The Temple of Woden at Goodmanham

Many of my readers will be familiar with the account in Bede's Ecclesiastical History of the English People of the desecration and destruction of the heathen temple in Goodmanham in the East Riding of Yorkshire, part of the ancient Anglian kingdom of Northumbria. There are some aspects of this account which I wish to reflect upon in this article. I am indebted to the author of A Pagan Place blog. His article on Goodmanham is most interesting: http://pagan-place.blogspot.com/2011/09/pagan-sites-of-europe-remembered-13.html

The original name of this ancient village is Godmunddingaham, meaning "Homestead of the family or followers of a man called Godmund." (A Dictionary of English Place-Names by A.D. Mills, 1991) The first question which springs to mind is who was Godmund and what was his position? One explanation is that Godmund is derived from the Old Norse name Gudmund, meaning 'protected by god'. However a Norse origin does not make any sense. Bede was writing in the 8th century about an event which occurred in the year 627 CE, well before any Danish colonisation. However it should be remembered that the Angles did come from the same area as the Danes. Also we must ponder whether the 'god' referred to is the name if the Christian god or the heathen English one, probably Woden? If Goodmanham was an important temple site which it appears to have been then it may very well be a reference to Woden. However we do not know for certain what the name of this village was in 627 CE, only what it was called at the time of Bede writing his account in about 731 CE. It is quite possible, maybe even probable that the name of the village was changed after the destruction of the temple.


King Edwin (c. 586-632/633 CE) was king of the sub-kingdoms of Bernicia and Deira which later became unified into the kingdom of Northumbria. It was at this very time-627 CE that Edwin converted to Christianity and was baptised. What a coincidence therefore that at this time the High Priest Coifi decides to renounce his ancestral Gods and adopt the Christian religion. His real motive had nothing to do with a true spiritual revelation but was solely due to his realisation that a heathen High Priest would not fare well under a Christian king. So we see here the treason not only of Edwin, the secular ruler but Coifi, the religious reader. Like all conversions of the Germanic peoples they were from the top down, not genuine and subsequently enforced by violence. One can only speculate but it is highly probably that Coifi entered the Christian priesthood after his renunciation of the true Gods. Bede seeks to imply that Edwin's counsellors, his Witan of which Coifi was a member persuaded him to adopt the Christian religion but it is clear to me from the opening sentence that Edwin already had this as his intention and Coifi knowing 'which way the wind was blowing' took advantage of this. Bede being a Christian propagandist obviously has put his own 'spin' on the account which after 100 years became distorted anyway! Even Bede's own words make it clear what Coifi's motivation was-material gain!

It is more than likely that the church in Goodmanham, All Hallows was built upon the site of the heathen temple but contrary to what some allege it was not built from the materials of the temple. As most of my readers will be aware the Anglo-Saxons did not build temples of stone. All their structures were built of wood. The only part of the temple which would have been of stone is the altar. To the best of my knowledge no archaeological excavations have been conducted in the precincts of the church.

Bede makes it clear that Coifi was a High Priest and this implies that there was an organised priesthood. Some commentators claim that the Germanic peoples did not have an organised priesthood but this thinking is based on the faulty claims of Caesar in his De Bello Gallico:

"
The Germans differ much from these usages, for they have neither Druids to preside over sacred offices, nor do they pay great regard to sacrifices. They rank in the number of the gods those alone whom they behold, and by whose instrumentality they are obviously benefited, namely, the sun, fire, and the moon; they have not heard of the other deities even by report. Their whole life is occupied in hunting and in the pursuits of the military art; from childhood they devote themselves to fatigue and hardships. Those who have remained chaste for the longest time, receive the greatest commendation among their people; they think that by this the growth is promoted, by this the physical powers are increased and the sinews are strengthened. And to have had knowledge of a woman before the twentieth year they reckon among the most disgraceful acts; of which matter there is no concealment, because they bathe promiscuously in the rivers and [only] use skins or small cloaks of deer's hides, a large portion of the body being in consequence naked. " (Book 6, Chapter 21, translated by W.A. DeMcvitte and W.S. Bohn)

 We know that this was not the case as Tacitus writing in the following century makes reference to a Germanic priesthood. Both animal and human sacrifices were carried out by the Germans. It may be that Caesar intended to say that the priesthood of the Germans was not as structured as that of the Druids of Gaul but a priesthood it never the less was.

It is generally considered that the temple at Goodmanham was devoted to Woden but this is mere guesswork as Bede does not mention Woden or the name of any other Germanic God in the quoted passage above and generally Germanic temples were devoted to more than one deity. It is significant though that Coifi cast a spear into the temple in order to desecrate it. Weapons were forbidden in the sacred gatherings of the Teutons and Coifi through his actions makes this clear just as the priesthood was forbidden to bear arms and I note, to ride a stallion although permitted to ride a mare. By riding a stallion and bearing arms he soiled his office and by casting the spear into the temple he committed an act of blasphemy. The spear is of course the sacred weapon of Woden and the horse one of his totemic beasts so by riding a stallion and by using this type of weapon to commit his act of sacrilege it is assumed by some that this temple was devoted to Woden which may of course have been the case but we cannot be sure.

Another thing that we can glean from Bede's words is that the temple contained sacred images or 'idols' to use Bede's terminology and this is something which we should therefore encourage in our own rites and to use on our own altars. The temple appeared to have more than one altar and as this was the location of the High Priest it may have had a similar status and significance as the temple at Old Uppsala in Sweden. The next time that Goodmanham is mentioned is in the Domesday Book, commissioned by William the Conqueror. A sacred well is situated near the church and is dedicated to St. Helena, the mother of the Emperor Constantine the Great. It is more than likely that this well like so many others in England was in itself once a sacred heathen shrine.