Boudicca’s Revolt
The Romans conquered Britain over the course of one hundred and fifty years. Julius Caesar was the first to attempt it. He established a beachhead in the east, but never got further into the country despite multiple expeditions. “His first expedition, however, was ill-conceived and too hastily organised. With just two legions, he failed to do much more than force his way ashore at Deal and win a token victory that impressed the senate in Rome more than it did the tribesmen of Britain. In 54 BC, he tried again, this time with five legions, and succeeded in re-establishing Commius on the Atrebatic throne. Yet he returned to Gaul disgruntled and empty-handed, complaining in a letter to Cicero that there was no silver or booty to be found in Britain after all.” http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/romans/questions_01.shtml 100 years later, in 43 AD, the Emperor Claudius determined Read more…
Happy (Roman) New Year!
In the Roman calendar before Caesar, a year consisted of 12 months, for a total of 355 days plus an intercalary month between February and March. For the Romans, the ideal intercalary cycle consisted of ordinary years of 355 days alternating with intercalary years (377 and 378 days long). On this system, the average Roman year would have had 366¼ days over four years, giving it an average drift of one day per year. Later, it was refined so that for 8 years out of 24, there were only three intercalary years, each of 377 days. This refinement averages the length of the year to 365¼ days over 24 years. In practice, intercalations did not occur as they should, according to the whims of the priest in power at the time. According to Wikipedia: If managed correctly this system allowed the Read more…
Santa Claus and the Wild Hunt
The origins of Santa Claus, like most Christmas traditions, are rooted in a blend of Christian and pagan traditions. ‘Santa Claus’, as he is currently represented in the United States, most resembles Sinterklaas, the Dutch St. Nicholas. “In the year 303, the Roman emperor Diocletian commanded all the citizens of the Roman Empire, including the citizens of Asia Minor, to worship him as a god. Christians, who believed in only one god, resisted the emperor’s orders and as a result were imprisoned. Saint Nicholas was among the many imprisoned. He was confined for more than five years, until Constantine came to power in 313 AD and released him. Later in life, Saint Nicholas became the Archbishop of Myra and the guardian of merchants, sailors and children. He performed many good deeds including miracles. It is said that Saint Nicholas stopped storms Read more…
What is the significance of ‘After Cilmeri’?
Today is the anniversary of the death of Llywelyn ap Gruffydd in a field at Cilmeri, Wales. I titled my books after Cilmeri because the books are an alternate timeline of what happened after the death of Llywelyn ap Gruffydd at Cilmeri. It has been over 700 years since Llywelyn ap Gruffydd’s death on 11 December 1282. J. Beverley Smith writes: “Intimations of treachery, of breach of faith, are so often conveyed darkly, and no chronicle, nor any other source, provides the unequivocal testimony which might enable us to unravel the threads in the various accounts of the tragic happening in the vicinity of Builth. It was alleged at the time, or shortly afterwards, in the most explicit statement we have, that the prince’s decision to venture into the area was influenced by one of the sons of his old Read more…
The Eagle (movie review)
At last! At long last! A movie set in Roman Britain that I really quite liked! Though … I just looked The Eagle up on the tomato-meter which gives this movie a 39. Wow. I thought it was way better than that and here’s why: 1) The book. The Eagle of the Ninth is a wonderful book by Rosemary Sutcliffe. It was one of my mother’s favorite books and she gave it to me to read in one of those old hardback editions with fraying edges. A story of a son trying to redeem his family’s honor after his father led the Ninth Legion to their doom in Scotland. Great stuff. The movie follows the book plot better than you might expect. 2) The beginning. It drew me in. I felt for this guy. I wanted to find out what Read more…
The Earliest Universities
My second child graduates from college this year. I’m sort of stunned that we’re here already 🙂 But millions of kids have gone before him, dating all the way back to 1088. “The word university is derived from the Latin: universitas magistrorum et scholarium, roughly meaning “community of teachers and scholars”. The term was coined by the Italian University of Bologna, which, with a traditional founding date of 1088, is considered the first university. The origin of many medieval universities can be traced to the Christian cathedral schools or monastic schoolswhich appear as early as the 6th century AD and were run for hundreds of years as such before their formal establishment as university in the high medieval period.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_oldest_universities_in_continuous_operation The next three oldest schools are the The University of Salamanca in 1134 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Salamanca), The University of Paris in 1150, and University of Oxford. The dates of all these vary depending upon Read more…
