#old man saxon

[plattenabendonline]

Old Man Saxon - The Perils (2016)

Christian

[gaydelgard]

i said ive had it

[icarusredwings]

What if Saxteen walks around communicating through telepathy and out of no where 14 just starts dying of laughter because Sax just walked by and Donna is extremely confused, except the joke doesn't translate well to English so he cant even tell her.

He's just somewhere else and suddenly gets told "I see you" through telepathy and he just turns around like "Alright WHERE are you ya bastard!? I know you're here!" And saxons hiding behind a dumpster giggling. So 14 looks like a mad man in the middle of central London.

You just walk into the room and see them staring at each other and suddenly, out of no where the Master goes "Hey!! You take that back! I was not!" And 14 shrugs, looks away and goes "I dont know what you're talkin about. I even didnt say anything."

Poor shauns just standing there like "what the fuck is actually going on?"

Theyre so toxic I love them.

[codemagister]

be the father we always needed I need someone to walk me down the aisle

- @oopstoomanymasters

. . . Pardon?

[kirbyddd]

one thing that's just one of my weird little personal wishes, i really wish gandalf used more of his Hobbit style alchemical "magic" in LoTR, he really only uses it for fireworks at the very beginning then he mainly just uses his ring and divine authority

[finanmoghra]

Seven kings must die spoilers!!!!

soo this is no review i just want to comment on some things like.... WTF AETHELSTAN IS 🏳️‍🌈 IM FREAKING OUT like i was saying a week ago that it would be interesting to see a lgbt character in tlk and then THEY GIVE ME THIS. following the topic, uhtred being such a good father making aethelstan promise he will never get married, cause he knew he wouldn't be happy with a woman

i need to comment about the deaths, first of all: Aldhelm, i was never fond of him in the beginning but eventually i started to like so much (except in some moments of s5) and his death made me start the crying marathon early

now, INGRITH i couldn't believe when they get back to bebbanburg to found out what happened and the flashblack of ingrith telling that seven kings must die and then looking at Finan and saying "and the woman you love" I CRIED SO HARD the realisation of the prophecy made me feel so sad like my man dont deserve this, it should be prohibited to him to suffer, all he deserves is happiness!!!!

last, but not least important, Uhtred. ma'am i dont think i will ever recovery from this death, my heart ache im not lying. the transition from his life to valhalla, i cried like a baby seeing all of the faces there (i miss ragnar 😢) even haesten got me emotional

i missed a lot of faces, actually, from alive characters like young uhtred, stiorra, cynlaef, alfwyn

i'll take a break from sad scenes to talk about something that made me really happy, Sihtric and Finan got more highlights in the movie and i think we never heard so much from sihtric's voice (poor baby) it was a relief from all the angry and sadness seing more of them, and i'll miss them so much i don't know how to live without them.

during the final scene, something hit me when uhtred was seeing all known faces in valhalla and i just could thought that finan will never be able to join them there and that made me so sad because thinking of them being apparted in the afterlife hurts.

that's it.

[reddirttown]

Language of Flowers: Mugwort

Every day of the year has its designated flower in the language of flowers. The flower for today, November 3, is Mugwort, which signifies happiness. Image above from Wikipedia. Artemisia vulgaris is also called felon herb, wild wormwood, old Uncle Henry, sailor’s tobacco, or naughty man. In some magical traditions, Mugwort is associated with divination and dreaming. The tenth-century…

[fooligancity]

i dont care abt mordred like at all.. like he became a knight or whatever but i dont believw in any of his loyalty or motivation considering when we meet him again hes like. working for morgana + the saxons and also helping transport prisoners or whatever. which is bad already but then he just turned on morgana for arthur for no reason. and then turned on arthur for morgana after the whole kara situation (yknow when she tried to kill the man he swore fealty to. and he sided with her?? who he hadnt seen in however many years). flip flopping. wishy washy. man was not ever trustworthy alright

