Most people know of the finds at Sutton Hoo and the Staffordshire Hoard, although it is not common knowledge that the golden artefacts found at both sites are similar in design to many found in the Upplands of Sweden - Uppsala, Vendel and Valsgard. The similarities are remarkable and a Swedish connection is obvious, even when the established scholars still stick to the 'Anglo-Saxon' ideas that have dogged the progress of our knowledge of the past here in England.
The Wuffingas of East Anglia, whose king (Raedwald) is deemed to be the one whose regalia was found at Sutton Hoo, are clearly the Wulfingas who occupied an area in Sweden in ancient times. Even today the Arms of Bury-St-Edmunds bears the Three Crowns and Crossed Arrows in the colours of Sweden - Gold and Blue. We can also find 'Uffington' which is in Oxfordshire where the Uffington Castle is, towering above Dragon Hill, and close to Wayland's Smithy. 'Uffington' stems from the Uffingas or Wuffingas - the Wulfingas.
Walsingham in Norfolk (East Anglia) is named after the Waelsingas or Wolsungas, and means 'Ham of the Waelsingas'. A 'ham' is the 'hamlet' or small village, so a Wolsunga presence can be found in East Anglia. There are many pieces found in the Staffordshire Hoard that are almost identical to those at Sutton Hoo, and also those found in Sweden. From the Sutton Hoo Mask we find the 'Dancing Warriors' and other 'Horned Warriors' connected to Woden it would seem, when we find that a Swedish Bracteate has a one-eyed 'dancing' figure on it.
The right eye of this figure is missing, the bracteate is from Sweden. Below is the Sutton Hoo Mask -
The area where the Staffordshire Hoard was found was, in Roman and pre-Roman times occupied by a tribe called the Cornovii which of course is a Romanised form but clearly means 'People of the Horn'. Since we find a very ancient Horn-Dance in the area this suggests that a Horned God was indeed worshipped in the area, and once again there seems to be a continuation of this into the times after the Romans left.
Interestingly, there is also a 'Stafford-Knot' found on a sword pommel, having a very interesting legend about its creation. It is said three men were to be hanged at the same time but not enough rope was available, so the hangman created a knot with three loops to hang all three at the same time. The open version of the knot is the 'Stafford-Knot' whilst when this is closed it becomes the Trefoil version of the Valknut. Horned God - Valknut - Woden - Crossroads (where the hoard was found) - what more do we need to link the area with Woden, perhaps into far more ancient times than historians are telling us.
The Long Man of Wilmington is also associated with Sweden, being the figure known as the Waendal; Vendel is one of the areas of the Upplands where these type of figures are to be found. The hill-figure has the same stance as the 'Dancing Warriors'; it is also like the Ear-Rune and Cweorth-Rune which can be found only in the Old English Rune-Row, Northumbrian Rune-Row, or Anglo-Frisian Rune-Row which some call it. It can also be found as a runic-posture on one of the Horns of Gallehus found in Denmark.
The Swedes (and Norwegians) were once ruled by Ingvi-Frey (Ingwe) and their royal lines were known as the Ynglingas ('Sons of Ingwe'). These tribes, guided by Woden and the Gods, crossed over here into England, perhaps at various times of our history, including pre-Roman times as we have seen. Going back to the sinking of At-al-land the Inglingas dwelt here in these lands, and today the English retain the Memory of Ingwe in the name, and are the only ones to do so which is important.
The names Upplands and Uppsala seem to be connected to the idea of 'upwards' most likely with the meaning of 'towards the Gods' and Asgard. There are similar burials to the one at Sutton Hoo to be found on the South Downs in West Sussex, overlooking Kingsley Vale. On the top of the hill overlooking this ancient Yew Forest is a large mound with a moat around it, together with a number of smaller mounds. The large one suggests a king or ruler, with the others being his tribal kinfolk. A battle between the English and Danes in the forest below, some 1000 years ago, is remembered by the planting of a Yew-Grove that remains there to this day.
There are four Bronze-Age burial-mounds on the top of the South Downs named 'Devil's Humps' or 'King's Graves', obviously Royal Mounds. All along the South Downs are such round-barrows, some dating back to the Bronze Age, and some from Anglo-Saxon times.
The name 'Uppsala' means something like 'Up-Hall' where 'sala' is the Swedish equivalent to the Old English sele meaning 'hall'. Originally, this term may well have been connected to the Old English selig meaning 'holy' or 'blessed', and connected to the Sun and to the Ancient Solar Religion. I have shown elsewhere how Silbury Hill near to Avebury has nothing to do with a 'Celtic King' named 'King Sil' but was originally Seleburg. The meaning has actually been confirmed since archaeologists found remains of a wooden structure on top of the man-made mound, dating from the 'Anglo-Saxon' era.
Silbury Hill, being the biggest man-made mound in Europe, would have been a Thing-Stead and even though the remains of the wooden structure are dated at a late time, this would have been used continuously by the tribes of this area from a much earlier date. This means that they would have recognised that their ancestors used this for the same purpose.
For some strange reason the Swedish influence here in England has been downplayed. Even when dealing with the later 'Vikings' these are Danes or Norsemen, and yet the most famous Vikings to come here were Ragnar Lodbrok and the sons of Ragnar Lodbrok - who originated in Sweden. The Wolsungas, Wulfingas and Heardingas are also overlooked, and are perhaps of vital importance to our history.
Helmets from Vendel and Valsgard have similar motifs as both those at Sutton Hoo and the Staffordshire Hoard, namely the serpent over the crown of the head, and the Dancing-Warriors with spears or swords. There is no doubt these were sometimes Ritual Masks dedicated to the worship of Woden. The influence of Swedish Tribes seems obvious.
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