Overview - Before Ebba- Family - Life - After Ebba - Common Questions
Ebba is one of the Northern Saints, a group which contributed to the conversion of the religion of the peoples of Northern Britain to Christianity.
For Ebba's people, the Angles, their Old Religion was headed by Wotan, a warrior and sky-god. Ebba's father was the King and as such he claimed to be descended from Wotan.
Like most religions, the Old Religion had great stories. To mention part of one Wayland the Smith, a lesser god, was able to make himself a flying machine and escape his cruel captor.
In Christianity there is only one God, although with three facets. The underlying principle is love. Ebba's people were impressed that Christianity told of a life after death.
For the majority of those in Scotland, after the Reformation of 1560, the honouring of saints ceased. To be specific by the 20th century even the location of the site of Ebba's monastery was in dispute. Modern study has rectified this.
Over the years most lives of the saints acquired fictitious stories. This present record of Ebba's Life tries to avoid such by consulting only the near contemporary works of Bede and Eddius. Other stories about Ebba which emerged later are viewed as fiction. These are listed here.
Modern writers of the lives of saints play down Ebba with an embarrassment at the nightly 'sins'of the community. This is attributed to Ebba becoming old and losing grip on the community. There is nothing unique in these 'sins'. Such natural activities have happened before and after Ebba's time including in such institutions and this need hardly be repeated here.
More importantly it is clear from the record that in the kingdom of Northumbria Ebba was a royal princess of some significance.