[jd-mp3]

Biff fumbling with his phone to take videos of the crowd to post on Facebook will never not be funny 😂

[suzannahnatters]

So here's one of the coolest things that has happened to me as a Tolkien nut and an amateur medievalist. It's also impacted my view of the way Tolkien writes women. Here's Carl Stephenson in MEDIEVAL FEUDALISM, explaining the roots of the ceremony of knighthood: "In the second century after Christ the Roman historian Tacitus wrote an essay which he called Germania, and which has remained justly famous. He declares that the Germans, though divided into numerous tribes, constitute a single people characterised by common traits and a common mode of life. The typical German is a warrior. [...] Except when armed, they perform no business, either private or public. But it is not their custom that any one should assume arms without the formal approval of the tribe. Before the assembly the youth receives a shield and spear from his father, some other relative, or one of the chief men, and this gift corresponds to the toga virilis among the Romans--making him a citizen rather than a member of a household" (pp 2-3). Got it?

Remember how Tolkien was a medievalist who based his Rohirrim on Anglo-Saxon England, which came from those Germanic tribes Tacitus was talking about? Stephenson argues that the customs described by Tacitus continued into the early middle ages eventually giving rise to the medieval feudal system. One of these customs was the gift of arms, which transformed into the ceremony of knighthood: "Tacitus, it will be remembered, describes the ancient German custom by which a youth was presented with a shield and a spear to mark his attainment of man's estate. What seems to the be same ceremony reappears under the Carolingians. In 791, we are told, Charlemagne caused Prince Louis to be girded with a sword in celebration of his adolescence; and forty-seven years later Louis in turn decorated his fifteen-year-old son Charles "with the arms of manhood, i.e., a sword." Here, obviously, we may see the origin of the later adoubement, which long remained a formal investiture with arms, or with some one of them as a symbol. Thus the Bayeux Tapestry represents the knighting of Earl Harold by William of Normandy under the legend: Hic Willelmus dedit Haroldo arma (Here William gave arms to Harold). [...] Scores of other examples are to be found in the French chronicles and chansons de geste, which, despite much variation of detail, agree on the essentials. And whatever the derivation of the words, the English expression "dubbing to knighthood" must have been closely related to the French adoubement" (pp 47-48.)

In its simplest form, according to Stephenson, the ceremony of knighthood included "at most the presentation of a sword, a few words of admonition, and the accolade." OK. So what does this have to do with Tolkien and his women? AHAHAHAHA I AM SO GLAD YOU ASKED. First of all, let's agree that Tolkien, a medievalist, undoubtedly was aware of all the above. Second, turn with me in your copy of The Lord of the Rings to chapter 6 of The Two Towers, "The King of the Golden Hall", when Theoden and his councillors agree that Eowyn should lead the people while the men are away at war. (This, of course, was something that medieval noblewomen regularly did: one small example is an 1178 letter from a Hospitaller knight serving in the Latin kingdom of Jerusalem which records that before marching out to the battle of Montgisard, "We put the defence of the Tower of David and the whole city in the hands of our women".) But in The Lord of the Rings, there's a little ceremony.

"'Let her be as lord to the Eorlingas, while we are gone.' 'It shall be so,' said Theoden. 'Let the heralds announce to the folk that the Lady Eowyn will lead them!' Then the king sat upon a seat before his doors and Eowyn knelt before him and received from him a sword and a fair corselet."

I YELLED when I realised what I was reading right there. You see, the king doesn't just have the heralds announce that Eowyn is in charge. He gives her weapons.

Theoden makes Eowyn a knight of the Riddermark.

Not only that, but I think this is a huge deal for several reasons. That is, Tolkien knew what he was doing here.

From my reading in medieval history, I'm aware of women choosing to fight and bear arms, as well as becoming military leaders while the men are away at some war or as prisoners. What I haven't seen is women actually receiving knighthood. Anyone could fight as a knight if they could afford the (very pricy) horse and armour, and anyone could lead a nation as long as they were accepted by the leaders. But you just don't see women getting knighted like this.

