Anglo-Saxon paganism, Georgian grave robbers and Victorian ghosts
So, the other night I went to see the very lovely jholloway talking about Anglo-Saxon paganism at Treadwells. Now, once upon a time, in a land far far away, which we shall refer to as 'Oxford', I did an MPhil in European Archaeology, specialising in the Anglo-Saxon period. In my first year I wrote a 5000 word extended essay on the mystery of the missing infant burials of the period, and in my second year I wrote my thesis on the changing archaeological attitudes towards death and burial within the context of the conversion period.
And then I realized that I was soon going to go on a killing spree and destroy all in my path if I didn't leave Oxford soon, gave up on the phd, ran away to London to go to Camberwell, and the rest is history. And for ages, I kind of half forgot about the whole subject in a mildly pained way.
Anyway, fairly recently, jholloway said he was doing a talk at Treadwell's on Anglo-Saxon paganism, focusing on the conversion period. