From my blog...

Category Archives: Anglo-Saxons

England’s First City, circa A.D. 1000

Posted on October 9, 2015 by Patricia

For centuries the city of London has been the cultural, political and financial center of the United Kingdom. Turn back the clock some 1200 years though, and you will find that the royal and religious center of England was farther … Read More →

Posted in Anglo-Saxons, History, Research | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Those Brutal Middle Ages

Posted on October 2, 2015 by Patricia

I read a scholarly article recently which suggested that medieval warriors suffered from post traumatic stress syndrome, just as modern soldiers do. It also proposed that the fighting men of the middle ages were not the brutal savages that we … Read More →

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Falling Stars, Bloody Moons and Dragons

Posted on September 27, 2015 by Patricia

Tonight we will be able to witness a total lunar eclipse – the last in this year’s rare series of four such eclipses, which astronomers call a tetrad. This time round we have a harvest moon and a supermoon in … Read More →

Posted in Anglo-Saxons, History, UK | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

What Happened at Corfe in 978?

Posted on August 31, 2015 by Patricia

Today, the chalk hill of Corfe on the Isle of Purbeck in Dorset is crowned by the ruins of, for the most part, a 12th century Norman castle. But in Anglo-Saxon times a hunting lodge stood on the hill, and … Read More →

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Review: The Ceremony of Innocence, a play written in 1968 by Ronald Ribman

Posted on August 21, 2015 by Patricia

It is Christmas Eve in the year 1013. The king of England, Ethelred, has retired to a cell in a monastery on the Isle of Wight. He is mournful, despairing, and self-exiled from his court and kingdom due to remorse … Read More →

Posted in Anglo-Saxons, Art, History, Research, Review, Theatre, UK, Vikings | Tagged , , , , , , | 6 Comments

The Riddle of the Stones

Posted on August 10, 2015 by Patricia

They had arrived at last at a long, low ridge where the standing stone, its edges scored in primitive runes, pointed skyward. Athelstan checked his horse beside the ancient, lichen-covered stone. Gazing into the shallow vale beyond, he caught his … Read More →

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Surviving Despite the Odds: The Bayeux Tapestry

Posted on May 26, 2015 by Patricia

The Bayeux Tapestry, as you probably know, is not a tapestry. It’s an embroidery that tells the story of the Battle of Hastings and of the events leading up to it. The Tapestry is 224 feet long and roughly 18 … Read More →

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5 May 1010: The Battle of Ringmere

Posted on May 4, 2015 by Patricia

On 5 May in the year 1010, a great battle was fought between the Anglo-Saxons and the Danes at a place in East Anglia called Ringmere. In the fall of 2012, as part of the research for my novel The … Read More →

Posted in Anglo-Saxons, History, Inspiration, Research, UK, Vikings | Tagged , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Æthelred II – the Haunted King

Posted on April 22, 2015 by Patricia

On 23 April 1016, King Æthelred II died in London. He was about 50 years old, and he’d ruled England for 38 years. At his death he’d not yet been given the byname, Unræd, (ill-counseled, a play on the Old … Read More →

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Vikings 3, Episode IX: BREAKING POINT

Posted on April 19, 2015 by Patricia

A king is for glory, not for long life. Old Viking saying. The final image of the previous episode, ‘TO THE GATE’, is of a badly injured Ragnar vowing to conquer Paris. In this episode, the first image is, again, … Read More →

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