Is Time Travel Possible?
I wrote a post on time travel that is being featured over at Historical Fiction ebooks. ____ We are all time travelers; we travel through time every millisecond of our lives. It’s just that we can only move in one direction—into the future. Theoretically, time travel into the future and into the past are two distinct concepts. Traveling into the future could happen merely by slowing down your own time, rather than popping in and out of the future like in the television show, Primeval. Unfortunately, at the moment, the kind of time travel we want to experience—into the past—isn’t possible. Traveling in the future is only possible if we travel more quickly or more slowly than everyone else, but then we still can’t ‘get back’ to our own time: “If you want to advance through the years a little faster than the Read more…
Speaking in Portland/Book Signing 4-5 October 2013
I am speaking as part of a panel on Welsh culture and literature at Portland State (Oregon) this Friday at 6:30 pm. There will be a Welsh choir and refreshments (or so I’ve been told). http://bit.ly/15IVLyK Event Schedule 6:30 Oregon Festival Welsh Choir will perform the Welsh national anthem and ‘Eli Jenkins Prayer’. 6:40 Introductory remarks by Ceri Shaw of AmeriCymru 6:50 Keynote presentation by Dr Tracy Prince author of CultureWars in British Literature: Multiculturalism and National Identity 7:20 Mike Jenkins 7:35 Sarah Woodbury 7:50 Chris Keil 8:05 Phil Rowlands 8.20 – 9.00 Reception and chance to meet the authors. I’ll also be doing a book signing on Saturday, October 5 at the Portland Convention Center as part of ‘Wordstock’. I’ll be at the AmeriCymru booth, #718 if anyone wants to stop by and say ‘hi’!
Castaways in Time is here!
My newest novel, Castaways in Time, is now available at all Amazon stores, Kobo, Barnes and Noble, Smashwords, the Apple iBookstore and in paperback! With a scarlet fever epidemic raging throughout London, a rogue baron on the loose, a new baby keeping him up at night, and a kingdom to run, the last thing David has time for is a trip to the twenty-first century. But as he should know by now, time waits for no man, not even the King of England … Castaways in Time is the seventh novel in the After Cilmeri series. Other books in the series include a novella, Winds of Time, and six novels: Daughter of Time, Footsteps in Time, Prince of Time, Crossroads in Time, Children of Time, and Exiles in Time.
Welsh Surnames
It is a standing joke among people who know Wales that there are only a handful of Welsh surnames (last names), consisting primarily of Jones, Evans, Roberts, Thomas, Williams, and Davies. Among English speakers, these last names are clearly derived from first names. Why is that? Why don’t the Welsh have the huge variety of surnames like the English do? The answer lies in the moment that the Welsh switched from the patronymic system of names (Sarah ferch Ronald; Carew ap Daniel) where a child’s name contained a first name, then ‘son of’ or ‘daughter of’, and then their father’s name, to a system where everyone in the family had the same surname. In England, this transition occurred soon after the Norman conquest of 1066. “Before the Norman Conquest of Britain, people did not have hereditary surnames: they were known Read more…
The Thirteen Treasures of Britain
Dyrnwyn, the flaming sword, lost for centuries beneath the earth. A hamper that feeds a hundred, a knife to serve twenty-four, A chariot to carry a man on the wind, A halter to tame any horse he might wish. The cauldron of the Giant to test the brave, A whetstone for deadly sharpened swords, An entertaining chess set, A crock and a dish, each to fill one’s every wish, A cup that bestows immortality on those worthy of it, And the mantle of Arthur. His healing sword descends; Our enemies flee our unseen and mighty champion. –Taliesin, The Thirteen Treasures, The Black Book of Gwynedd I wrote that poem (on behalf of Taliesin) for my Last Pendragon Saga, but it has deep roots in Celtic mythology. When JK Rowling talks about the deathly hallows in the Harry Potter books, she is giving a Read more…
Laws of Hywel Dda
Hywel Dda (Hywel the Good) ruled Wales in the early 900s, one of the few Welsh kings to control the entire country. He maintained peace with Wessex, to the point of minting coins in the English city of Chester. His laws were codifications and a consolidation of the common law in Wales at the time (meaning he didn’t create them out of whole cloth), and provided the foundation for Welsh law until the Norman conquest, when many were abrogated by Edward I. A surviving manuscript (from the thirteenth century) is in the National Library of Wales. It was a ‘pocket’ book, designed for lawyers to carry around in their scrip, rather than left on a library shelf. You can view it here: http://www.llgc.org.uk/?id=lawsofhyweldda The laws are divisible into several categories: Laws of the Court These laws set down the rights of Read more…
Roman Fort found in Wales–thanks to the drought!
