middle-age-world - Tumblr blog

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Viking Runes - Ansuz

Its meaning:

Gods (Odin Specifically), Wisdom, Inspiration

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The Volsungs - God Kings?

The Volsung line was a family in Norse Mythology. Volsung himself was a descendent of Odin, and through his line, Aslaug was born, wife of Ragnar Lothbrok.

(Let me know if the picture is too small and unreadable, I can change it later if needs be)

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How the little piglets will grunt when they hear how the old boar suffered!

The fabled last words of Ragnar Lothbrok, referring to his children. Ragnar had been treated horribly by Aelle of Northumbria, and eventually thrown into a pit of snakes where he would meet his fate, Ragnar’s sons would find out about this, and the Great Heathen Army would form (this is a potential reason for the army, Ragnar may never have existed).

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Ideas

Hi everyone, I know this won't get a lot of attention because this is a small, inactive page, but I was curious about something.

I have recently got myself into carving on wood and stone. Simple things because I am still new. They tend to be history based (especially viking) and I was wondering if you would like to see stuff like that on here.

I am sorry for being inactive, I needed to catch up with coursework and all that

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"Lo, it is nearly 350 years that we and our fathers have inhabited this most lovely land, and never before has such terror appeared in Britain as we have now suffered from a pagan race, nor was it thought that such an inroad from the sea could be made. Behold, the church of St. Cuthbert spattered with the blood of the priests of God, despoiled of all its ornaments; a place more venerable than all in Britain is given as a prey to pagan peoples."

Alcuin, Letter to Aethelred, King of Northumbria on the attack of Lindisfarne

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Anyone know a good history book?

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Kings and Queens of England - William the Conqueror

Birth

C.1027, Falais, Normandy

Parents

Father - Duke Robert 'the Devil' of Normandy

Mother - Herlève (allegedly a daughter of a tanner)

Spouse

Matilda of Flanders, 1053

Names

William the Bastard (before 1066)

William the Conqueror (after 1066)

William I

Children

Robert Duke of Normandy

Richard

William II

Henry I

Adéla, Countess of Blois

Constance of Normandy (and by marriage, Duchess of Brittany)

Adeliza

Cecilia of Normandy

Agatha of Normandy

William the Conqueror is known for his victory against Harold Godwinson in the Battle of Hastings, 1066. After Hastings, William conquered the rest of England and became king of it. He was crowned on Christmas day 1066 in Westminster Abbey. After becoming King of England, he sent men out to record the owner of every piece of land and animals. This was called the Domesday Book.

In his conquering style, William had died in battle by falling off of his horse. He died on the 9th of September 1087, and was buried on the Abbey of St Stephen, Caen.

Below are pictures of William (left) and the Bayeux Tapestry (right). The tapestry details the Norman Conquest

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Ragnar Lothbrok's death

According to historians, Ragnar Lothbrok had died by the hands of King Aelle of Northumbria. The way he died is said to have been Aelle throwing Ragnar into a pit of snakes.

Sorry for low quality picture, only one I could find.

Got the pic from

https://www.britannica.com/topic/Ragnar-Lothbrok

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Got proper happy that someone thought my page was good, but then found out it was spam 😂

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Kings and Queens of England - Harold Godwinson

Harold Godwinson's most victorious achievement was defeating Harald Hardrada's army at Stamford Bridge in 1066. However, in that same year, he had lost the battle of Hastings, against William the Conqueror at Senlac Hill. He supposedly took an arrow to the eye. He died there on the 14th of October, 1066. His body was viciously mutilated by the Normans.

Parents

Father - Godwine, Earl of Wessex

Mother - Gytha

Spouse

Edyth Swan-Neck (C.1045 in a Danish "handfast" union)

Ealdgyth of Mercia (C.1065)

Birth

C.1023

Death

14th October 1066, aged 44 - Battle of Hastings

Coronation

6th January 1066 - the first king to ne crowned in Westminster Abbey

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Kings and Queens of England - Edward the Confessor

Edward was born between 1003 and 1005 at Islip, near Oxford. Prior to his accession, England was fragmented. However Edward had ruled very well and had united England.

His parents

Father - King Æthelred II

Mother - Queen Emma, sister of the Duke of Normandy

Spouse

Edith, daughter of Earl Godwine of Wessex, 1045

Edward was crowned on the 3rd of April, 1043 at Winchester.

Ælred of Rievaulx talks about a miracle being made by Edward when a woman begged for his help. She had tumours on her neck. The Kings washed and made the sign of a cross over them. "At once the skin broke, worms gushed out with the infection, the swelling subsided, the pain disappeared". This "Touching for the King's Evil" ritual, where the monarch dispels the disease of scrofula from their subjects, became a tradition from the 13th century continued until the accession of George I in 1714.

Edward was the seventh son of Æthelred II, and had come to the throne after outliving and outsmarting the other contenders.

Edward had died, childless on the 4th or 5th of January 1066, aged about 61, at the Palace of Westminster, buried in Westminster Abbey.

Edward dying childless had led to turmoil in England and the Norman conquest, led by William the Conqueror (aka William the Bastard).

Edward had built the first Westminster Abbey, and had become known after his death of his piety (hence the name "Confessor") and on the 7th of February 1161, he was canonised and became known as "Saint Edward the Confessor".

This is part of something else I want to try. As well as the crusades, I want to list off the Kings and Queens of England and give a sort of face file of them. I will try to be more brief in the future as there is a lot to read here.

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The Crusades (Part 1.)

In 1095, a Byzantine embassy pleaded to Pope Urban II for help in defending the eastern church against the Turks who had overrun Asia Minor. In November that year, the Pope preached the first crusade and the Council of Clermont. There was remarkable enthusiasm for this holy war. Nobles and knights made sacrifices affecting both them and their families in order to go on crusade. It was a "devotional activity".

Notably, Richard I "The Lionheart" of England and Louis IX of France were involved in later expeditions to the east.

Crusaders had to make a public, formal vow to join an expedition and it was law that crusaders became subject to the jurisdiction of ecclesiastical courts.

In return

Families' protected while absent

Families' assets protected while absent

Indulgences to reduce time in purgatory for sins

Military orders, such as the Templars and Hospitallers were created. Members of these orders had made a permanent commitment to wage holy war. Both of these orders had headquarters in Jerusalem, but soon acquired property in the west.

My source for all of this was a big book called "The Times: Complete History of the World" by Richard Overy

This is the first part of my multi-part thing about crusades. I posted quite a bit on vikings and I wanted to add a bit of variety, I am interested by the crusades as well as vikings, so I thought it would be a good start.

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I just wrote a whole bloody post that took ages about the crusades and it didn't even upload and has been deleted. I am so angry

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Warrior…

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This simple earthen bank in Co Galway is not just a field division, it also marks a townland, a parish and a barony boundary. It’s quite feasible that parts of it are c. 1000 years old. The clump of trees on the horizon are in an early medieval ringfort

Source

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“You fell in love with a storm. Did you really think you would get out unscathed?”

— Frigg to Sigyn, probably.