Wéodmónath means „month of weeds", for the wild growth now stands thickest. At the same time, with Lammas, the grain-harvest begins – the month tips from rank growth into gathering in.
Name & Meaning
Bede glosses Wéodmónath as „month of tares/weeds", most plentiful at this time. On 1 August falls Hlāfmæsse – „loaf-mass", English Lammas: the first bread from new grain. German Ernting/Erntemond means the same.
Work & Custom
Now the grain-harvest begins: sickling, binding sheaves, stooking; and weeding what runs rank between the stalks. In the Old English Menologium August is the fullest month – Lammas and the harvest mark it. Into the harvest-thanks window falls the modern Freyfaxi too.
Bede’s Testimony
Wéodmónath, „month of tares", because they are most plentiful at that time.
— Bede, De temporum ratione ch. 15.
Sources
Bede, De temporum ratione ch. 15; Old English Menologium (August/Lammas); Hlāfmæsse 1 August.