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Category Archives: Anglo-Saxons
Those Brutal Middle Ages
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
Posted in Anglo-Saxons, Art, Bayeux Tapestry, History, Research
Tagged Angl-Saxons, Art, Battle, history, Medieval, Vikings
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Falling Stars, Bloody Moons and Dragons
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 Angl-Saxons, history, Medieval, Shadow on the Crown
4 Comments
What Happened at Corfe in 978?
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
Posted in Anglo-Saxons, History, Research, UK
Tagged Aethelred, Anglo-Saxons, architecture, history
8 Comments
Review: The Ceremony of Innocence, a play written in 1968 by Ronald Ribman
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 Aethelred, Anglo-Saxons, Art, Emma of Normandy, history, Medieval, Review
7 Comments
The Riddle of the Stones
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
Posted in Anglo-Saxons, History, Inspiration, Research, UK
Tagged Angl-Saxons, archaeology, Athelstan, Castlerigg, dolmens, history, Rollright Stones, Shadow on the Crown, Stone circles, The Price of Blood, Wales
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Surviving Despite the Odds: The Bayeux Tapestry
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
Posted in Anglo-Saxons, Art, Bayeux Tapestry, History, Normandy, Research
Tagged Angl-Saxons, Art, Battle, history, Medieval, Normans
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5 May 1010: The Battle of Ringmere
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 Angl-Saxons, Battle, East Anglia, history, Medieval, Ringmere, The Price of Blood, Vikings
4 Comments
Æthelred II – the Haunted King
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
Posted in Anglo-Saxons, Art, Essay, History, Research, UK, Vikings
Tagged Aethelred, Angl-Saxons, Ghost, history, murder, The Price of Blood
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Vikings 3, Episode IX: BREAKING POINT
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
Posted in Anglo-Saxons, History, History Vikings Review, Review, Vikings
Tagged Angl-Saxons, history, Medieval, Paris, Ragnar, Review, TV Series, Vikings
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Vikings 3, Episode VII: PARIS
In this week’s episode of the Vikings we have two story lines running side by side. In Frankia, Ragnar’s fleet arrives outside Paris. In England, King Ecbert introduces us to the word Bretwalda, and sends his son Æthelwulf to negotiate … Read More
Posted in Anglo-Saxons, History, History Vikings Review, Review, Vikings
Tagged Angl-Saxons, Ecbert, history, Medieval, Paris, Ragnar, Review, Set Design, TV Series, Vikings
4 Comments