Tolkien therefore chose to write a medieval-coded society, Rohan, where women arguably had greater equality with men than they did in actual medieval societies.

I think that should tell us something about who Tolkien was as a person and how he viewed women - perhaps he didn't write them with equal parity to men (there are undeniably more prominent male characters in The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, at least, than female) but compared to the medieval societies that were his life's work, and arguably even compared to the society he lived in, he was remarkably egalitarian.

I think it should also tell us something about the craft of writing fantasy.

No, you don't have to include gut wrenching misogyny and violence against women in order to write "realistic" medieval-inspired fantasy.

Tolkien's fantasy worlds are DEEPLY informed by medieval history to an extent most laypeople will never fully appreciate. The attitudes, the language, the ABSOLUTELY FLAWLESS use of medieval military tactics...heck, even just the way that people travel long distances on foot...all of it is brilliantly medieval.

The fact that Theoden bestows arms on Eowyn is just one tiny detail that is deeply rooted in medieval history. Even though he's giving those arms to a woman in a fantasy land full of elves and hobbits and wizards, it's still a wonderfully historically accurate detail.

Of course, I've ranted before about how misogyny and sexism wasn't actually as bad in medieval times as a lot of people today think. But from the way SOME fantasy authors talk, you'd think that historical accuracy will disappear in a puff of smoke if every woman in the dragon-infested fantasy land isn't being traumatised on the regular.

Tolkien did better. Be like Tolkien.

[warrioreowynofrohan]

Reading Tolkien’s annotated translation of Beowulf, and learning all kinds of things about LOTR and the Silm from it!

First:

Leave here your warlike shields [from Beowulf]

[Tolkien’s commentary; bold mine:] Note the prohibition of weapons or accoutrements of battle in the hall. To walk in with spear and shield was like walking in nowadays with your hat on. The basis of these rules was of course fear and prudence among the ever-present dangers of a heroic age, but they were made part of the ritual, of good manners. Compare the prohibition against drawing a sword in the officers’ mess. Swords of course also were dangerous; but they were evidently regarded as part of a knight’s attire, and he would not in any case be willing to lay aside his sword, a thing of great cost and often an heirloom.

This gives me some perspective around Tolkien’s probable intended tone for the moment in Meduseld in The Two Towers where Aragon strongly protests against being told to leave Andúril (a sword of very great value and ancientry, and very much an heirloom) with the door-warden. From a contemporary perspective it’s easy to read it as Aragorn being unnecessarily prideful and combative, but this passage strongly indicates that Tolkien intends it to be Théoden who is being unreasonable in that event, an indication - along with many others in the scene, prior to Gandalf dislodging Saruman’s influence - that Théoden is being discourteous and behaving in a manner unworthy of a king who is recieving heroes offering aid. (The fact of Meduseld being a ‘golden hall’ like famous Heorot in Beowulf may be deliberate to strengthen the parallel.)

Second (immediately following the above commentary):

But against this danger [from swords] very severe laws existed protecting the ‘peace’ of a king’s hall. It was death in Scandanavia to cause a brawl in the king’s hall. Among the laws of the West Saxon king Ine is found: ‘If any man fight in the king’s house, he shall forfeit all his estate, and it shall be for the king to judge whether he be put to death or not.’

This adds context to the incident in the story of Túrin in The Silmarillion where Saeros taunts Túrin in Menegroth and Túrin responds by throwing a heavy drinking-vessel at him and injuring him (it’s indicated the injury is serious, so I’d take it along the lines of him giving him a broken nose and knocking out some teeth.) It is stated in at least some versions of the story that death is the punishment for drawing weapons in the king’s hall, in line with the historical customs mentioned here. This gives a further emphasis that what actually happens - Túrin is not punished at all and Mablung strongly reprimands Saeros for provoking him - illustrates that Túrin is, Saeros’ behaviour notwithstanding, in very high favour in Menegroth. (Saeros as the king’s counsellor is also in roughly the same position as Unferth in Beowulf, who taunts the titular character - Beowulf responds heatedly but without violence. Tolkien may be setting up a deliberate contrast here.)

