#Anglo-Saxons

[english-history-trip]

Illuminated page of the 8th century Codex Aureus, a book of gospels known for having been ransomed back from the vikings by its Anglo-Saxon owner. Ironically, the book was bought from Canterbury Cathedral by Spain in the sixteenth century, and then by Sweden - descendants of the vikings - in the seventeenth.

[ancientstuff]

I LOVE this kind of discovery! I guess I find it wonderful that the ancient world was so much more connected than we used to think.

[wonder-worker]

It is true that Æthelflæd exercised a degree of authority unmatched by any royal woman prior to Edgar’s controversial queen, Ælfthryth. Nevertheless, her career should not be viewed as wholly distinct from that of other well-born women of the period. The charters depict a woman who gained political prominence, not in spite of contemporary gender expectations, but through them. Her rise to domina Merciorum followed a traditionally gendered path from daughter to sister, wife, and widow. She, like other noble women, provided her father, brother, and husband with a means of fulfilling their ambitions for themselves and their family. Yet she should not be seen as a passive or unwilling participant in this project; rather, it was her place at the intersection of West Saxon familial expectations and Mercian royal traditions that positioned her to achieve the sort of political influence typically available only to men. At the same time, like the Alfredian entries in the Chronicle or Asser’s vita Alfredi, Æthelflæd’s charters must also be understood as the political propaganda of a savvy West Saxon dynasty accustomed to crafting both a public narrative and a documentary record to suit their needs. The Æthelflæd of the charters is no less fictional than the Alfred of Asser or, for that matter, the Alfred of the prologue to the OE Pastoral Care. The charters, like these texts, are an exercise in political image-making. If the “real” Æthelflæd still remains elusive, however, we may at least be able to catch a glimpse of her in the documents of the law.

— Andrew Rabin, "The Charters of Æthelflæd", Æthelflæd, Lady of the Mercians, and Women in Tenth-Century England (Edited by Rebecca Hardie)

[rockyp77mk3]

An Anglo-Saxon 10th century AD pocket-sized sundial found in 1938. The pin, known as a ‘gnomon’, was placed in the hole for the relevant month. When the sundial was suspended from the chain, it used the altitude of the sun to calculate 3 separate times of the day.

I have questions about the engraved month names.

[ancestorsalive]

The Anglo-Saxon chronicler Bede gave us this simple explanation for the name of the festival. "Eostremonath has a name which is now called Paschal month, and which was once named after a goddess of theirs named Eostre, and in her honour feasts were held in that month. Now they name the Paschal season by her name, calling the joy of the new rite by the time-honoured name of the old rite." Nothing else is known about Eostre, although Jacob Grimm did speculate that the old German name Ostara was probably her cognate. He was trying to work backwards from traditions he saw in his time and it was only a theory, but it would be logical to assume a connection with Eostre in the lands the Anglo-Saxons originated from. Eggs and bunnies are not connected in any way to Eostre, these traditions come about much later on and within a Christian context. Eggs were prohibited during Lent so people would have had a glut of them to use at Easter, and I have no doubt lots of them were painted and blessed for the occasion. The Easter bunny was always a hare, never a rabbit, and hopped out of the mists of 17th century German Lutheran folklore. During the Medieval era it was also commonly believed that hares could impregnate themselves, leading to an association with Mary. So here's a medieval Easter bunny, a 14th century carving of a hare at, you guessed it, the Church of St Mary, at Elmley Castle in Worcestershire. Have a great Easter! ~ Hugh Williams On another note: "There is simply no evidence for this commonly repeated myth. It’s not factually true and is simply speculation by one monk in 725. There is no evidence that he was correct about this. There are no references or images of Eostre anywhere else or in anything else at all. He also documents Woden and Thor, but they are verified as deities that were worshiped, but not so with Eostre. In fact it appears to be far more probable that the name of the lunar month Eosturmonath is actually a reference to “the month of opening” for the rather obvious reason that it is springtime. When it comes to this goddess, we have no images, no carvings and no legends, just this single reference by Bede that appears to be speculation, and so that is why most folklorists will dismiss the assertion that Easter is named after the goddess Eostre as a myth. Ronald Hutton, expert in pre-Christian religion, argues that: "It is equally valid, however, to suggest that the Anglo-Saxon ‘Estor-monath’ simply meant ‘the month of opening’ or ‘the month of beginnings’, and that Bede mistakenly connected it with a goddess who either never existed at all, or was never associated with a particular season but merely, like Eos and Aurora, with the dawn itself.’3" Hard to find a better source than Prof Hutton." ~ Matt Lewis

