Purpose and Etymology
The purpose of these earthworks remains a mystery, but as they are too small for military use they may have served to demarcate territory. Archaeologists agree that Iron Age peoples built the earthworks around 300 BC. Today, Grim's Ditch forms a section of The Ridgeway National Trail, a long distance path and one of the 15 National Trails in England and Wales.
The name "Grim's Ditch" is Old English in origin, and originates from Grim, one of the many names for the Anglo-Saxon god Wōden (called Odin by the Norse) and meaning "the masked one". Among Woden's many roles is that of a god of war, and it may be that the Anglo-Saxons perceived the earthworks as military in function and therefore ascribed them to him.
The name Graham's Dyke (an alternative name for the Antonine Wall) is a variant of Grim's Dyke.
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