Wuffa Viking and Saxon Reenactment Society
Welcome to Wuffa
Wuffa is an early medieval Saxon and Viking reenactment group. We focus on portraying life in the 9th and 10th centuries, combining combat, crafts and living history.
We attend shows across the country, educating the public, sharing our knowledge and learning traditional crafts and skills from the past — all while having fun. We’ve even appeared as extras in TV shows!
What Does Wuffa Do?
Our activities can be divided into two main areas:
Combat and Living History.
Combat
We learn to fight using weapons of war from the past, including seaxes, axes, spears and swords, all in a safe and controlled environment. It’s also a great way to get some exercise that you won’t find in a gym!
Living History
Living History forms the basis of everything else you’ll see when we’re at shows. We aim to be as authentic to the 9th and 10th centuries as is practical.
Our members practise a wide range of traditional skills, from dyeing fabrics and yarns using historical recipes, to making clothes using traditional and endangered crafts, and sculpting clay into pots.
The Wuffings of East Anglia & Where We Get Our Name
The Wuffings were the royal family who ruled the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of East Anglia. Our knowledge of them comes mainly from two early sources: the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle and Bede’s Ecclesiastical History of the English People, written in the early 8th century.
The dynasty was named after Wuffa, an early king of East Anglia. Little is known about him, and his dates are uncertain. He was said to be the father of Tyttla, who was the father of Rædwald.
Rædwald, who died around 625, is the first Wuffing ruler for whom we have stronger historical evidence. He ruled East Anglia in the early 7th century and had at least two sons, Rægenhere and Eorpwald. Eorpwald was killed around 627 and was apparently succeeded by Ricberht.
Around 630, Sigeberht, possibly Rædwald’s stepson, ruled part of East Anglia before giving power to his relative Æthelric (or Ecgric). By about 655, Æthelwald was king, beginning a more peaceful period. The Wuffing dynasty disappears from the historical record after the death of Ælfwald in 749.
Bede states that the East Anglian kings were called Wuffings because they descended from Wuffa. A royal genealogy also traces the family back to Woden (Odin), although this combines traditional ancestry with mythology and should not necessarily be taken as literal history.
The name Wuffa appears to derive from the Old English word for wolf, possibly meaning “little wolf”. Wolf imagery is common in East Anglian archaeological finds from this period, including objects from the Sutton Hoo burial.
The Wuffings therefore occupy a fascinating place between history, legend and mythology, with the evidence becoming less certain the further back their family story goes.