Third:

The word hádor is an adjective meaning ‘clear, bright’…it is almost always found in reference to the sky (or the sun or stars). But that association is in description of brightness…

This was one a lightbulb moment: oh, in the name of Hador Goldenhead (the ancestor of Húrin, Túrin, and Tuor in The Silmarillion), ‘Goldenhead’ isn’t an additional name/epessë so much as it’s a glossed translation of ‘Hador’! The guy with bright, golden hair.

Fourth: Going back to the Rohirrim - Edoras, the name of their capital city/royal court, is basically just the Old English for ‘courts’:

under was very frequently used in describing position within, or movement to within, a confined space, especially of enclosures or prisons, ‘within four walls’. Cf. in under eoderas (eoderas being the outer fences of the courts), ‘in amid the courts’….‘eoder’ means both ‘fence (protection)’ and ‘fenced enclosure, a court’.

I’m also learning a lot about Beowulf - Tolkien’s notes are clarifying a lot of tone and nuances, not to mention the political/diplomatic relationships between the different kingdoms, which were confusing me - but it’s amazing how much it reveals about ways that Tolkien’s knowledge informed his legendarium!

[icarusredwings]

Early mornings with Retired Time Lords ❤️💙ft. Shadow the cat stuffy and KITT-E (or KIT-TEC)

"Darling, can I have my leg back?"

"Huh?"

"Sigh... I thought I told you not to stay up too late?"

"... What?"

I passed out and woke up to this being done.

I like how 14 is just 14 with braids and a robot companion and sax is bassically an oc at this point with how many head canons I've slapped onto this man (Though im sure they are definitely NOT hot takes)

For 14: <3

-Was up til 4 am. Hypocrite.

-Wears braids to bed

-Steals Shaun's fluffy robe

-striped spongebob socks

-Holding KITT-E

-Bassically has a mullet at this point

For Sax: ✨️

-Pointy ears

-Roots are showing

-Babygirl

-Sharp ass teeth

-Doesn't know where the fuck he is

-Doesn't wash off his eyeliner

-Not his hoodie (NASA hoodie is 14s)

-Worst Prime Minister

-Holding Shadow the stuffy (made by Rosie)

-Heart briefs

-Bros got arthritis so sometimes he wears a knee brace. He's holding 14 for balance and comfort.

-Teletubbie socks

-#Girlboss (Pore mask, Facial avocado mask and bonnet)

(You can tell who I favor)

And KITT-E!! (Technically its KIT-TEC but KITT-E sounds better and I dont think doc wants anything to with any "TEC" s after the Suketh nonsense.

KITT-E aka:

Kilohertz

Intercepting

Telepathic

Transmitter

Electronic- Companion!

Used to be a stuffy made by Rosie until he ripped it up and made the TARDIS a smaller physical host in order to control and mess with.

KITT-E doesn't need food, water, litter, shots, doesn't get cold, can infact overheat/freeze though. All she needs is loved (and charged sometimes) The TARDIS is connected to her like bluetooth. Her ears have recording speakers that speak directly to the TARDIS and the large ball at the end of her tail is a lightweight circulation battery. (She's also magnetic). Her whiskers are how the TARDIS tells her what to do, and her big camera eyes are how she can see.

