Mud Month

Mud Month, in old English, Solmonað.

Solmonað , the Old English name for February.

Pronounced SOHL-mo-nath (soft “th” as in that).

Think of it as the Sun’s month, the time when winter still lingers but the days start slowly lengthening.

The Anglo Saxons had a knack for calling things exactly what they were. February in Saxon England was the month when winter's grip began to loosen just enough to make a mess of things.

If you find yourself in the old heartlands of Wessex this February, walking the ridgeway paths above the Vale of the White Horse, or crossing the water meadows and woodland near Winchester, you might feel a kinship with those long ago farmers and herders. The mud is still there, after all, just as thick and just as honest as it was thirteen centuries ago.

And maybe, just maybe, you'll appreciate their straightforward naming. Because when your boots are caked with cold clay and the path ahead is nothing but churned earth, "February" doesn't quite capture it.

But Solmonað? Mud month?

That'll do nicely.