and this link for further reading: https://www.timesofisrael.com/the-pagan-goddess-behind-the-holiday-of-easter/?fbclid=IwAR2IhpTsPjt0pMkSyyR0w4COXVI3d3QCSzVA6bGzTH1sYWgDAsuctNIrpaw_aem_AbAxlLoqWL9_Hf4CqCBG3mcZ8C_jut9RiJ6rl_5cGae-d0HHJMpMQ0NmAQsYgZkITXjnee-AcUwFAHZAqf_6rtGF

[gwydionmisha]

Bodacious Bible Tales

Gallivanting Greek Gods

Roman Rizz

A Case for Pompey Magnus

Clever Cleopatra

Angry Anglo-Saxons

Nefarious Norse Myths

Haughty Henry IV

[originaljediinjeans]

Fifteen years ago last month, I read Beowulf with my English class. The teacher said for extra credit we could come up with our own illustrations of Grendel. I created Grendel below in oil pastel and ended up using it in my AP art portfolio.

I recently decided I should do a follow-up of Grendel's mother. Here it is from when I finished it a few months ago: the original Karen from the black lagoon.

(note: this version of the scan didn't get the bottom: she's standing on the threshold of Heorot with a dead warrior lying at her feet)

Happy Halloween!

[falseandrealultravival]

Russia as a reactionary force, unable to be a leading force (Essay)

Putin

Russia (the former Soviet Union) has survived as a reactionary force to the Anglo-Saxons (England, USA). During the era of imperialism, Russia competed with England for supremacy in various parts of the world. However, Russia's southward expansion policy during this time can be said to have been proactive. When the USA started the Vietnam War, Russia supported Vietnam as a countermeasure, and when the USA promoted Israel, Russia supported Palestine. In this way, Russia (the Soviet Union) acted as a counterforce to the USA.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, as the EU and NATO expanded to Eastern European countries, Russia's sphere of influence narrowed. In particular, when the Orange Revolution occurred in Ukraine with the intervention of the USA, Russia must have felt an immense sense of pressure. And when Putin began to attack Ukraine, which is ethnically close to Russia, Russia was cornered more than ever. It's all reactionary. What is frightening is the USA's desire to expand its influence.

Russia is now practically isolated from the world, and the BRICS countries are not necessarily on Russia's side. China is taking advantage of Russia's weakness and even selling military supplies to Russia at high prices. EU sanctions on financial and industrial parts have weakened Russia's national power, and its military forces have been reduced to the point where it cannot continue the Ukrainian war in Russia alone. Why doesn't Putin admit defeat and surrender?

Rei Morishita

2024.08.12

反動勢力としてのロシア、主動勢力たりえず（エッセイ）

ロシア（旧ソ連）は、アングロサクソン（イギリス、USA）の反動勢力として存続してきた。帝国主義の時代、ロシアはイギリスと世界各地で覇を競った。でもこの頃は、ロシアの南下政策は主動的だったと言える。USAがベトナム戦争を始めたとき、対抗策としてベトナムに肩入れし、USAがイスラエルを盛りたてた時は、パレスチナに肩入れした。このように、ロシア（ソ連）は、USAの対抗勢力として動いた。

ソ連崩壊後、EUやNATOが東欧諸国に拡大されるにつれ、ロシアの勢力圏は狭められていった。特にUSAが介在してウクライナにオレンジ革命が起きると、ロシアはこの上ない圧迫感を感じたはずだ。そして民族的には近縁なウクライナをプーチンが攻め始めた時、これ以上ないほどロシアは追い詰められていた。すべて反動である。恐るべきは、USAの勢力拡大意��だ。

