Wolves of Mercia

Anglo-Saxon carvings of various beasts lurk in some of the quieter churches of the Midlands. Here is a wolf and dragon from St Mary's at Deerhurst, and another wolf from St John the Baptist's at Tredington.

It's interesting to note that the wolves are on the door archways, protecting the entrance - this must have meant something spiritually unique to the Anglo-Saxons who both revered and reviled them. Hunted in their hundreds but held up as a symbol of cunning warfare and resistance.

The Danish King Cnut would become ruler of all England but first he had to defeat the valiant resistance of Edmund Ironside and his army. The two would-be kings met just a couple of miles from Deerhurst to agree on a truce in 1016 - perhaps the wolves were carved in support of Edmund?