{"id":143368,"date":"2026-02-18T08:59:00","date_gmt":"2026-02-18T13:59:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kendallharmon.net\/?p=143368"},"modified":"2026-02-18T05:24:52","modified_gmt":"2026-02-18T10:24:52","slug":"eleanor-parker-thu-eart-dust-and-to-duste-gewendst-aelfric-ash-wednesday-and-the-seafarer-7","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kendallharmon.net\/?p=143368","title":{"rendered":"(Eleanor Parker) \u2018\u00feu eart dust and to duste gewendst\u2019: \u00c6lfric, Ash Wednesday and \u2018The Seafarer\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n

On that Wednesday, throughout the world,
as it is appointed, priests bless
clean ashes in church, and then lay them
on people\u2019s heads, so that they may remember
that they came from earth and will return again to dust,
just as Almighty God said to Adam,
after he had sinned against God\u2019s command:
\u2018In labour you shall live and in sweat you shall eat
your bread upon the earth, until you return again
to the same earth from which you came,
for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.\u2019
This is not said about the souls of mankind,
but about their bodies, which moulder to dust,
and shall again on Judgement Day, through the power of our Lord,
rise from the earth, all who ever lived,
just as all trees quicken again in the season of spring
which were deadened by the winter\u2019s chill.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Read it all<\/a>.<\/p>

An Anglo-Saxon description of Ash Wednesday, written in the 990s.

The word 'Lent' comes from the Old English word for spring, 'lencten' – the season when the days are lengthening, when 'all trees quicken again which were deadened by the winter's chill'.https:\/\/t.co\/gW6skHKmRv<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/WMhTi9VyoC<\/a><\/p>— Eleanor Parker (@ClerkofOxford) February 18, 2026<\/a><\/blockquote>