今ロシアは実質的に世界から孤立し、BRICS諸国も、かならずしもロシアの味方ではない。中国は、ロシアの足元を見て、ロシアに軍需物資を高く売りつけているくらいだ。EUの金融や工業部品制裁もあり国力は消耗し、ウクライナ戦争もロシア一国では継続できないほど兵力を減らしている。プーチンは、いい加減負けを認めて降伏したらどうか？

[linguisticalities]

More accurate, less click-baity title: “Yes, the Anglo-Saxon Invasion of Britain Really Did Happen.” Which it did...

[petercwhitaker]

Book of the Week: For Rapture of Ravens

Get an eBook copy now for 50% of the regular price! Shop here: For Rapture of Ravens Also available at :* Amazon – Apple – Barnes & Noble – Kobo *Discount prices offered with this promotion do not apply at the above stores

[english-history-trip]

In 1931, a scholar named Bernhard Bischoff decoded a cypher placed between two saints’ lives in an early ninth-century manuscript from Eichstätt, Germany. The lives were written about Saints Willibald and Winnebald, two English brothers who in the eighth century became, respectively, the Bishop of Eichstätt and Abbott of Heidenheim, both in the modern day region of Bavaria. The cypher reads:

Secundumgquartum quintumnprimum sprimumxquartumntertium cprimum nquartummtertiumnsecundum hquintumgsecundum bquintumrc quartumrdinando hsecundumc scrtertium bsecundumbprimumm

Bischoff worked out that all vowels had been replaced by ordinal numbers - ‘second, g, fourth, fifth, n, first, s…’ and so on. Each of these numbers could be replaced with the corresponding vowel, to make the Latin sentence: Ego una Saxonica nomine Hugeburc ordinando hec scribebam I, a Saxon nun called Hugeburc, have written this ... Hugeburc is the earliest known English woman author of a full-text literary work.

[wonder-worker]

[Æthelflæd was] a remarkable leader who, both in her own right, and as a collaborator with her father, husband, and brother, helped to shape the politics of central England for two decades. Indeed, the legacy of her rule was longer even than that. Æthelflæd came to prominence at a critical juncture of Mercian history, and of English history more widely. In the aftermath of invasion and political upheaval, Æthelflæd secured Mercia’s political stability, fortified and expanded its frontiers, and won the submissions of neighbouring Welsh and Scandinavian lords and towns. These successes were foundational to the remarkable expansion of West Saxon hegemony in the decades that followed her death and, further, to the ability of subsequent generations of West Saxon monarchs, beginning with her nephew and one-time charge, Æthelstan, to claim kingship over all England.

— Matthew Firth, Early English Queens, 850-1000: Potestas Reginae

[m-204863]

American Progress by John Gast, 1872.

[cynicalclassicist]

Who would make such a hideous mistake as this?

This is like The West Wing called Beowulf Middle English... and I don't even watch The West Wing.

babe i love you but your confusion of the anglo saxons and the britons was just fucking embarrassing. and to make matters worse you even then called Shakespearian English "old english" instead of early modern English. get out of my room already

[jbfly46]

The entire Anglo-Saxon identity rests upon murder due to blood feud, as the Anglo-Saxon tribe broke away from the Caucasus Judaic tribe due to someone’s wife cheating on them, starting a blood feud and endless battles. The spiritual path of an Anglo-Saxon is to kill a bunch of people for essentially no reason, find God afterwards, only to realize that you killed a bunch of people for no reason and you’re going to Hell, so you just have to make the best of it. Anglo-Saxons who find God in other ways are disavowed as Anglo-Saxons, and used to be killed or exiled. This is why Anglo-Saxons have no real spiritual leaders and very little or no connection to the spirit.

[petercwhitaker]

Book of the Week: For Rapture of Ravens

Get an eBook copy now for 50% of the regular price! Shop here: For Rapture of Ravens Also available at :* Amazon – Apple – Barnes & Noble – Kobo *Discount prices offered with this promotion do not apply at the above stores