cr: Kyle Campbell

Church at Burgheley House, Lincolnshire, UK

Porch

St Mary de Wyche ~ Wychbold

All Saints Church, Aldwincle, Northamptonshire.

Durham Cathedral's sanctuary knocker was cast in the 12th century

St. Peter, Devon; Dowland. ( Photographer not credited)

Church of St. Clement, Sandwich, Kent, Eng.

Salisbury Cathedral by leevistal.

Corbels of Kilpeck, 1140AD

Reepham Village Centre Norfolk.. by Adam Swaine Via Flickr: St Mary's Church.. St Mary, Reepham Reepham is one of those fine little Norfolk towns that must once have been fiercely independent in the days before there were commuters, and before shoppers could easily drive to the nearest edge-of-the-city supermarket. It has two churches in its churchyard, one hiding behind the other. The prominent one overlooking the old market place was the parish church of Whitwell, the one behind the parish church for Reepham. Once there were three churches in this churchyard, for the remains of the third survive to the south of Whitwell church.Reepham's three-in-one churchyard is in the centre of town. How did it come to be home to three churches? Churches that share churchyards are not common, but perhaps half a dozen examples survive in East Anglia, and there were once more. To understand why, it's important to remember the difference between a parish and its town or village, and what were once the functions of a parish church. The English parish system is ancient, dating back to Saxon times.

Here's a commission of Church Grim with spider lillies!

The Church Grim is a mythical creature from English folklore, that is said to be a guardian spirit that protects churches and churchyards. It is believed to take the form of a large black dog, often with glowing eyes, and is said to be the spirit of the first person to be buried in the churchyard. The Church Grim is said to be a friendly and protective spirit, but can also be mischievous and even vengeful towards those who disrespect the church or disturb its peace. The belief in the Church Grim is still present in some rural areas of England, although it has largely faded from popular culture in modern times.

Edward Bawden (British, 1903-1989), Wymondham Abbey, 1965. Watercolour, gouache, pen and ink and pencil on paper, 73.5 x 52 cm.

St Michael & All Angels

Salwarpe

St George's churchyard, Nuthampstead, Hertfordshire.

Church of St Mary the Virgin on a wintry night in Norfolk

omg soldier, poet, king is NOT a Christian worship song

folks on tiktok being like YALL DIDN'T KNOW IT WAS ABOUT JESUS??? and "better take it off my dnd playlist now!!!"

it's not about jesus holy fuck, i mean, it is, but it isn't.

Dear Wormwood is a concept album that uses biblical symbolism to talk about an abusive relationship. The Oh Hellos have a whole ass THING about retelling stories (biblical, mythological etc) to use to deal with your own story which is like...a whole thing in storytelling anyway (the new testament is a monomyth yall, Hero's Journey 1.0, in that regard everything is biblical)

Dear Wormwood is put in the context of someone writing letters (inspired by The Screwtape Letters, CS Lewis) to their abuser. "Soldier, Poet, King" is from the perspective of the protagonist, on the receiving end of the abuse, who (after the song "Exeunt") is escaping from the abuse and attempting to continue their life outside of it. The person who is the soldier, poet, king, is the protagonist. "your city" is the abusive relationship. "Wormwood" is the devil of this person's life.

If you look on Genius, yeah the story is about the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. In context? It's about the Second Coming of the protagonist. The rebirth they get after escaping.

The ending song of the album, "Thus Always to Tyrants", the last line of the album is

Where I go, will you still follow? Will you leave your shaded hollow? Will you greet the daylight looming? Learn to love without consuming?

The protagonist is attempting to mentally escape from the abuse, worried about carrying the trauma into the next relationship.

Soldier Poet King is not about Jesus. It's about fighting. It's about escaping the cycle of abuse. It's about the power that resides in stories, about people who have experienced this before and succeeded. It's about using those stories and learning from them.

Keep the shit on your dnd playlist, it's sort of the whole point.