And here we are, at yet another Twitter feed week-in-review.
Anglo-Saxons:
The 8th of March being Women’s Day, it seems look a good place to start today is with an article on the participation of women in Anglo-Saxon world. Having read that, now imagine the life of women in London during the reign of Alfred (here’s a shorter article on the same topic by the same author, in case you are bit lazy today). With that out of the way, go over to the BBC website and watch, among others, a program on Sutton Hoo. After watching the Sutton Hoo program, you might feel inspired to read some Beowulf. Of course, if you don’t already know Old English but do know Latin, you could start by reading about Grimm’s law and Verner’s law to see how the Germanic languages differ from Latin phonologically; after that, go and read Ælfric’s Grammar.
Norse:
Having just mentioned London above, it seems a good time to also offer you an article on the Viking attack on London Bridge. Of course, while the men were off attacking bridges, the women were back home taking care of the homestead and engaging in such activities as traditional Icelandic embroidery. When the men arrived back home, I’m sure they had quite a few tales to tell. Over time, many of those traditional tales have disappeared, but there are attempts to save the dying oral tradition of Faroese Skjaldur. Besides telling tales, I bet the men had to occasionally engage in a bit of fixer-upper work at home. As it turns out, oddly enough, Viking weather-vane practices even spread to medieval France. I guess Vikings loved their weather vanes. I wonder if a new dig to begin at a Viking royal estate in Norway will yield any finds of weather vanes! One thing that most likely won’t be found is anything related to martyrdom in post-conversion Scandinavia, given that the dig is at the estate of a pagan king.
Celts:
For the crafty Celt-lover, this how-to guide on making your own Celtic knotwork bracelet might be of use. Once you’ve made your Celtic bracelet, why not let the Irish-speaking world know via social networking in Irish, although of course in that case you should know the Irish language. If you know the Welsh language instead, then let your Welsh friends see your handiwork. While at it, show them the face of Owain Glyndŵr revealed and tell them to visit a recently re-opened medieval Welsh castle. A great number of the castles in Wales are a result of the conquest of Wales by the English King Edward I. How might things have been different had Llywelyn ap Gruffydd led a successful revolt?
In celebration of its 50th anniversary, the Cornwall Archaeological Society holds competitions for both adults and children. Why not enter in one of the competitions and impress the judges with your knowledge of territoriality in medieval west Cornwall?
Census time approaches soon in the UK, and as I’ve mentioned many times recently, for the first time ever there will be a question about Scots in the census. The issue of language has long be a cause of tension in Scotland. In fact, one of Scotland’s language myths is that Scottish Gaelic never had any presence in the Lowlands – this myth undoubtedly stems from several centuries of English suppression of the indigenous Scottish languages. One argument used by those who say Gaelic had no presence in the Lowlands is that the place-names come from Pictish and Cumbric. An example of a Cumbric personal name is Gwenddoleu, a mytho-historical ruler from 6th century northwest Cumbria. I wonder if the Cumbrian rulers wore something similar to a Pictish chain of silver.
Þæt Eald-Ænglisce Blog 