Unlike in the Nordic lands, place names including ‘hof’ are not usually found in England, though one example is Hoff in Cumbria. The word is found in OE as hof and meant enclosure, temple or sanctuary. Hof became a demonised word under christianity – evolving into the modern English word hovel, usually describing a run down property. I’ve noticed that English places named for a specific god often include -leah, or -ley in modern English, meaning a clearing in the woods or open land which suggests the majority of common folk prayed to the gods outdoors (or privately at home). The two largest heathen temples we know of at Yeavering and Rendlesham were both associated with royalty. Interestingly England’s hearg’s, hlæw’s and weoh’s (stone alters, burial mounds and shrines) are often named for their owner or the people who used them rather than the gods worshipped at them.
photo - Thursley common.
