Richard's Ramblings

Historical Fiction and Fantasy, Young Adult Fiction, Book Reviews and ruminations on life

  • Home
  • About
  • Shield Maiden
  • The Amber Treasure
  • Tomorrow’s Guardian

8

Aug

Norse Legends at Edinburgh Fringe

Posted by rdenning  Published in Edinburgh Fringe, legend

I am spending a few days at the Edinburgh Fringe – the first time I have been here. We booked some events in advance but then just looked at the flyers that are thrust into your hands as your wander along the Royal Mile, Grassmarket and elsewhere. The result is a mixed bag of good, not so good and great events. The Scottish Falsetto Sock puppets was a hilarious look at politics both Scottish, UK, European and Worldwide.

 Shhh the improvised silent movie was entertaining and clever. The Suesification of Midsummers nights dream – was a Dr seus version of the bards play and for all of us a surprise hit and well recommended.  Axis of Awesome were – well awesome and hilarious with their take on pop music.

 For me though one of the best things I have seen was the telling of the Norse- Germanic myths by a group of 7 students from Cirencester. In an hour using nothing other than 2 step ladders, a stick, a couple of ropes and each other (and here I do mean the actors themselves were sometimes the props) the core of the Norse legends were retold. We saw the creation of the world from fire and ice, the coming of the gods, the first war, the tricks of Loki, the death of Baldur and Ragnarok.

I come at this from the point of view of a writer of historical fiction with a focus on the early Anglo-Saxon World rather than an actor, critic or agent but to me the acting was first rate and the interpretation and knowledge excellent. In particular they boiled down sometimes complex and difficult myths into an easy to understand storyline.

I believe this group are performing this play back in Cirencester so I would recommend it and I would not be surprised to see one of these faces in larger roles in years to come.

 

 

Share

Tags: Edinburgh Fringe, Scandimania

no comment

25

Jun

The Church, the Tree the King and Robin Hood

Posted by rdenning  Published in legend

Recently I happened to find myself in the vicinity of a small village called Edwinstowe in Nottinghamshire. Being on the edge of Sherwood Forrest it was managed to develop a decent if  small scale little tourist industry focused around it’s main claim to fame. That claim to fame is the links with the Robin Hood legend. A church was founded here in AD 633 and the current building was begun in 1175. Legend has it that this building is the very same that Robin and Marion got married in.

church1 church2

Edwinstowe is also the Parish in which the Major Oak Tree lies which all Robin Hood legend fans will recall was used both as a rendezvous location for Robin and his merry men but also possibly as a hiding place by his band. 

tree

The current tree (voted as the one of the most beloved in Britain) should probably be called The Major Oak II. It is certainly impressive – weighing  they estimate 23 tons and probably over a thousand years old. It also has those enchanting cracks and chasms that might just hide an outlaw or two. However in circa 1195 when Robin hood would have been active (assuming he existed of course) the current tree would have been only a couple of hundred years old and not the magnificent king of the Forrest. So assuming there was an original Major Oak (perhaps the current tree’s dad) in this area it would have been a tree  which in 1195 was 800 to 1000 years old. So Robin hid in a tree that may have dated back to something like the 2nd or 3rd century when the Roman’s were still here, which is itself exciting I think.

That tree: Major Oak I, if you like, stood in growing majesty throughout the passing centuries. In the year  633 it might have been witness to a band of men who hurried through the Forrest carrying the body of their dead king.  This was a certain King Edwin of Northumbria and after ruling Northumbria for about 16 years he had fallen in battle of Hatfield chase – only miles away to the north and, so the story goes, was carried away in secret so his body should not fall into the hand of the pagan Mercians and their king, Penda.  Edwin’s followers decapitated Edwin and buried the body where Penda would not find it. Then they took the head of their monarch back to York, where it was buried in St Peter’s Cathedral.

Some time later Edwin’s supporters were able to return for the body. It would be buried in Whitby Abbey. By now Edwin was being revered by the locals as a saint. The place where his body had lain was hallowed ground and a small wooden chapel was built on the spot.

Thus Edwinstowe — or “Edwin’s place” – was born.

So there you have it – a relatively obscure village is touched by history – one event leading to the village coming into existence in the first place and gaining its name. Another event 600 years later, albeit legendary, and the village has its place in history and who can blame the locals for making a few bucks out of it.

littlejohn

 

Share

Tags: Edwin, robin hood

no comment

Available Free on Amazon

Book 1 of the Northern Crown Series

Available Free on Amazon

Book 1 of the Nine Worlds Series.

Get my blog updates by email

Enter your email address:

Delivered by FeedBurner

Contact me:

