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Havelok the Dane, also known as Havelok or Lay of Havelok the Dane, is a Middle English romance story. The story, however, is also known in two earlier Anglo-Norman versions. Most scholars place Havelok the Dane at the end of the thirteenth century, between 1280 and 1290. The name “Havelok” also has many variations in spelling, and can found as “Haveloc” or “Havelock.” Early versions also use the Welsh form of “Abloec.”
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Adder stone is a type of stone, usually glassy, with a naturally-occurring hole through it. Such stones have been discovered by archaeologists in both Britain and Egypt. In Britain they are also called hag stones, witch stones, serpent’s eggs, snake’s eggs, or glain neidyr in Wales and milpreve in Cornwall. In Egypt they are called aggry or aggri. Adder stones were believed to have magical powers such as protection against eye diseases or evil charms, preventing nightmares, curing whooping cough, and of course recovery from snakebite. According to popular conception, a true adder stone will float in water.
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Flibbertigibbet is a Middle English word referring to a flighty or whimsical person, usually a young female. In modern use, it is used as a slang term, especially in Yorkshire, for a gossipy or overly talkative person. Its origin is in a meaningless representation of chattering.
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An elf is a creature of Germanic mythology. The elves were originally thought of as a race of minor nature and fertility gods, who are often pictured as youthful-seeming men and women of great beauty living in forests and underground places and caves, or in wells and springs. They have been portrayed to be long-lived or immortal and as beings of magical powers.
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Drake’s Drum is a snare drum that Sir Francis Drake took with him when he circumnavigated the world. Shortly before he died he ordered the drum to be taken to Buckland Abbey, where it still is today, and vowed that if England was ever in danger someone was to beat the drum and he would return to defend the country. According to legend it can be heard to beat at times when England is at war or significant national event takes place.
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The term “cunning man” or “cunning woman” was most widely used in southern England and the Midlands, as well as in Wales. Such people were also frequently known across England as “wizards”, “wise men” or “wise women”, or, in southern England and Wales, as “conjurers”. In Cornwall they were sometimes referred to as “pellars”, which some etymologists suggest originated from the term “expellers”, referring to the practice of expelling evil spirits. Folklorists often used the term “white witch”, though this was infrequently used amongst the ordinary folk as the term “witch” had general connotations of evil.
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