hēafod-bān

Posted on October 31, 2025 by Hana Videen

hēafod-bān, n: skull. (HAY-ah-vod-BAHN / ˈheːa-vɔd-ˌbaːn)

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Medieval manuscript image of a fish swimming over a grinning skull. — Hours of Saint-Omer; France, c. 1320; British Library, Add 36684, f. 88r. [discardingimages.tumblr.com]

grislīc

Posted on October 30, 2025 by Hana Videen

grislīc, adj: grim, horrible; inspiring terror, horror or awe. (GRIZZ-leech / ˈgrɪz-liːtʃ)

cwic-sūsl

Posted on October 29, 2025 by Hana Videen

cwic-sūsl, f/n.n: living torment, eternal punishment; hell. (KWITCH-soo-zull / ˈkwɪtʃ-ˌsuː-zəl)

Medieval manuscript illustration of people being tormented in hell, including two people being eaten by the two heads of a long-necked creature and a woman having her hair combed by a demon while other demons hang off of her playing musical instruments. — Apocalypse; Belgium, c. 1313; Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Français 13096, f. 86v. [discardingimages.tumblr.com]

dēaþ-wyrda

Posted on October 28, 2025 by Hana Videen

dēaþ-wyrda, pl.f.n: death-events, fates. (DAY-ath-WUER-da / ˈdeːaθ-ˌwyr-da)

Medieval manuscript image of a crowned, haloed woman looking down at a man in pilgrim’s garb lying dead on a bed; a black-cloaked figure bearing a scythe in one hand and a ring in the other sits on the end of the bed. — Le Pèlerinage de la vie humaine (Pilgrimage of the human life); France, 14th century; Bodleian Library, MS. Douce 300, f. 121v. [digital.bodleian.ox.ac.uk]

hlǣw

Posted on October 27, 2025 by Hana Videen

hlǣw, m.n: barrow, burial mound; low rounded hill. (H’LAEW / ˈhlæːw)

heoru-drēor

Posted on October 26, 2025 by Hana Videen

heoru-drēor, m.n: blood, gore (caused by a battle). (HEH-or-ruh-DRAY-or / ˈhɛɔ-rʌ-ˌdreːɔr)

self-ǣta

Posted on October 25, 2025 by Hana Videen

self-ǣta, m.n: ‘self-eater’, an eater of those belonging to its own species, (applied to humans) a cannibal, anthropophagus. (SELF-AT-ah / ˈsɛlf-ˌæː-ta)

Medieval manuscript image of a naked anthropomorphic figure chewing on a human foot still attached to a leg, their free arm looped through another leg, their hand grasping the hair of a human head. — Anthropophagus; Flanders, 13th century; Getty Museum, Ms. Ludwig XV 4, f. 117r. [getty.edu]

egeslic

Posted on October 24, 2025 by Hana Videen

egeslic, adj: terrible, dreadful, frightening, terrifying. (EH-yez-litch / ˈɛ-jɛz-lɪtʃ)

becola

Posted on October 23, 2025 by Hana Videen

becola, m/f.n: spectre, witch. (BEH-koll-ah / ˈbɛ-kɔ-la)

dēaþ

Posted on October 22, 2025 by Hana Videen

dēaþ, m.n: death. (DAY-ath / ˈdeːaθ)

Medieval manuscript image of a skull walking on two feet and wearing a black bishop’s mitre. — Hours of Saint-Omer; France, c. 1320; British Library, Add 36684, f. 84v. [discardingimages.tumblr.com]

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