Essays The Weakness of Love in Marie de France’s Deus Amanz Posted on April 17, 2023September 12, 2024 By Roo Deus Amanz lives in the same genre as Pyramus and Thisbe, from Ovid’s Metamorphoses, as well as William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. It is also similar to Chevrefoil in the same collection. It is a story of lovers whose parents interfere with their love, and who end up dying together… Read more
Flash Fiction Time Posted on April 9, 2023September 12, 2024 By Roo Note: Written for a flash fiction assignment – the maximum word count was 500. In its time, the town of Mudgate, now lost to the ages, squatted unassumingly in a remote section of river-bottom country between two yet unnamed peaks covered with forests and meadows and frequented by butterflies and… Read more
Essays Iberia, 844: Every Historian Except Me Is Wrong Posted on April 8, 2023September 12, 2024 By Roo In September of 844, 229 or 230 in the Islamic calendar, the horizon from Lisbon was filled with dark red sails that blackened the horizon, and “filled the hearts of men with fear.” These were the Vikings, who had just made their first major assault on Iberia in Asturias. These… Read more
Revenge: Part 3 (Gainesburg, Mercia: Early February, 1014 A.D.) Posted on September 7, 2022September 12, 2024 By Roo The law speaker cleared his throat. “We now convene this Thing-Court to discuss the taxation of the city of Beodricsworth, the resting place of Saint Edmund the Martyr. By the laws of the realm, the kingdom may tax any town it wishes, within reason. We will now hear the grievances… Read more
Revenge: Part 2 (Walingeford, Berkshire: 1013 A.D.) Posted on August 30, 2022September 12, 2024 By Roo By the time the sun rose, Svein Forkbeard, King of Norway and Denmark, soon to be King of England, could see the thatch roofs peeking over the fenced earthworks of Walingeford in the distance. They docked on the shore a mile south of the city and set up camp in… Read more
Revenge: Part 1 (Several miles outside Thetford, East Anglia: 869 A.D.) Posted on August 12, 2022September 12, 2024 By Roo “King Edmund of East Anglia!” Ivar bellowed, his brow creasing in mock consternation. “I am humbled to be in your presence.” As he spoke, a gust of wind tugged at his beard and ruffled the fur of his coat. He placed his foot gently on Edmund’s chest as his contingents… Read more