Email me on r.denning@btinternet.com

Previous Posts

  • July 2019 (1)
  • June 2019 (1)
  • September 2018 (1)
  • June 2018 (1)
  • January 2018 (1)
  • November 2017 (1)
  • September 2017 (2)
  • August 2017 (1)
  • July 2017 (2)
  • June 2017 (2)
  • January 2017 (2)
  • August 2016 (1)
  • November 2015 (1)
  • March 2015 (1)
  • January 2015 (1)
  • October 2014 (3)
  • September 2014 (2)
  • August 2014 (2)
  • July 2014 (1)
  • June 2014 (2)
  • April 2014 (3)
  • March 2014 (1)
  • January 2014 (7)
  • December 2013 (3)
  • November 2013 (1)
  • October 2013 (2)
  • September 2013 (4)
  • August 2013 (1)
  • July 2013 (2)
  • June 2013 (7)
  • May 2013 (1)
  • April 2013 (1)
  • March 2013 (2)
  • February 2013 (3)
  • January 2013 (5)
  • December 2012 (4)
  • November 2012 (6)
  • October 2012 (2)
  • September 2012 (9)
  • August 2012 (3)
  • July 2012 (2)
  • June 2012 (2)
  • May 2012 (1)
  • April 2012 (3)
  • March 2012 (1)
  • February 2012 (2)
  • January 2012 (3)
  • December 2011 (6)
  • November 2011 (6)
  • October 2011 (8)
  • September 2011 (9)
  • August 2011 (16)
  • July 2011 (19)
  • June 2011 (6)
  • May 2011 (3)
  • April 2011 (3)
  • March 2011 (5)
  • February 2011 (3)
  • January 2011 (4)
  • December 2010 (2)
  • November 2010 (3)
  • October 2010 (2)
  • September 2010 (1)
  • July 2010 (2)
  • June 2010 (3)
  • May 2010 (1)
  • April 2010 (6)
  • March 2010 (5)
  • February 2010 (6)

Categrories

  • 17th Century History (19)
  • 17th Century London (13)
  • 18th Century (1)
  • Anglo Saxon Survival Guide (12)
  • Anglo Saxons (72)
  • Bernard Cornwell (1)
  • blog tour (5)
  • Book Review (5)
  • british traditions (1)
  • Character sketch (7)
  • charity (1)
  • Christmas (3)
  • Dark Age (34)
  • demons (3)
  • e-books (10)
  • Edinburgh Fringe (2)
  • entertainment (4)
  • exhibitions (1)
  • fantasy (4)
  • festivals (7)
  • Food and Drink (4)
  • games (8)
  • gardens (1)
  • Great Fire of London (11)
  • Guest Posts (3)
  • halloween (1)
  • Helen Hollick (4)
  • Historical Fiction (25)
  • Historical Figures (8)
  • history (41)
  • Ireland (2)
  • Iron Age (1)
  • Kindle (4)
  • legend (2)
  • libraries (3)
  • London Book Fair (2)
  • marketing (3)
  • Mercia Books (7)
  • Middle Earth (1)
  • museum (1)
  • music (1)
  • My Books (28)
  • mythology (11)
  • Napoleonic Wars (5)
  • National Trust (2)
  • Northumbria (4)
  • Nottingham (1)
  • Orkney (4)
  • Publishing (31)
  • richard denning (53)
  • rituals (3)
  • Romans (2)
  • runes (1)
  • saint (1)
  • school visits (1)
  • sci fi (5)
  • scotland (4)
  • Selfpublishing (26)
  • Short Story (1)
  • stars (1)
  • The Amber Treasure (24)
  • The Last Seal (34)
  • Time Travel (9)
  • Tomorrow's Guardian (16)
  • Uncategorized (88)
  • valentine's day (1)
  • Viking (2)
  • Wales (1)
  • warfare (7)
  • world war 1 (1)
  • writers (6)
  • Yesterday's Treasures (6)

Tags

17th Century aethelfrith Alexander the Great Amazon Anglo-Saxon Anglo Saxons bernicia Blog Tour Book Review Character Sketch Dark Age Decade a week deira entertainment food gods Great Fire of London Helen Hollick Historical Fiction historical research history Kindle mythology Northumbria Old English Orkney richard denning riddles runes saxons Sea Witch seax self publishing Selfpublishing Short Story six sentence sunday Staffordshire Horde The Amber Treasure The Great Fire of London 1666 The Last Seal Time Travel Tomorrow's Guardian Vikings warriors writing

Admin

  • Log in
  • Entries RSS
  • Comments RSS
  • WordPress.org

Recent Entries

  • The Franks Casket
  • Writing – Making your Mark
  • Xmas Day 1914: where was the Truce?
  • Where’s the Hill? The Mystery of Abingdon
  • Glendalough: The valley of two lakes
  • Place of the Caves – beneath the City of Nottingham
  • To chance your arm – the door of reconciliation
  • The Galloway Hoard – the Viking treasure trove
  • A visit to Bletchley Park
  • Visit to Birsay – one time capital of the Orkneys

Recent Comments

  • rdenning in Writing - Making your Mark
  • rdenning in Writing - Making your Mark
  • Koni Billings in Writing - Making your Mark
  • Steve in Writing - Making your Mark
  • Interview with Author Richard Denni… in The Amber Treasure
  • rdenning in Anglo-Saxon Hall at The British Musuem
  • rdenning in The 17th Century in 26 Words
  • rdenning in Its a Monster! The past and future of UKGE
  • Cabe in Its a Monster! The past and future of UKGE
  • Ros Jackson in The 17th Century in 26 Words
  • Random Selection of Posts

    • March 24 1603 Elizabeth I Queen of England Dies
    • What do we know of Vanaheim?
    • A decade a week 1650 to 1659
    • Weddings in Anglo Saxon Times
    • Some ideas on book promotion
    • The battle between two secret societies sets London Ablaze
    • 15th September 1940 The Hardest Day
© 2008 Richard's Ramblings is proudly powered by WordPress
Theme designed by Roam2Rome