Simonside Hills

The Simonside Hills are a hill range in Northumberland, England near the town of Rothbury. Most of the hills are around 300–400 m high and are popular spots for hikers in the area. The highest point is Tosson Hill at 440 m.

There are several single pitch rock climbing crags dotted along the hillside, notably Simonside North Face and Ravensheugh.

Etymology

In a document dated to 1279 Simonside was called Simundessete. By 1580 the name had become Simontside. The name may be a corruption of "Sigemund's seat" or "Sigemund's settlement". Sigemund or Sigmund is the name of an old Germanic hero from the Volsunga Saga and the Nibelunglied who is mentioned in the Anglo-Saxon poem Beowulf. WW Tomlinson, in his "Comprehensive Guide To Northumberland" (1916), stated that "Simon of mythology was, it seems, a domestic brewer to King Arthur, identical with the German Sigmund, and very fond of killing dragoons". [http://www.northumberlandnationalpark.org.uk/understanding/historyarchaeology/simonsidesacredmountain.htm] This points to the possibility that the Simon of Simonside Hill is the Sigemund mentioned in Beowulf and subsequently Norse and Teutonic myths. It is worth noting that in Scandinavia and Germany, Sigmund is not generally associated with dragon-slaying, his son Sigurd or Siegfried is. His killing of a dragon was mentioned in "Beowulf", however.

An alternative derivation for the name is a corruption of "seaman's sight", because the hills are visible from the North Sea. [http://www.northumberlandnationalpark.org.uk/understanding/historyarchaeology/simonsidesacredmountain.htm] . This is likely folk etymology however as the word "(ge)sete" means "seat" or "settlement" and not "sight". The Old English word for "sight" is "gesiht" [http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=Sight&searchmode=none] and the old English for seaman is "sæmanna" [http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=Seaman&searchmode=none] and thus "Seaman's Sight" is unlikely to have become "Simundessete" in Middle English.

Folklore

In Northumbrian folklore, malicious dwarves called duergar are said to attack walkers in the hills or lead them astray, especially at night.

References

*Grice, F, "Folk Tales of the North Country" (Thomas Nelson & Sons Ltd, London & Edinburgh, 1944) pp130–133

External links

* [http://www.thenmc.org.uk/pages/guide/index.php?v=3&s=3&id=8&sid=8 Simonside Hills] from the Northumbrian Mountaineering Club
* [http://www.northumberlandnationalpark.org.uk/understanding/historyarchaeology/simonsidesacredmountain/simonsidetheduergar.htm Grice's version of the story of "The Duergar"]
* [http://www.northumberlandnationalpark.org.uk/understanding/historyarchaeology/simonsidesacredmountain/simonsidestoriesandfolklore.htm Simonside Folklore]