tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2456802468539868519.post1931686996025238068..comments2023-10-12T02:21:40.102-07:00Comments on English Historical Fiction Authors: Aesop's Fables and the Bayeux TapestryDebra Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03256313302199653185noreply@blogger.comBlogger15125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2456802468539868519.post-48419094377933771272017-02-06T19:17:17.310-08:002017-02-06T19:17:17.310-08:00In the scene where the enshrouded King Edward is c...In the scene where the enshrouded King Edward is carried to be buried, there is an especially well-drawn red fox turning its head to the procession.<br />This I believe is Alan Rufus, whose name in Breton has the colloquial meaning of "the red fox".<br /><br />Alan's father Count Eudon was an elder maternal first cousin to King Edward, during whose reign the owner of Wyken Farm in Suffolk was a royal thegn ("Comes") named Alan. Count ("Comes") Alan Rufus was buried in that same parish.zoetropohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11561232179829754977noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2456802468539868519.post-10337989444984820172013-01-09T09:41:03.574-08:002013-01-09T09:41:03.574-08:00LOL! Yes, I've learned the hard way how import...LOL! Yes, I've learned the hard way how important it is to prepare high school students' minds to be receptive ahead of time before seeing a Mozart opera, an Impressionist exhibit, etc. They can get really excited about things if they know enough about them beforehand.Rosanne E. Lortzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11048843976794056529noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2456802468539868519.post-64544682804449360932013-01-09T09:36:42.970-08:002013-01-09T09:36:42.970-08:00Great post Rosanne- tweeted. I remember my sister ...Great post Rosanne- tweeted. I remember my sister taking my then teenage nephew to see the Bayeux Tapestry while they were on holiday. He came home complaining bitterly. 'They took me to see a carpet,' was his immortal phrase. Now he's a senior at art college and has NEVER been allowed to forget it!E.M. Powellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00565716658256251123noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2456802468539868519.post-7858231219551568982013-01-08T18:40:09.297-08:002013-01-08T18:40:09.297-08:00Yes, it definitely is speculation. I didn't go...Yes, it definitely is speculation. I didn't go into it here, but some historians actually give an opposite interpretation to the characters in the fable. They say _Harold_ is the greedy fox trying to take what isn't rightfully his. Which destroys the whole idea of an Anglo-Saxon subtext, but there you go.... :-)Rosanne E. Lortzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11048843976794056529noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2456802468539868519.post-10391307471365953272013-01-08T16:03:13.556-08:002013-01-08T16:03:13.556-08:00Fascinating speculation! I was unaware of the fab...Fascinating speculation! I was unaware of the fable being there.<br /><br />Thanks for sharing!Sophia Rosehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07909417504496472472noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2456802468539868519.post-67869399809509740592013-01-08T13:15:52.117-08:002013-01-08T13:15:52.117-08:00Mmmm...yes, there are lots of different versions o...Mmmm...yes, there are lots of different versions of the story depending on which primary sources your read. Whether Harold went to Normandy at all. If he did go, why? If he did swear the oath, was it under duress? And if he did break an oath, was the oath-breaking justified? <br /><br />I think I might write a blog post on all that for later this month. Rosanne E. Lortzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11048843976794056529noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2456802468539868519.post-47094167845988826112013-01-08T13:06:35.988-08:002013-01-08T13:06:35.988-08:00I read some passages from of a couple of books on ...I read some passages from of a couple of books on Harold (and one on the Godwins if I recall) for a blog post on him a couple of years ago. One by Ian Walker was particularly good and I think it may have been one which presented some intriguing ideas. <br /><br />One was that the notorious oath was sworn under duress, and that William had one of Harold's brothers and a Nephew in his prison (proposed as a reason why he might have gone to Normandy).<br /><br />What was also interesting was that Edward the Confessor actually had an heir of the Blood in the line of the House of Wessex and the line of Alfred- his great Nephew Edgar.<br />Harold had apparently been sent in the 1050s to bring Edgar's father and his wife and children home to England from Hungary.<br /><br />Considering how William was kin to Edward the Confessor through his Norman mother, but Edgar the Etheling was the grandson of his Older English half-brother, I rather think he had the stronger claim, and there seems to have been some intention of him succeeding the throne. There was even some suggesting that Edward might not even have considered William his heir.<br /><br />I have so say, I think this reading rather changed my view of Harold. I rather like him now, he seems to be one of those figures who was vilified by his adversaries after his death- and he was from Sussex, like me. <br /><br />https://wuhstry.wordpress.com/2011/07/25/the-real-king-harold/English Ladyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17806974885775295349noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2456802468539868519.post-6487531739100011082013-01-08T12:59:51.660-08:002013-01-08T12:59:51.660-08:00This comment has been removed by the author.English Ladyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17806974885775295349noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2456802468539868519.post-885816774190128952013-01-07T16:43:39.449-08:002013-01-07T16:43:39.449-08:00Fascinating, and it would indeed make a great basi...Fascinating, and it would indeed make a great basis for a novel!Barbara Monajemhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06740868750916582900noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2456802468539868519.post-29199702196970026442013-01-07T07:52:55.704-08:002013-01-07T07:52:55.704-08:00Thanks so much!Thanks so much!Rosanne E. Lortzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11048843976794056529noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2456802468539868519.post-81602051871178546342013-01-07T07:52:45.619-08:002013-01-07T07:52:45.619-08:00You're welcome! Interested to see your book. W...You're welcome! Interested to see your book. What is the name of it?Rosanne E. Lortzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11048843976794056529noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2456802468539868519.post-68314142252260736062013-01-07T07:49:11.232-08:002013-01-07T07:49:11.232-08:00Wonderful post. I tweeted.Wonderful post. I tweeted.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2456802468539868519.post-2870676358555973242013-01-07T07:12:15.706-08:002013-01-07T07:12:15.706-08:00My next book out is set in 1067 and the hero is a ...My next book out is set in 1067 and the hero is a Saxon. I was thinking about a piece of the tapestry for the cover. Now it seems even more appropriate!<br />Thanks for a great insight!Michelehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12429730420678601455noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2456802468539868519.post-66073031048228943312013-01-07T05:55:14.681-08:002013-01-07T05:55:14.681-08:00Ah! You've seen the Tapestry in person! Lookin...Ah! You've seen the Tapestry in person! Looking forward to doing that one of these days. :-)Rosanne E. Lortzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11048843976794056529noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2456802468539868519.post-76618855241958049552013-01-07T05:03:01.177-08:002013-01-07T05:03:01.177-08:00... Thanks for this great post. I saw the tapestr...... Thanks for this great post. I saw the tapestry a couple years ago, and was enchanted. Of course, information available at the tapestry shop and in Bayeux in general didn't reveal the "other side of the story" .. I shall read more, and Brideford's book looks interesting. Thanks again.Karen in VA (was CT)https://www.blogger.com/profile/10530127612439104603noreply@blogger.com