KITT-E is NOT water proof (yet, hes working on it) and can meow, purr, hiss, growl, and if she wants too, since she's bassically just a transmitter box, The TARDIS can send telepathic information to the doctor by KITT-E (imagine a hot spot shifting Wifi from one spot to another)

KITT-E technecally is just a host, so if the TARDIS gets too upset or broken, KITT-E will simply collapse. Syliva thinks she's creepy because "It's like a ghost possessing a toy"

So far KITT-E has pawed at doors, meowed for attention, followed 14 around, meowed to be let outside, has been scolded for hissing at the Master several times (she still remembers what he did to her), and sometimes you can see her staring at the bugs in the garden.

The more information the TARDIS gets, the more the cat can do. She also likes to curl up with Sylvia, checks on Rose, follows Shaun around curiously, paws at Donna for attention, and "naps" with Wilf. Which is bassically when she purrs, so he's happy with the vibration and sound setting and goes into battery saver mode. Wilf thinks that KITT-E is absolutely the most impressive thing ever and constantly praises the Doctor for making such gagets. Wilf doesn't call her KITT-E though and will call her TARDIS.

"Here kitty.. TARDIS do you want some of my fish?"

"She can't eat dad."

"Oh. Right. Poor TARDIS. No fish for her huh? Why not?"

"Because.. She dosnt have a stomach? Or a digestive system? She doesn't even have a throat to swallow. Theres just wires and gears dad."

"Oh thats so clever. You're so clever boy."

"Really? Heh.. well...it wasnt that hard."

"Oh I mean it. Shes brilliant. TARDIS do you want to come nap with me?"

"Meow?"

Wilf just bends down to look her in the eyes like,

"A nap. With me? Would you like that?"

"Heheh, you don't have to talk slowly, dad she can understand you (oh my hearts)"

[pendragonsclotpole]

building on my idea that merlin takes on the name ambrose pendragon after arthur’s death, like imagine it’s 50 years later.

everyone from camelot is dead. the anglo-saxons have won, historical conquests of britain are continuing on as they did and here remains merlin, previously known as emrys, neither name really a surname and the latter always more of a title, but both representative of a world that no longer exists, a kingdom that has fallen apart, a servant with no master, a half without that which makes it whole.

so maybe merlin leaves. he explores. first he travels the isle and perhaps when people ask him who he is he defaults to an ancient practice. people, you see, have often been known by what they do or who they serve or where they come from. for a while, for the decades that pass wherein people remember the rule of the pendragons and the great kingdom of camelot and the failed prophecies of albion, he is not Merlin of Ealdor but Merlin of Camelot.

but people die. memories fade. time passes. merlin remains. and after a while, he cannot call himself Merlin of Camelot. not only do people forget his old kingdom, they forget his name, they bring along new languages and then around 300 years after arthur’s death, a collection of stories begin to be written, about magic, about merlin, about—

Arthur.

people you see, have often been defined by what they do or who they serve or where they come from. when the stories of arthur begin to be told anew, and remain with merlin through the tide of centuries, merlin resolves to forge a new name. he devises first the name in the style of a servant or of some of the common folk.

Merlin of Pendragon.

merlin toys with that idea, wears it for a few decades but something in those words rings false, sounds wrong, and unsettles his blood, as if he lays claim to a dynasty that shall never be his and will never rise again. when he uses it, people laugh and think him an uneducated fool playing at legend. it feels trite and awkward and wrong.

Merlin Pendragon sounds better, more forgivable if not entirely presentable. It makes merlin sound like he is a Pendragon, but only one sorcerer has ever laid claim to the Pendragon name and her name had not been merlin. (it makes merlin a Pendragon, and not even when Arthur lived had merlin considered such a fate a possibility, that Arthur could ever consider—)

merlin continues thinking, and by the time he settles on a replacement it is out of obligation and urgency. he cannot be nameless while he works as a healer and travels the world and serves other people as best as he can. he cannot be merlin Pendragon if the only man who could have conferred that name to him is dead.

instead he becomes Emrys Pendragon, and for a while, that name becomes a second skin. but like the serpent he has always been, merlin eventually sheds that skin. centuries have passed and those who once bore the name emrys, the last descendants of the druids and the people of Camelot, now only recognize that name in legend. the name once more marks him as stupid fool in love with the romantic notion of chivalry. besides, the languages have shifted and a name that once rolled off the tongue has become clotted and stuck in the mouths of people. no one can say it as it had once been said nor as it once belonged by arthur’s side, if only in secret.

merlin again returns to the drawing board, and luckily by that time he is aware of the translations of his many names. on a visit to rome, the grand imperial capital Arthur once dreamt of seeing as a young man, merlin thinks of a perfect substitute. His final name.

