----slightly off-topic but about those trousers...that was one thing which really surprised me when I went to West Stow this July and was told by that lovely weaver (can't remember his name, sorry) that the A-S wore trousers like the ones he was wearing. Another thing was those floor-boards...
Is there any book about house-building in A-S times?
I am reading The Lost King of England, by Gabriel Ronay, this follows the trail of Edward the Aetheling and his brother following their exile from England, to Denmark, Sweden, Russia, Hungary and back to England.
You can read a taster below
http://www.historytoday.com/gabriel-ronay/edward-aetheling-anglo-saxon-englands-last-hope
Brian
I'd like your opinion.
The Beowulf I have is the Penguin Classics version but I've been hearing a lot about a fairly new version by Seamus Heaney. Is it very different from the Classic and is it worth buying?
---thanks to Peter Horn and Graegwulf for their comments on Seamus Heaney's version of Beowulf .
---thanks to Peter Horn and Graegwulf for their comments on Seamus Heaney's version of Beowulf .
Harumph!
;)
---I've just started reading 'A Thousand Years of Annoying the French'
... a book by Paul Binns called 'Conquest'...I assume you mean Stewart Binns (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Conquest-Stewart-Binns/dp/0718156773) ;)
... a book by Paul Binns called 'Conquest'...I assume you mean Stewart Binns (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Conquest-Stewart-Binns/dp/0718156773) ;)
Currently reading The Elder Gods by Steve Pollington and will be doing a review for the Wiðowinde.Must say it an exellent book so far ;DYes, isn't it? I was thinking of doing a review, but you may beat me to it. :) Mine would not be ready for the next edition.
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[ T]ough fearless warriors making up new songs, I'm reminded of the origins of rap and hip hop
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Now, are you telling me rap and hip hop did get started amongst military men? I’d be eager to hear more, if so.
That's why I mentioned hip hop. Now rap and hip hop is written down before hand before the rapper steps into the recording studio, but the origins of hip hop were that young tough black men hanging around on the streets, to pass the time, would make up extempore poetry. The function of this was to show off one's wit and the ability to choose words that rhyme. The connection was not with the military but with manliness.
The norse came up with Drottkvaett and hrynhenda - incredibly restrictive forms that also had incredibly convoluted language. Many of the norse writings suggest that the authors made up the poems on the spot. However, Egil Skallagrimsson, is said to have sat up all night trying to compose höfuðlausn, but I get the sense in Norse society, eloquence is an essential aspect of manliness along with being tough.
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I'm reading "An Alternative History of Britain: The Anglo-Saxon Age" by Timothy Venning at the moment. I will be reviewing it in the next Withowinde provided I get it read and written in time.
It's pretty interesting, and deals with a LOT more than 1066. In fact, it deals with events throughout the entire Anglo-Saxon period.
Can anyone recommend a good general book on AS culture and history. Some kind of tour round the AS world.Hello Andrew
Thanks, Andrew
---I've just bought Paul Kingsnorth's new book called The Wake, the one we have been discussing (somehwere!) in Old Modern English. At present, it's only on Kindle but is cheap at £3.99. If you haven't got a Kindle, you'll have to wait a while as it's not in print yet.
I bought it only a couple of minutes ago, so you'll also have to wait to hear what I think of it. Actually, as it is in this combined language, you may have to wait quite a while for me to decipher it!
May I commend “THE BATTLE OF HASTINGS, The Uncomfortable Truth” by John Grehan & Martin Mace (Pen & Sword, 2012)? It is a wholly convincing (though heavily emphasised) argument for the actual battle site to be a mile away from Battle Abbey. Oops, yet another clanger for the Norman ‘experts’. It also opens up and answers other questions in the tactical field, giving everyone a lot more credit for both courage and intelligence.
I should say that the abandonment of Greenland was due to the return of a mini iceage which swept south over northern Europe in the 14th century or so. If the inhabitants couldn't grow crops and if the fish went south to warmer waters, there would have been nothing left for them to eat.That's the thing, the Little Ice Age seems to have been a localised phenomenon rather than a uniform global dip in temperature: there is not much evidence for Greenland or Iceland becoming colder. And a colder climate would not necessarily result in a net reduction in resources: halibut like colder waters and seals are easier to hunt on pack ice. There is some evidence of climate stresses, mainly increased precipitation, and for environmental degradation from overgrazing, but nothing that would deliver the killer blow.
Ceawlin, if you have a look at an Ordnance Survey or contour map of the Sussex Pevensey Levels, you can see that the direct route from Pevensey to Battle would have been blocked by these vast marshlands. A good description of which,( by writer Tim Chivers) you can find at www.theislandreview.com/in-search-of-the-lost-islands-of-sussex/ (http://www.theislandreview.com/in-search-of-the-lost-islands-of-sussex/).
I retired to a Park Home estate on the edge of The Levels (White Dyke, Hailsham) a few years ago and have walked much of the area, in Roman times our home would have stood on the beach! The 'Hooes' or 'Eyes' of Pevensey are small islands on which small farms or stables stand. We have been informed by 'Levels' locals that legend has it that the Roman shore-fort cavalry kept their animals on Horse-Eye to keep their valuable mounts out of the grasping reach of the local Britains!
If William had indeed landed at the shingle ridge of Norman's Bay then he would probably have been forced to go east towhat is now the Bexhill area. It is for this reason that Green Street and Crowhurst have laid claim to being the site of the battle; but I personally think that the higher and safer ridge, nearer to Hastings and running via the Star Green and the Battle Railway Station area is a better bet. This area is to the south-east of the Abbey's defensive wall (a defence from later French attacks) on the main A2100, so perhaps Time Team got it right for once?
