The Wolf Who Watched a King
A long-form blog post written in the narrative voice of the wolf who guarded the severed head of St Edmund the Martyr. Blending myth, devotion, and medieval-style storytelling with reflection.
🐺 “I Was the Wolf Who Watched the King”
— A Chronicle from the Wildwood, Feast of St Edmund, November 20th
They call me beast. They name me predator.
But I have guarded a king.
Let the trees whisper it again, as they did that winter: that in the dark hour of conquest and cruelty, a creature not crowned nor cloaked with incense, stood vigil beside a severed head.
One whose lips still prayed.
❧
The wind bit sharp the day they took him.
East Anglia had trembled beneath the boots of the Norsemen….iron-willed warriors who feared no man and served no cross. King Edmund, young but wise, had refused to yield. He would not cast away his faith nor kneel before pagan lords. So they made him an example.
They tied him to a tree.
Shot him with arrows, each one a cruel confession of power.
And when his body slumped, they lopped off his head and flung it into the brambles.
I watched from the thickets.
Not as hunter. Not then.
But as something else… drawn not by blood, but by something I would learn was called “holiness.”
That night, the world went silent. No fox barked. No owl called. The forest breathed in mourning.
But then, a sound came.
A voice, clear and calm. “Hic. Hic. Hic.”
“Here. Here. Here.”
The monks who had fled found me first.
They dared not approach when they saw the flash of my eyes and the gleam of teeth. They thought I’d feast. But I had not come to consume.
I had come to keep.
For three nights, I lay beside him. The king’s severed head nestled in the roots of an oak, still warm with prayer. I did not sleep. I did not eat. I drove off the crows. I growled at the dark.
They say the holy are not afraid to die.
He was not.
But neither did he die alone.
❧
When the monks returned with trembling hands, they approached again.
And this time, I did not growl. I stood, backed away, and watched as they lifted the head reverently, tears falling like leaves. One among them whispered, “Truly, the Lord has sent even the wild things to guard His anointed.”
They brought the head to the body. And lo… by miracle or mystery… it joined without mark or decay. His face bore no wound. His lips, they said, still moved in silent prayer.
They named the place Hægelisdun, later Bury St Edmunds. They built an abbey. They sang his name in the halls of kings. They made coins with his crown.
But I did not stay for that. My part was done.
I returned to the forest.
❧
Centuries have passed. They built great stone places where once I prowled. Priests wear embroidered robes, and pilgrims leave coins at his shrine. They pray for courage. For truth. For a conscience that does not yield to terror.
They forget the wolf.
But that does not trouble me.
For I remember him.
The king who died for a truth he would not betray.
The man who met cruelty with calm.
The one whose martyrdom was not marked by rage, but by surrender.
And I, beast of fang and fur, was made… for a breath of time… not destroyer, but guardian.
So on this 20th of November, as bells toll and churches chant his name, let some part of your soul walk the woods again. Imagine the oak. Imagine the silence. Imagine the wolf who waited.
And remember: even wild things can kneel.
A short prayer/reflection
O God, who in the humble yet faithful reign of St Edmund the Martyr showed how even a king may die for the cause of righteousness: grant that we, following his example, may hold fast to our convictions, treat all with justice and mercy, and trust in your eternal Kingdom. Amen.
Gallery of St Edmund the Martyr’s Iconography
What you’ll find:
- Icons showing him crowned as king + pierced with arrows (his martyrdom symbol). (christianiconography.info)
- Medieval illuminations depicting the scene of his binding to a tree and execution. (Wikimedia Commons)
- Stained glass / church windows showing the motif of crown & arrows. (Alamy)
Usage note: These images are available in public repositories or good‑quality scans; if you need high resolution (print quality) I can help locate suitable free‑license versions or provide links.
🏛 List of 10 Notable Churches Dedicated to St Edmund the Martyr
Here are ten churches (and chapels) around the UK dedicated to him. With brief details and links.
- Church of St Edmund King and Martyr, Lombard Street, London..City of London. One of the most notable dedications. (Wikipedia)
- Roman Catholic Church of St Edmund King & Martyr, Westgate Street, Bury St Edmunds (Suffolk). Built 1836‑37; important site of his cult. (Taking Stock)
- St Edmund’s Church, Southwold (Suffolk). 15th‑century Perpendicular church on the coast, dedicated to him. (National Churches Trust)
- St Edmund’s Church, Mansfield Woodhouse (Nottinghamshire). Parish church dedicated to him, active today. (Wikipedia)
- St Edmund’s Church, Fenny Bentley (Derbyshire). Grade II* listed parish church with 13‑14th‑century origins. (Wikipedia)
- St Edmund’s Church, Forest Gate (East London). Anglo‑Catholic church dedicated to St Edmund. (Wikipedia)
- Church of St Edmund, Kellington (Yorkshire).Listed among dedications to St Edmund. (Wikipedia)
- St Edmund’s Chapel, Dover (Kent). A medieval wayside chapel dedicated to him (1262). (Wikipedia)
- St Edmund’s Church, Crickhowell (Powys, Wales). Early 14th‑century church dedicated to him.
- (West Midlands). Large parish church dedicated to Edmund, rebuilt c.1724.