Look what turned up in a field! “The major Roman fort complex was spotted on parched grassland near Brecon, Powys, and the marching camp near Caerwent in Monmouthshire. Aerial archaeologist Toby Driver said he could not believe his eyes when he spotted the fort from the air. Scores of Iron Age farms and forts were also found in Pembrokeshire and the Vale of Glamorgan. The crop of summer discoveries follow similarly exciting Bronze Age ones made during last winter’s snow. Dr Driver, from the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales (RCAHMW), said 2013’s spell of hot weather has left him reflecting on some of the most significant finds since 2006. I couldn’t believe my eyes when the pilot and I approached the location and saw fading crop marks of a major Roman fort complex, lost beneath Read more…
King Owain Gwynedd
Owain was born Owain ap Gruffydd around 1100 AD, the second son of Gruffydd ap Cynan. Owain ruled from 1137 to 1170 AD. His rule was marked by peace initially, at least with England, as Owain took advantage of the strife in England between Stephen and Maud for the English throne to consolidate his power in Wales. That conflict lasted for 19 years (http://www.britainexpress.com/wales/history/owain-gwynedd.htm), finally resolving in the rule by Stephen but with the inheritance of the throne upon his death by Maud’s son, Henry. Owain “married, firstly, Gwladys, the daughter of Llywarch ap Trahaearn; and secondly, Christina, his cousin, the daughter of Goronwy ap Owain ‘the Traitor,’ Lord of Tegeingle, to whom he remained constant despite the active disapproval of the Church.” He had many sons and daughters, not all of whom are documented. http://www.earlybritishkingdoms.com/bios/owaingd.html His first relationship was with a woman named Read more…
Countries invaded by Britain? Only 22 spared.
This is an awesome article. I haven’t read the book (yet), but it claims that Britain at one time or another has invaded all but 22 countries in the entire world. “Every schoolboy used to know that at the height of the empire, almost a quarter of the atlas was coloured pink, showing the extent of British rule. But that oft recited fact dramatically understates the remarkable global reach achieved by this country. A new study has found that at various times the British have invaded almost 90 per cent of the countries around the globe. The analysis of the histories of the almost 200 countries in the world found only 22 which have never experienced an invasion by the British. Among this select group of nations are far-off destinations such as Guatemala, Tajikistan and the Marshall Islands, as well Read more…
Bedlam! Europe’s oldest insane asylum found.
In archaeology news: “During the Middle Ages, Bethlem Hospital (often known by its popular nickname, “Bedlam”) was located near the current site of the busy Liverpool Street train station. Bedlam was so notorious for its treatment of the mentally ill that the word “bedlam” eventually became synonymous with chaos or mayhem. And beneath that archaeological treasure trove, the remains of an ancient Roman road that once linked London to York and Lincoln was also discovered. The earth around the roadway is littered with Roman-era horseshoes. And beneath that, archaeologists have uncovered the remains of a Mesolithic tool-making site where prehistoric Londoners fashioned rocks into flint tools about 9,000 years ago, the BBC reports. All these important archaeological digs are coming to light as the result of the Crossrail project, a subway line that will connect West London to areas farther Read more…
Is there Welsh blood in the new prince?
One of the travesties of the Edwardian conquest of Wales was that after Llywelyn ap Gruffydd was assassinated, Edward made his own son, Edward II, the ‘Prince of Wales’. It was an epic snub. Since then, all of the heirs to the English throne have been termed ‘Prince of Wales’. None of them had any Welsh blood in the until Henry VII took the throne from Richard III after the Battle of Bosworth Field. I’ve been doing some research, and it seems our current Prince of Wales, Charles, is a descendant of Henry VII: Line of descent from Rhys ap Gruffydd to Elizabeth II: Rhys ap Gruffydd —> Gwenllian —> Goronwy —> Tudur Hen —> Goronwy ap Tudur —> Tudur Fychan —> Maredudd ap Tudur —> Owen Tudor —> Edmund Tudor —> Henry VII of England —> Margaret Tudor —> Read more…
The Revolt of 1136
Warfare was nearly constant in Wales both before and after the Norman conquest. Of course, the Normans didn’t actually conquer Wales–only parts of it–until the final defeat of Llywelyn in 1282. In the years since 1066, however, the native Welsh princes and kings had lost out to the conquering Normans. Deheubarth, the southwestern region of Wales, was flatter and more accessible than the northern areas, and had been of particular interest to the conquerers. They had successfully overrun much of it by 1136, but in that year, the time was ripe for rebellion: “By 1136 an opportunity arose for the Welsh to recover lands lost to the Marcher lords when Stephen de Blois displaced his cousin Empress Matilda from succeeding her father to the English throne the prior year, sparking the Anarchy in England. The usurption and conflict it caused eroded Read more…
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