his need, and to sacrifice honour, which is dearer than all treasures, for greed and love of money.' Why should we say more? The king did as it has been said; he not only did not give up the exile to death, but also aided him in attaining to the throne.”

So Rædwald's wife's high-rede then: Honour (here specifically your troth (treowe, fidem) and the love of other good folk which you could lose (lufan forleosan)) is dearer than wealth. And here we will see, if any think otherwise, that the better followers of the old gods are not without a deep love of virtue, and of an adherance to right action no matter what the difficulties. Those of us who think that virtue is only for Christians, or that to be a follower of the old gods is to be little more than a wolf, will be amazed here I think. And maybe even more amazed to learn that even the Christians were wont to call Wisdom, Strength, Meath and Righteousness (otherwise Prudentia, Fortitudo, Temperantia, Justicia) the four "heathen" or "pagan" virtues, as well as the "cardinal" or "head" ones.

And for helping Edwin win back his kingdom from Æþelfrið at the fight on the Idle at East Retford ("in finibus gentis Merciorum ad orientalem plagam amnis, qui uocatur Idlæ" "on gemære Mercna þeode æt eastdæle þære ea, þe is Idle nemned") he also won the right to be high king south of the Humber, the "Bretwalda" or "Brytenwalda" (Bede makes him fourth between "Aedilberct" and Edwin).

But we are not done with Rædwald's wife yet.  In Historia Ecclesiastica Book 2, chap. 15, her rede saves the day yet again.

“TANTUM autem deuotionis Aeduini erga cultum ueritatis habuit, ut etiam regi Orientalium Anglorum, Earpualdo filio Redualdi, persuaderet, relictis idolorum superstitionibus, fidem et sacramenta Christi cum sua prouincia suscipere. Et quidem pater eius Reduald iamdudum in Cantia sacramentis Christianae fidei inbutus est, sed frustra; nam rediens domum ab uxore sua et quibusdam peruersis doctoribus seductus est, atque a sinceritate fidei deprauatus habuit posteriora peiora prioribus; ita ut in morem antiquorum Samaritanorum et Christo seruire uideretur et diis, quibus antea seruiebat; atque in eodem fano et altare haberet ad sacrificium Christi, et arulam ad uictimas daemoniorum. Quod uidelicet fanum rex eiusdem prouinciae Alduulf, qui nostra aetate fuit, usque ad suum tempus perdurasse, et se in pueritia uidisse testabatur.”

“EDWIN was so zealous for the worship of truth, that he likewise persuaded Eorpwald, king of the East Angles, and son of Redwald, to abandon his idolatrous superstitions, and with his whole province to receive the faith and sacraments of Christ [said to have happened in 627C.E.]. And indeed his father Redwald had long before been admitted to the sacrament of the Christian faith in Kent, but in vain; for on his return home, he was seduced by his wife and certain perverse teachers, and turned back from the sincerity of the faith; and thus his latter state was worse than the former; so that, like the ancient Samaritans, he seemed at the same time to serve Christ and the gods whom he had served before; and in the same temple he had an altar to sacrifice to Christ, and another small one to offer victims to devils; which temple, Aldwulf, king of that same province, who lived in our time testifies had stood until his time, and that he had seen it when he was a boy.”

In Old English:

“Hæfde Edwine se cyning swa micle wilsumnesse þæs bigonges Cristes geleafan, þæt he eac swylce Eorpwald Eastengla cyning Rædwaldes sunu to þon gespeon, þæt he forlet þa idelnesse deofolgilda 7 þæm gerynum onfeng Cristes geleafan mid his mægðe Eastenglum. Wæs Rædwald his fæder geo geara in Cent gelæred in þa gerynu Cristes geleafan, ac holinga ; forðon þa he eft ham com, wæs biswicen from his wife 7 from sumum unrihtum lareowum, þæt he forlet þa, hluttornesse Cristes geleafan. 7 his þa neorran tide wæron wyrson þæm ærran, swa þætte þy þeawe þe geo þa ealdan Samaritane dydon, þæt he wæs gesewen Crista þeowian 7 eac deofolgeldum ; ond he in þam ilcan herige wigbed hæfde to Cristes onsægdnesse 7 oðer to deofla onsægdnisse. Se ilca here þær wunade oð Aldwulfes tide þære ilcan mægðe cyninges; sægde he þæt he hine cneoht weosende gesawe.”

“King Eadwine was so zealous for the worship of Christ's faith, that he also induced Eorpwald, son of Redwald and king of the East Angles, to give up the vanity of idol worship and receive the sacraments of Christ's faith with his people, the East Angles. Long before, his father Redwald had been instructed in the sacraments of Christ's faith in Kent, but to no purpose ; for on returning home he was seduced by his wife and unrighteous teachers, and left the first purity of Christ's faith. And his last time was worse than his first, so that, imitating the usage of the old Samaritans long ago, he was seen to serve Christ as well as idols ; and in the same sanctuary he had an altar for Christ's sacrifice and another for sacrifice to devils. This sanctuary remained there till the time of Aldwulf, king of that people ; he said that he saw it when a boy.”

