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| Fascinating stuff, Wyrd Brother, it set me thinking about a possibility that's been riddling me that may interest you. I wouldn't call it a full-blown theory or anything, mind you - it's something I'm still researching, although I must say that the foundations of it feel solid to me. I'm obsessed with a place called Ludwell: http://www.themodernantiquarian.com/site/3667 It interests me not simply because I (unknowingly) drank its water for many years, but because of it's name. As I say in my fieldnote there, I consider Lud to be a name of Odin (by "Odin" I mean the pre-Viking Odin) - basically I consider the deities known in Irish and Welsh myth as Lugh and Law to be a "Celtic" Odin. I'm not alone in that, either, plenty of writers think the same thing (Robert Graves, for example, although simply mentioning his name is probably enough to completely undermine this theory in the eyes of "orthodox" historians!). Anyway, I recently came across this (which I also link to on the Ludwell page): http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/eng/efft/efft47.htm The association of Odin with the gallows is well known, and this hangman's tale seemed to back up what I thought about Ludwell and it's name. It was when I started trying to find out more about Saint Ludgvan that things became tantalizing, though. His name is fascinating - it's basically a compound of Lud and Wan ("v" easily becomes a "w" by known sound laws - in German, for instance, the written letter "v" is pronounced "w", and vice versa). Wan is another Odin name - that's easy enough to prove, since the Eddas specifically state it. So I tried digging around on the internet for information on this "Irish missionary", and found very little. This page... http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/Cornwall/Ludgvan/ ...revealed that there's a Saint Ludgvan's church in Penwith, Cornwall, and also that this saint's more usual name was Ludowanus, a name that is even more blatantly Lud and Wan. It was when I saw this page, though... http://homepages.tesco.net/~k.wasley/Ludgvan.htm ...that I became completely confused. It's another page about Saint Ludgvan's in Penwith, and it comments that the church is "dedicated to St Ludowanus (now Saint Paul) whose feast is celebrated January 25th". This utterly baffled me, at the time, since Saint Paul didn't strike me as "a heathen deity in a threadbare Christian cloak" (which is how James Frazer described Saint Bridget, words that stick in my head because of their accuracy). But what you say here sets me wondering... London, I believe, used to be called Lugudonum? (or something similar) I'm by no means the first to argue that it's named for Odin (although I believe I am the first to point to the name Scotland's capital for another Odin name as supporting evidence in this context!). If I understand it rightly, then Saint Paul's is a place of huge heathen significance. If Saint Paul = Ludowanus = Odin then perhaps we can start to grasp the reason for London's Odinist name? Like I say, I'm still researching this Pauline Odinist connection, so please remember that I consider this to be an intriguing possibility and a riddle, rather than a fact. Thanks for sending me on a different tangent of thought with it all - little gems of information have a habit of turning up at serendipidous times, and it never ceases to amaze me! :) Reply | with quote |  30th July 2004ce 18:01 In reply to: Re: saint paul's (Wyrd Brother)4 replies: Re: ludowanus (TomBo) lughnasadh salutations one and all! (TomBo) Re: ludowanus (Wyrd Brother) Ludi Compitales (TomBo) |
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