A Welsh Pronunciation Guide
I have other pronunciation guides to Welsh elsewhere (here, and here and Welsh Idioms here), but I made up a cheat sheet for some common names and places and thought I’d share. This is a rough approximation or English speakers. Remember, the /ll/ sound is not known in English and is something of a breathy ‘sh’ sound where you kind of blow out your cheeks while your tongue is on the roof of your mouth. Abergavenny –Ah-bare-gah-VENN-ee Aberystwyth –Ah-bare-IH-stwith Afon Arthog – AH-von ARE-thog Angharad –Angh-AR-ad Anglesey – (this is a Viking name, so not a Welsh pronunciation) Berwyn – BEAR-win Bleddfa –BLETH-va Bryn Glas –Brinn Glahs Builth – (in Welsh, this is really Buellt, prounced BEE-e/sh/t): http://www.forvo.com/word/buellt/ Cadair Idris – CAH-dire EE-drees Cadwaladr –Cad-wall-A-der Caerleon –Kire-LAY-on Caernarfon – Kire -NAR-von Caerphilly –Kire -FILL-ee cariad – car-EE-ahd Conwy – CON-wee Cwm Llanerch – Read more…
The Evolution of Welsh
The first thing you learn in linguistics is that languages evolve. The second is that they are arbitrary. This does not mean language isn’t important, or that it isn’t integral to culture. (see this article on Quebec’s policing of language). It does mean that there is nothing inherent in the word ‘spoon’ that denotes the rounded tool with which you cook or eat. Medieval Welsh, or Middle Welsh, was the language spoken in the 12th to 14th centuries. Like when a modern English-speaker attempts to read Chaucer in English, it is possible for a modern Welsh speaker to read middle Welsh, which is the language of much of the Welsh literature (Four Tales of the Mabinogi, for example) that we have, although the tales themselves are much older. You can find out about learning it here: http://www.celt.dias.ie/publications/cat/cat_h.html#H.2 The root of the changes between medieval and modern Welsh lie in Read more…
The Senghenydd Mine Disaster
Today marks the 100th anniversary of one of the worst mining disasters ever, and certainly the worst in Wales. “Britain’s worst ever mining disaster has been remembered a century after 439 miners and one rescuer lost their lives in an explosion at Senghenydd in South Wales. A new monument has been unveiled on the site of the old mine and a memorial garden opened to remember more than 5,000 miners killed in accidents across Wales since the 18th century.” http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-24516312 The explosion killed almost the entire male population of the town. “The demand for Welsh steam coal before World War I was enormous, driven by the Royal Navy and its huge fleet of steam battleships, dreadnoughts and cruisers, and by foreign Navies allied to Britain and the British Empire. Coal output from British mines peaked in 1914, and there were Read more…
Self-Publishing Scams are Rampant on the Internet. Don’t get caught in one!
*A public service announcement* If anyone is looking to indie publish a book, there’s lot of advice out there. If this is something that looks to be in your future, take yourself over to David Gaughran’s blog and read everything he’s got, including his latest: http://davidgaughran.wordpress.com/2013/10/11/bloomsbury-seeks-deal-with-author-solutions/ He has blogged repeatedly about the scams out there that seek to exploit authors just starting out on their publishing journey. For anyone at that stage READ THIS FIRST! *We return you now to your regular programming*
Should Welsh literature be taught separately from British/English literature?
I think that’s a ‘yes’. I was part of a panel with this as a topic at Portland State on 4 October 2013, where I discussed the challenges of writing books set in medieval Wales in a genre dominated by the Anglo-Norman medieval experience. This is the video of the whole presentation. (My 10 minutes starts at minute 42.5).
Houses and Nails
How long have we been using nails to hold pieces of wood together? The answer is … a long time. “Bronze nails, found in Egypt, have been dated 3400 BC. The Bible give us numerous references to nails, the most well known being the crucifixion of Christ. Of course we should not forget that model wife in Judges who in 1296 BC drove a nail into the temple of her husband while he was asleep, “so he died.”” http://www.fourshee.com/history_of_nails.htm “In the UK, early evidence of large scale nail making comes from Roman times 2000 years ago. Any sizeable Roman fortress would have its ‘fabrica‘ or workshop where the blacksmiths would fashion the metal items needed by the army. They left behind 7 tons of nails at the fortress of Inchtuthil in Perthshire. For nail making, iron ore was heated with carbon Read more…
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