And here we see the worth of this wonderful wife yet again, and although Bede, the Christian, thinks badly of her for this, it is a deed fully in keeping with her earlier advice to her husband about Edwin. If we follow Rædwald's wife's example then, a woman of proven virtue, then whenever we find ourselves in the same situation, we should know that the right thinking person keeps to their old belief and persuades others to come back that have strayed. Furthermore, we maybe also see here the birth of the syncretism that was the actual religion of the English for a large part of their history notwithstanding that many called themselves "Christian". Did Rædwald's wife wisely act as a midwife to this process, to forestall an even worser fate for her people?  For all those lands that had the new belief imposed upon it by the sword (either initially, or later by inquisition, crusade, reformation, revolution) never throve thereafter, but where they were given time to blend a bit ...  And before we move on it is worthwhile to mark some Old English words here namely gerynu/gerynum which Sellar awends "sacraments", but is truly "mysteries" and akin to the word "rune".  herige "sanctuary; temple" with its wigbed "altar", but literally idol- table (wig+beod); onsægdnesse "sacrifice", also brooked for the Christian Eucharist, and literally meaning "what is laid down"; and the "unrihtum lareowum" "unrighteous teachers" "peruersis doctoribus" might be stretched to imply as much as a school teaching the old beliefs (a "pagan" forerunner of Cambridge University?).

Her sons by Rædwald I take to be the   "Rægenheri" "Regenhere" who died  at the fight on the Idle, and Eorpwald ("Earpualdo filio Redualdi" "Eorpwald ... Rædwaldes sunu") who followed Rædwald.  Might not tales of "Rægenheri" given rise to the later poularity of the name of Ragnarr?  And Earp- is odd as it means "dark, swarthy" which makes me think that Rædwald misunderstood his own name as "red -ruler" to also name his son after a colour.  Bede has "Sigberct" "Sigeberht" as another brother, who, while Earpwald was king, was in exile in France (see Bk. II, cap. 15 "exularet in Gallia" "wrecca in Gallia londe"), having fled the hatred of Rædwald (see Bk. III, cap. 18 "inimicitias Redualdi" "Rædwaldes feondscipe"), and unluckily there caught a  bad case of Christianity as well.  William of Malmesbury's statement in his Gesta Regum Angliæ Bk. 1, §97, however, would seem to acknowledge that "Sigberct" was only a half-brother of Eorpwald on the mother's side :

 "Huic Sigebertus successit, vir Deo dignus, frater ejus ex matre, omnemque barbariem pro Francorum nutritura exutus...".  

"To him succeeded Sigebert, his brother by the mother's side, a worthy servant of the Lord, polished from all barbarism by his education among the Franks."

But if this is so, how did he ever become king as he was not of the kingly line?     And it seems likely to me that "Ricberct" "Ricberht" who killed Eorpwald when he became Christian, and who was king of the East Angles for three years between Eorpwald and "Sigberct" was actually another brother. The alliteration of his name persuading me on the one hand and the shared back half with "Sigberct" on the other.   And whilst parents are indeed often to blame for how their children turn out, there are sometimes exceptions, and this I believe is one of them.   And I have no doubt that Regenhere and Ricberht were Rædwald's wife's favourite children.  It is markworthy that the whole line of kings of the East Angles after "Sigberct" went to another line meant to be sprung from a brother of Rædwald called Eni (see Bk.3, cap. 18 "Anna filius Eni de regio genere" "Anna geworden Eanes sunu of heora cyningcynne") but they were wonderfully unlucky.  Anna being killed by Penda, Anna's brother "Aedilheri" who had thrown in his lot with Penda, was killed by Oswiu at Uinuaed (see bk. 3, cap.24), and, missing out the kings who hardly left a mark on history at all,  we have Æðelbriht who was murdered by Offa, and Eadmund  who was killed by the Danes and with him they come at last to an end.

Last of all there is “mound 1” at Sutton Hoo, which is almost certainly the grave of Rædwald himself.

Is it too far fetched to see the hand of Rædwald's wife behind it? And if so, what a mark has this woman left for future generations to call them back, across the sea of time, to the ways of their forefathers. Germania 8 :

“Inesse quin etiam sanctum aliquid et providum putant: nec aut consilia
earum aspernantur, aut responsa negligunt. ”

“ They even believe that the sex has a certain sanctity and prescience, and
they do not despise their counsels, or make light of their answers.”

Moreover, I can't help thinking that it is more than fitting, and also more than a coincidence, that “mound 1” was discovered in 1939 through the efforts of another woman, the widow Edith Pretty (1883–1942), heeding rumours of ghosts. And that she then afterwards nobly chose to give the site to the nation.

 

 

 

 Above: 1939 excavation of Sutton Hoo burial ship.

Books:

• Latin text of Bede's Ecclesiastical History of England from The Latin Library.
•  Bede's Ecclesiastical History of England ed. by A.M. Sellar 1917. London: G. Bell and Sons Ltd.
• The Old English Translarion of Bede's Ecclesiastical History of the English People edited with a translation and introduction by Thomas Miller part 1 1890. London: N. Trübner & Co.
•  The Works of Tacitus tr. by Alfred John Church and William Jackson Brodribb 1864-1877. London:Macmillan.