00:01:24.200and find out about these high holy days.
00:01:28.120As stated, August 1st. Hey, that's today. We celebrate the Day of Remembrance for King Osric of Deira. We unfortunately don't know what year he was born, but we do know he passed away beyond the veil on 634 of the Common Era.
00:01:49.760King Osric of Deira was one of the shortest-lived kings of any of the 7th century CE collection
00:01:57.640of kingdoms, and made up what was later to be known as England.
00:02:03.900At the time, there were seven kingdoms, known as the Heptarchy.
00:02:09.560One of those kingdoms was Northumbria, which was originally divided into the two kingdoms
00:02:15.080of Bernicia in the north and Deira in the south. These two kingdoms would first be united
00:02:23.120during the reign of King Æthelfrith, who reigned from 593 to 616 Common Era. The two
00:02:31.700kingdoms were in a near constant state of war with each other for centuries, which led
00:02:41.820To tell King Osric's story, we first have to tell the story of Edwin of Northumbria.
00:02:49.180Edwin was the son of Aela, the first known king of Daera.
00:02:54.280Upon Aela's death, a certain Æthelric assumed power in Daera.
00:02:59.160Who Æthelric was is unclear, but he may have been the father of Æthelfrith, who is listed
00:03:05.820as the king of all Northumbria by the year 604. During the reign of Aethelfrith and for
00:03:12.820reasons unknown, Edwin was sent into exile. He was fostered first in the kingdom of Gwynedd,
00:03:20.060modern day southern Wales, and then later turned up around the year 616 in East Anglia
00:03:27.460under the protection of King Redward. That same year, Aethelfrith was defeated in battle
00:03:34.460by Redwald, who installed Edwin as his client king in Northumbria.
00:03:40.900With the support of such a powerful overlord, Edwin would go on to unite Northumbria again,
00:03:47.560which put the kingdom under the control of a native of Daera for the first time,0.82
00:03:52.980something considered outside the normal tendency.
00:03:57.580Edwin would go on to take over most of England with Redwald for the next decade,
00:04:02.240until the death of Redwald around 625.
00:04:07.060After Redwald's death, Edwin sought to secure even more power for himself through marriage
00:04:13.120and sought the hand of Edelberg, sister of Edbald of Kent.
00:04:19.640Edbald agreed on the condition that Edwin would convert to Christianity,
00:04:25.140believing that doing so would convert the Northumbrians
00:04:28.200just as his parents' marriage had converted Kent.
00:04:32.240Edbald himself holds the dubious distinction of being the first Anglo-Saxon king to convert to Christianity.
00:04:42.660It should be noted that this time period in English history, in regards to faith and religion, was tumultuous.
00:04:52.320Christian monks of every stripe were working hard to convert the kings and other nobility
00:04:58.860in their aim to have all kings bend the knee to their new master.
00:05:05.780Edwin himself was characterized as being unsure of conversion
00:05:09.860and even after his marriage he still sought the advice of his counselors throughout the matter.
00:05:16.340The account of this, meeting by the venerable Bede, is widely cited and includes the famous story of Cuefi, a pagan priest who, when asked what he thought of the new faith and its rules, stated that they may be worthwhile since no one has been more dedicated to the old gods, and he has gained no benefit from them.
00:05:40.420another counselor agrees and edwin makes his decision to convert coife then asks to be the one to destroy the old pagan temple
00:05:51.520since he now knows the true god has given him knowledge and doing so will set a good example to the public he asks for a horse and a spear rides through the doorway of the temple
00:06:07.380and profanes it by casting the spear into it.
00:06:12.020We aren't given any insight into why this profaned the temple,
00:06:16.380but there were associations made by historians to connect it with the spear that pierced Jesus.
00:06:24.280Edwin went on to become the most powerful king among the Anglo-Saxons,
00:06:29.260when a coalition of one of his foster brothers from his time in Wales, Cadwaran,
00:06:34.660and the mighty Asatru king, Pinda of Mercia, defeated his forces and killed him at the battle of Hatfield Chase.
00:06:44.480This battle took place sometime in the autumn of 632, or possibly 633, sources are unsure.
00:06:53.460What we do know is that shortly after his death, his vast kingdom was split up,
00:06:59.180When Northumbria once again divided, Berenicia would go to his nephew, Ienfrith, son of his sister, Akja.
00:07:10.180Dera would go to Osric, his cousin, son of his uncle, Eurufric.
00:07:16.680This brings us to the summer of 633, when King Osric and King Ienfrith ruling their respective sub-kingdoms,
00:07:25.480kingdoms, having themselves superficially accepted a new faith. However, according to
00:07:32.300Bede and other historians, they promptly dropped the facade of being good Christians, and reverted
00:07:40.080back to their native faith, Asithru. Their rule would not last a year, with Osric failing
00:07:48.200to the same Cadwallan that had helped to slay Edwin, after he attempted to besiege him in
00:07:54.340a fortified town. According to Bede, in his Ecclesiastical History of the English People,
00:08:01.580the year that Infrith and Osric ruled their sub-kingdoms, was so abhorrent because of
00:08:08.000their return to paganism that the reigns were effectively erased and added to the reign0.72
00:08:14.440of Oswald of Berenicia. Oswald was a staunch convert and was later made a saint.
00:08:21.460While we don't know much about the life and thoughts of Osric, we should still speak his name and remember him.
00:08:32.540At a time in our history when one's faith could be, and often was, a matter of life and death,
00:08:39.600Osric chose to spend the brief time that he had in power to reinstate the Aesir to their proper place.
00:08:47.420So let us remember King Osric of Daera, a short-lived champion of the Aesir, but a champion nonetheless.
00:14:31.600Freyfaxi at Baldershof will be coming up in just a few short weeks.
00:14:36.860It's going to be hosted on Friday, August 16th through Sunday, August 18th.
00:14:42.240And that weekend will include nine meals, daily fika, five blots, high sambal, some daily dedications and devotions, ceremonies of the folk, discussions, workshops, and classes, men's and women's spiritual groups, tournaments, games, crafter's tables, an auction, and children's activities are galore.