In which Sarah makes fun of a document that's worth more than her life
Crazy busy writing paper on Alfred the Great right now, and still sick. I promise to have real content soon, particularly photos of my new jacket and the story of the total deal I got on it, as well as this beautiful mitred-square afghan I'm working on. But I had to share this.See, there was this bishop named Asser (snicker snicker) who wrote a biography of Alfred. And I was really pissed because I finally managed to find a copy of this book in the library and yesterday I crack it open, flip past the 60-odd pages of intro, only to find that it's written in the original Latin. Whiskey tango foxtrot! Luckily I managed to find one online in English, and the translation is positively saucy! Take this part, for instance. King Ethelwulf is Alfred's father, and the two of them went to Rome on a pilgrimage when Alfred was 7, staying there for a year. Emphasis is my own.
"In the meantime, however, whilst king Ethelwulf was residing beyond the sea, a base deed was done, repugnant to the morals of all Christians, in the western part of Selwood. For king Ethelwald [son of king Ethelwulf] and Ealstan, bishop of the church of Sherborne, with Eanwulf, earl of the district of Somerton, are said to have made a conspiracy together, that king Ethelwulf, on his return from Rome, should never again be received into his kingdom. This crime, unheard-of in all previous ages, is ascribed by many to the bishop and earl alone, as resulting from their counsels. Many also ascribe it solely to the insolence of the king, because that king was pertinacious in this matter . . .
For as he was returning from Rome, his son aforesaid, with all his counsellors, or, as I ought to say, his conspirators . . ."
Meow.
posted by Sarah @ 1:21 PM
2 Comments:
That's some good reading you've got going there. Also, I think if you ever have a child, you shd name it Ethelwulf. I think this is a name which must be returned to the fore. I shall draw Laura's attn to this.
Love ya,
p.s. your non-resident auntie likes the idea of picking thru a case of jam
Seriously - the cats are moulting and we're brushing them. Do you want us to accumulate it - I figure if we keep putting it in a ziploc, it'll start to dreadlock itself into a sort of roving. Whaddaya think?
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