Ambrose.

Ambrose Pendragon.

it is emrys, but not quite.

it is merlin as he is forced to live without Arthur.

it is what Arthur could have been if he had lived at merlin’s side.

it is, written shorter, A. Pendragon.

it is a simple name. it is a stupid name. it is a name that breaks his heart and reminds him of his failings and keeps the faith alive within him.

years after adopting the name, merlin wakes up and walks to his desk and sees the name written on the outside of an envelope and he imagines it’s a letter from arthur.

a thousand years later, he sees it written on the sides of coffee cups and envelopes, monogrammed on his coats and cufflinks, inked on his essays, emblazoned on the side of his shop, and merlin imagines that when Arthur returns, he will return to a world already familiar with an A. Pendragon.

It shall be a welcoming world, as if across all these centuries, by some miracle, Arthur Pendragon had lived all along.

[fragiledewdrop]

WHERE NOW THE HORSE AND THE RIDER-Aka how I just had a Tolkien related freak out on the train

I can't believe what just happened to me. As in, it's such a weird chain of events that it has left me a little dizzy.

I was reading "Les Nourritures Terrestres" by Gide, and I got to a point he cites parts of a poem which I liked very much. The notes informed me that it's a French translation of "an 8th century saxon elegy called 'The Wanderer' "

That intrigued me, and, being on a train with a lot of time to pass (plus being a little tired of reading in French), I took out my phone and searched for the poem.

I found it here. It's the lament of a warrior in exile who has lost his lord and mourns the joy and glory of a world that has now disappeared. I was enjoying it a lot.

And then I got to this point:

And my mouth actually dropped open, because what?

Are you telling me that the Lament for the Rohirrim, one of my favourite poems in LOTR, which I learnt by heart at 13 and later took care to learn in the original English, which I sing when I do the dishes and which routinely makes me cry, is Tolkien's translation of an 8th century Saxon elegy?

Well, the notes at the end of the page confirmed it:

"Tolkien's rendition is hard to resist" I bet it is. I love that professional philologists add notes to their work saying "yeah, by the way, this bit here? It's in your favourite fantasy novel, and I am kinda jealous of how well it was translated, but it's Tolkien, the man spoke Old English, what can you do? Carry on, xoxo"

I mean, I had gathered that the Tolkien poem played on themes used in medieval literature, but I had no idea it was based on an actual, specific text. That makes it a hundred times cooler!

Maybe it's common knowledge, but it was a delicious tidbit of good news to me. Especially since I wasn't expecting it in the least, so I was blindsided by it.

Cherry on top? I had ignored the Old English text, since I don't understand it, but at the end I gave it a cursory read , and the line "Alas for the splendor of the prince"? "Eala þeodnes þrym!"

Now, I have never studied Old English, but I know roughly how to pronounce it (what kind of Silmarillion fan would I be if I didn’t recognize the thorn?). þeodnes has to be where "Theoden" comes from, right?

Apparently yes. I googled the "Lament for the Rohirrim", and Tolkien Gathaway has a nice little parapraph in which they explain all this. I don't know why I had never read it before, but it was a lot more fun learning it as an unexpected detour from my French practice, not gonna lie.

Bottom line: Tolkien was a both a nerd and a genius and continues to make my life brighter, and this is one of those moments in which I am very happy I have spent years of my life learning languages.

Thanks for coming to my impromptu TedTalk.