Saint Alkelda (Old English: Hǣlcelde, "healing spring"; died on 28 March c. 800), also spelt AlceldaorAlchhild, was ostensibly an Anglo-Saxon princess of whom almost nothing is known and whose existence has been questioned.[1]
Legend has it that she was an Anglo-Saxon princess,[2] and probably also a nun, who was strangled by pagan Viking women during Danish raids in about 800 at MiddlehaminYorkshire. She is patron of the churchatGiggleswick and also of that of Middleham, the church there having a holy well, but of no others. She may have been in addition abbess of a monastery at Middleham.
The area is known for its many springs, some very near the sites of these churches. With no documentary reference to this saint until the late Middle Ages, it has been surmised that the name Alkelda is a corruption of an Anglo-Saxon word, haligkelda, meaning holy spring.[3] However, this has been contested,[4] also with claims that she may actually have been Icelandic, from Ölkelda, and her reputation brought to YorkshireinNorthern EnglandbyVikings, where she became associated with holy springs such as Giggleswick.[4]
Her feast day is 28 March.
