Wayland's Smithy
Wayland's Smithy is a neolithic long barrow which lies in a grove of ancient beech trees on the Berkshire Downs, a short distance from the iron age hill fort called Uffington Castle and the Uffington White Horse. The Smithy is one of the most remarkable examples of a chambered passage tomb in all of Britain. It is mentioned by name in a charter dated 955 CE, and the first available sketches of the site are those which were done by the archaeologist John Aubry around 1670 CE. The present appearance of the tumulus results from the detailed excavations carried out by the archeologist Richard Atkinson.
Construction of the Smithy was carried out between 3700 and 3400 BCE, and there were two phases of construction. In the beginning a wooden mortuary structure with a stone floor was constructed, and it is in this first structure that fourteen articulated and disarticulated bodies were found during the excavations of 1962-1963. Afterward the mortuary structure was surrounded by Sarsen stones and then covered with a mound of chalk which was scooped from nearby ditches. It is no longer possible to see the first mortuary structure or the flanking ditches because they were completely covered over by the long barrow which was erected during the second phase of construction. When completed, the chalk mound measured 196 feet in length and varied in width from 20 to 50 feet. The chalk material which comprised the mound was moored firmly in place by a kerb of huge Sarsen stones encircling it. In the excavations carried out in 1919, eight skeletons were found in the barrow; and one was a child.
At the entrance on the south side, the passageway is almost 50 feet wide. A group of huge Sarsen stones, the tallest standing 10 feet high, are arranged in a row at the entrance; there were originally six of these stones, but four remain today. Inside the mound which is cruciform in shape, is a passageway 20 feet long with a chamber on each side of the passage and another chamber at the end of the passage. The capstones of the lateral chambers and the gallery are missing, but they are present in the terminal chamber.
In the last century, the grove of beech trees which surround the Smithy have grown very large and there is an ethereal or otherworldly ambiance to this site slumbering in the sunlight beneath the ancient trees. The Smithy received its name some four thousand years after it was built when Saxon settlers discovered the tomb and believed that it had been erected by one of their own gods, Wayland the Smith. The legend persists to this day, that Wayland the Smith inhabits the grove, maintaining his magical forge in the tomb, and that he will reshoe the horse of any passing traveler who leaves a silver penny beside the tomb. The traveler must turn away while his horse is being shod or the spell does not work.
Wayland the Smith
The name Wayland is of Teutonic origin and is also spelled Weland or Völundr. In Anglo-Saxon mythology, Wayland was a smith of legendary and magical skill, and he was sometimes also portrayed as the lord of the elves. His story is told in the Völundarkvida (one of the poems in the 13th century Edda), and in the 13th century Thidriks saga. Wayland is also mentioned in the Anglo-Saxon poem Waldere (in which Mimming was a sword of Weland's making), Deor Klagan (which tells of Wayland's sufferings at the hands of King Nidudr) and Beowulf (in which Beowulf's mailed corselet was spoken of as the "work of Wayland").
Wayland the Smith is an archetypal figure of great power in Anglo-Saxon legend, and one which occasionally bears sinister significance. In the British Museum in London is an eighth century Northumbrian panel which depicts the lame smith working in his forge on the island where King Nidudr kept him a prisoner.
The author Rudyard Kipling wrote eloquently of old British legends and their persistence in "Puck of Pook's Hill", and his wonderful book, which is not just for children, features an appearance by Wayland Smith and his sword.
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