Articles
Friday, December 9th, 2011
At Ethandun AElfred and Guthrum
with spear and shield sharp war-hedge
faced each other to fight for Wessex
messengers spoke insults exchanged
for spear and swordplay steadied the Danes
aimed at English arrows and darts
thrown like thorns they thickened the air
but bounced off mail and bit only shields
then Alfred ordered objects more cunning
than his system of burhs or splitting the fyrd
and like his ships’ forms not Frisian not Danish
but designed by himself splendid weapons
those blackened buns burnt at Athelney
thrown like shot-putts they thickened the air
bursting byrnies breaking linden
mashing mail-shirts and mangling bone
warriors felled by fire-hardened cakes
thus AElfred Triumphed at Ethandun
by Martin Vine
first published in Withowinde 120, Winter 1999
Articles, poetry, poetry
Friday, March 18th, 2011
The four alcoholic drinks of the Anglo-Saxons were beor, ealu, medu and win. Today we have similar names for some alcoholic drinks, i.e. beer, ale, mead and wine, and it is commonly, and quite naturally, assumed that our modern drinks must be similar to those bearing similar names in Old English.
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Anglo-Saxon Drinks, Articles
Thursday, September 16th, 2010
In the broadest terms, armour can be defined as protective equipment which is worn on the person (i.e. excluding the shield). Shield bosses are a common finding in early Anglo-Saxon cemeteries but finding evidence of a helmet or byrnie is incredibly rare. (more…)
Articles, Militaria
Wednesday, September 15th, 2010
There was an interesting article in Wiþowinde 147 from Eadmund (Malcolm) Dunstall bewailing the fact that incorrect information is often repeated and that on the periphery of Anglo Saxon studies there is one particular area where this ersatz information is particularly rife, and that is the area of Englisc Paganism. (more…)
Anglo-Saxon Paganism, Articles
Wednesday, September 15th, 2010
This is a beautiful jewel of a book. For those of you familiar with Jan Messent’s work, you will be expecting creativity and imagination, but this, in my opinion, surpasses her other publications (more…)
Articles, Book Reviews
Wednesday, September 15th, 2010
Published: Anglo-Saxon Books, 2008. ISBN: 978 189828151 1, 263 pages, paperback, £14.95.
Our ancient burial mounds, of which the Sutton Hoo set are the most well-known, are a mysterious and intriguing feature of our landscape, whether they occur singly or in groups. Stephen Pollington has produced an excellent and detailed reference book about them. (more…)
Articles, Book Reviews
Wednesday, September 15th, 2010
Published: Anglo-Saxon Books, 2009. ISBN: 978 1898281528 256 pages, paperback, £19.95.
Godwine, one of the most famous Englishmen of the 11th century, lived through the reigns of six kings – Æthelred the Unready, Edmund Ironside, Canute, Harold Harefoot, Harthacnut, and Edward the Confessor.
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Articles, Book Reviews
Wednesday, September 15th, 2010
Just who was the last King of Anglo-Saxon England? Was it Harold II, crowned at Westminster, dying a heroic death on the field of slaughter at Sandlake? Was it William the Bastard, who came to rule an Anglo-Saxon state, but left to his heirs a feudal Norman monarchy? Or is it Edgar Æþeling, sidelined by Harold, ignored by all until Harold’s defeat? (more…)
Articles, People
Wednesday, September 15th, 2010
There are only two churches in the great metropolis of London which house Anglo-Saxon sculpture. All Hallows by the Tower is the most famous, yet here its stone sculptures are hidden away in its undercroft museum. At St Dunstan and All Saints in Stepney they proudly display their Anglo-Saxon Rood in the east end of the church. The original position of the rood in the Anglo-Saxon church is unknown as the church which survives today only dates from the 13th century. (more…)
Articles, Places
Wednesday, September 15th, 2010
The earliest date linked to Eardwulf King of Northumbria is 790. You will not find this reference in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles. It appears in the early twelfth century writings of Simeon of Durham, precentor of the monastery there. Simeon claimed to have access to a Northumbrian Chronicle now lost. He writes in Latin and accords Eardwulf the title of ‘Dux’. This has been generally translated to mean “ealdorman”, but it seems only to be used in relation to ealdormen of some prominence. Eardwulf is mentioned by name twice in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles but most of our information concerning him comes from Simeon.
Of his parentage we know only that his father was also called Eardwulf and he is very likely to have been descended from Ida down the Bernician line of Kings. The last male representative of the Deiran line was Hereric, father of famous Hild, who was Abbess of Whitby. Perhaps it would be more prudent to say that Hereric is the last male of the Deiran house of whom we know. The old adage ‘Absence of Proof is not Proof of Absence’ was never better applied than to events in Anglo-Saxon England. It is unlikely that Eardwulf was a usurper and not ‘Woden-Sprung‘ otherwise he would have attracted the epithet ‘ungecynde cyng’ as did the usurper Ælle in 867.
To understand his place in the history of Northumbria it is necessary to consider the history of the kingdom in the latter half of the eighth century. (more…)
Articles, People
