Why are May bonfires important?

 

 

In many regions of Europe people celebrate May day, or the day before, by lighting bonfires. In Ireland they call it Beltaine, in Sweden they call it Valborg, and in both countries you will see people gather around enormous fires. But why?

The roots go back not only to the pagan religions of Celtic and Germanic Europe, but even further, to their shared origins. The earliest reference to Beltane in Ireland is from the 10th century and associates it with bonfires and a Celtic pagan god whose name is something like Belenus. This god has Indo-European roots as we also see a Slavic equivalent called Belobog “The white god” and an English god called Bældæg.

Swedes gather at the ancient barrows of Gamla Uppsala while the Valborg fire burns behind them

 

The Bel part of Beltane and Belenus means “bright” and is cognate with the Old English bæl meaning “bale” as in bale-fire “funeral fire/bonfire”. Bældæg is a god attested in Anglo-Saxon royal genealogies as the son of the god Woden. His name means “bale day” or “pyre day” and he is the same god as the Norse Baldr, son of Odin. In Norse myth the god Baldr is associated specifically with a funeral pyre and this is likely the reason for the name Bældæg “pyre day”.

The name of the Anglo-Saxon Saint Walburga replaced earlier names for the May fire festivals in Germany and Sweden which became Walpurgis and Valborg respectively. But thanks to Grimm we know that previously the Germans celebrated Pholtag “Phol day” and Phol is also another name for the god Baldr.

 

 

The evidence from Germany and England confirms that Baldr was the god of the Spring bonfire in the Germanic regions of Europe, while the Gaelic regions had a similar custom for their god Belenus.

The EU has introduced a new law which bans May bonfires and therefore infringes on the religious rights of European pagans to practise their ancient customs. Our right to practice our religion must be defended at all costs.


READ AND WATCH MORE:

VIDEO: May day traditions in Cornwall and Devon 

May Day and Easter have Pagan origins 

VIDEO: Pagan May Ritual in North Devon: The Earl of Rone 

Tories threaten May day (2011) 

VIDEO: 1953 May rites in Padstow 

May Day and Easter Goddess of Dawn

May Day and Hal an Tow

Today is May Day! a very important day in the English calendar. It was three years ago that I wrote an article about the threat posed to May Day by squabbling political groups. Well May day hasn't been lost yet! Whatever Cameron and the Communists might be doing, sensible folk should be joyfully celebrating the coming of Spring.

As well as the famous Maypole, based on pagan fertility cults, there are many other folk traditions in England which welcome in the May. One such tradition is found in the ancient Cornish song "Hal an Tow" It has been sung on May Day as a part of the May celebration in Helston, Cornwall for centuries. The Watersons sang Hal-an-Tow in 1965 on a BBC TV documentary called Travelling for a Living. See the video below.




 The video below shows how the song is integrated into the May Day celebrations in Helston.



The lyrics vary and are sung differently by various groups. Here are the lyrics to the Waterson's version sung in the video.

 Since man was first created
 His works have been debated
 We have celebrated
The coming of the Spring  

Chorus

Hal-an-tow, jolly rumbalow
We were up long before the day-O
To welcome in the summer,
 To welcome in the May-O
The summer is a-coming in And winter's gone away-O

What happened to the Spaniards
That made so great a boast-O?
 Why they shall eat the feathered goose
And we shall eat the roast-O

Take no scorn to wear the horn
It was the crest when you was born
 Your father's father wore it
And your father wore it too

 Robin Hood and Little John
 Have both gone to the fair-O
And we will to the merry green wood
To hunt the buck and hare-O

God bless Aunt Mary Moyses
 And all her power and might-O
And send us peace to England
Send peace by day and night-O