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Archive for December, 2020

Year in Review (Sort of)

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , on December 27, 2020| Leave a Comment »

I’m taking a brief pause from my Arthur-related posts for this week and next to do my usual look back at my goals–and how well I did (or didn’t do) and then ahead to goals for the coming year. See this post.

So, this time last year . . . the world was different, for starters. Anyway . . .

My first goal was to refill my creative well by breaking out of my rut:

  • Stop re-reading my comfort reads and try something new, some new authors.
  • Make more of an effort to break out of my introvert comfort zone, go new places, maybe even meet new people.
  • Start a new fitness routine.

Okay. Well, I did pick up a few new-to-me authors, but, if there was ever a better time for comfort reads, I’m not sure when that would have been. As far as going new places and meeting new people, well, the pandemic and lock down pretty much put paid to that idea. The one item that has been a real success is the new fitness routine. That’s working out really pretty well.

My second goal was new learning to fuel new ideas.

That one, too, has worked out pretty well. (As my last several posts on all things Arthur might indicate.) But I’ve done online courses about a number of other interesting topics, too. Who knows where that will lead in the future.

My third goal was to break through my writer’s block.

I wouldn’t call this one an unqualified success. I am writing again–in fits and starts–but not consistently. Still it’s unfair to beat myself up with everything this year has thrown at us.

Third: Breaking through writer’s block. I’ve bought and started reading one e-book on the subject. Not everything in it will work for me, of course. You can’t expect that. Every writer’s process is different. But picking up some ideas is a good start. There’s another book by a different author I may try after this one.

My fourth goal was to possibly try a new writer’s group.

Yeah, no progress on this one.

My fifth goal was to clean my desk.

Well, yes. More than once. This is the sort of thing that has to be done periodically. Somehow, it just keeps getting messy until I finally do something about it. Pretty clean right now, though.

My sixth goal was to get back into a regular writing routine.

Not . . . yet. Maybe when things get back to some new semblance of order.

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Badon Hill

Posted in writing, tagged , , , , on December 20, 2020| 1 Comment »

This is the site of Arthur’s final and decisive battle against the Saxons and it’s one of the most difficult locations to place. Nobody really knows where this battle took place. No evidence has so far been found. Yet, the earliest and most nearly contemporary account of the time we have, Gildas’s On the Ruin and Conquest of Britain, mentions it. About the only other thing we know for sure—again, from that earliest source—is that it was a siege. Therefore, arguably, it must have taken place near a defensible site—most likely a hillfort.

That narrows it down some—not much, but some. The possibilities most often cited are Liddington Castle, Badbury Rings, or Ringsbury Camp—again, all hillforts, not castles. All are in the southwest—either present-day Wiltshire or Dorset.

Liddington Castle:

At only 7 ½ acres, this is a relatively small hillfort to the east of Cadbury Castle. However, it is one of a number of hillforts along The Ridgeway. This is a very ancient trackway connecting the Thames River area with the valleys of the Avon and Severn Rivers—an important trade route. It was also part of or connected to the Icknield Way, which ran from the Salisbury Plain to Norfolk, former territory of the Iceni. That could be interesting to work with. Unfortunately, there’s no evidence that Liddington Castle was re-occupied during the Dark Ages.

Badbury Rings:

Badbury Rings is a much larger hillfort to the south and possibly slightly east of Cadbury Castle. The original ditch and embankment enclosed 18 acres, but it was later expanded later to 41 acres with several rings of earthworks. And there was another horizontal earthwork, Brokerley Dyke, to the northeast. It’s part of a string of hillforts in Dorset (territory of the Durotriges). And it was reoccupied during the Dark Ages.

Ringsbury Camp:

This hillfort had a double earthwork that enclosed only 8 acres. Interestingly, the embankment was built with rocks that did not come from the immediate area.

Of the three, I’m most drawn to Liddington and the Ridgeway, with the large Badbury Rings a close second. Well . . . fortunately, that battle takes place fairly late in the story. I don’t have to choose just yet.

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Camelot

Posted in writing, tagged , , , , on December 13, 2020| 2 Comments »

This is the site of King Arthur’s Court in the later legends. But, setting aside the issue of trusting later stories, Arthur still needed to live somewhere. And a well-fortified dwelling makes a certain amount of sense for a war leader.

One good possibility is a hillfort now called Cadbury Castle, in Somerset, long associated with Camelot in local legend.

Yeah, it’s not on this map, yet. In fact, I think I’m going to need to redo some of the locations on this map, anyway.

The “bury” part, at least is Saxon, not British and may date to a much later Saxon mint on the site. It’s impossible to tell, now, what the Britons called it in the fifth century, though it is near the villages of Queen’s Camel and West Camel and the River Cam (a tributary of Yeo) runs by it, so Camelot may be a Norman French mispronunciation of it. Something with “Camel” as part of the name is more than reasonable.

Four rings of ditch-and-embankment earthworks encircle the hill, providing access only from the southwest and northeast. These walls protected an area of about 18 acres. The Iron Age hillfort was abandoned during the period of Roman control. Like several other such hillforts, it was reoccupied during the Dark Ages, after the Romans left. Unlike the others, it was not only reoccupied, but refortified—and the new fortification were unusual.

Around 470, a stone wall or ledge was added to the top of the innermost earthwork. Above that, a timber wall protected a parapet and spanned the gate.

Inside these defenses, on top of the plateau, were several buildings, including a timber great hall about 63 feet long by 64 feet wide. And, like Tintagel, there’s evidence of luxury items from the Mediterranean, marking this as a high-status dwelling.

A highly suitable dwelling for a war leader. And, as far as is known so far, Cadbury Castle was the only site refortified in this manner during the Dark Ages.

If you scroll down, there are some interesting photos and artist’s renderings on this website: https://eaglesanddragonspublishing.com/tag/cadbury-castle/

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