If you haven't already trudged it yet the '1066 Trail' is really worth a look, but if you do attempt it, then try to visit the Levels as well where you'll find a few local wildlife rarities ranging from Baby-Doll Southdown sheep to extremely large Raft Spiders!
There is certainly not much evidence for continued trade with the Scandinavian world, though royal monopolies meant that such trade would have been illicit and therefore possibly under-recorded; however, there is some evidence for trade with Britain, such as the discovery a Clan Campbell badge, though the opening up of a direct route across the Atlantic to the Grand Banks fisheries might have cut off this lifeline. But the Greenland colony should have been self-sufficient in the basics, even if short of imported trade goods. Timber imports should not have been a problem, as this had earlier been sourced from 'Markland' (and Markland timber had formerly been exported to Iceland).
I definitely read somewhere that the Little Ice Age brought further south the limit to which icebergs drifted, putting them bang in the sea lanes to Greenland and back. A sickle blade has been found in Greenland from about this time, sharpened away into a nail-pairing because of the shortage of iron this caused. Plus, walrus ivory was one of Greenland’s few ( or only, IIRC) regular exports and, by way of a double whammy, Europe was once again sourcing elephant ivory, so a) there were no vested interests outside Greenland to maintain sea connections and b) Greenland could no longer import timber, leaving Greenlanders with insufficient to build and maintain sea-going ships.
No doubt folk with better memories or the right books to hand will correct me, but I’m under the impression that Little Ice Age was the killer blow to the Greenland colonies.
Anglo-Saxon Art by Leslie Webster. Very accessible and sumptuously illustrated.
I have recently finished reading Justin Pollard's "Alfred the Great" and was wondering what anyone thought about the theory of Alfred being deposed during the attack at Chippenham on Twelfth Night 878?
Basically the suggestion is that Alfred had been doing a less than stellar job of being king so far and perhaps his witan were ready to make their own peace with Guthrum rather than support a sickly, losing (Reading, Basing, Meretun and Wilton) king. It seems the Archbishop of Canterbury was certainly unhappy with him andd the taxes required to pay off the Vikings.
The Viking attack at Chippenham on Twelfth Night 878 is not recorded in detail, but resulted in Alfred hiding out in the marshes of Athelney. There was no counter attack, no raising of the fyrd. And once Alfred was restored, it seems there were significant changes in the witan membership...
I had always been a bit confused about how the attack got through so easily, on the basis I assume the English weren't idiots and posted guards even for the feast. But I haven't found this idea referenced anywhere else in my (admittedly limited) reading.
Can anyone enlighten me?
Phyllis
Oh no, they are not adapting Cornwell's Alfred novels for TV are they? They will drown his legacy in fabrication and lies!! The Vikings will be the heroes >:(
I have recently finished reading Justin Pollard's "Alfred the Great"
I had not heard of Pollard so I checked out his Wikipedia entry. He has certainly had a chequered career! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Justin_Pollard
How unlike me not to google someone first!
Still, at least I have now learned some more about the Twelfth Night attack from that and also comments here :)
I had not heard of Pollard so I checked out his Wikipedia entry. He has certainly had a chequered career! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Justin_Pollard (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Justin_Pollard)
How unlike me not to google someone first!
Still, at least I have now learned some more about the Twelfth Night attack from that and also comments here :)
Hello everybody. I’ve begun to read Tim Severin’s Saxon: The Book of Dreams ( 2012 Macmillan ISBN 978-1-4472-1214-0) and trying to enjoy it. But I’m not getting very far and it’s bothering me. Clearly Severin can write and his research is above par, especially for a novel set in AD 780 and takes you from Mercia to Carolingian Gaul and thence to Moorish Spain. For all that it feels a bit light on the authenticity, with maybe too little description.
Has anyone else had this problem with Severin or is it just me?
Jared Diamond's "Collapse" has a good section discussing the Norse Greenland colonies and their demise, placed within a broader exploration of the response of human societies to (anthropogenic and non-anthropogenic) environmental change. It's well worth a read.
Ann Williams, The English and the Norman Conquest, which looks at the aftermath of the conquest from the English perspective.It promises to be fascinating.
Brian Bates' 'The Real Middle Earth: Magic and Mystery in the Dark Ages'. So far the ambition seems to exceed the scholarship, but I'm hoping that when he moves from the general to the specific it might settle down a bit. Has anyone read it and is it worth persevering with?
Brian Bates' 'The Real Middle Earth: Magic and Mystery in the Dark Ages'. So far the ambition seems to exceed the scholarship, but I'm hoping that when he moves from the general to the specific it might settle down a bit. Has anyone read it and is it worth persevering with?
I did try it and found it continued to be a bit disappointing. I guess it depends how strongly it is disappointing you. Assume it doesn't really pick up :)
I'm about half way through "Beowulf and Other Stories" at the moment and it's fantastic. I may be in danger of falling into LitCritMode - not what I wanted to do at all.
The information is packed, intelligent and very accessible. Each chapter introduces a new form of literature, with examples, translations (quite literal, which helps link it to the actual Old English, rather than being so free it's hard to see what word is which) and is never too heavy-going.
I'd definitely recommend it to anyone interested in getting a basis in the poetry.
If this is the book edited by North & Allard, you might also enjoy the 'Longman Anthology of Old English, Old Icelandic and Anglo-Norman Literatures', ed. by North, Allard, & Gillies, Phyllis.
Thanks for the tip! I do have some other similar anthologies but OE only, so will chase up this reference. I'm really enjoying the crossover with the sagas etc as I discover more!
I'm reading Hild, by Nicola Griffith, and Ishiiguro's The Buried Giant.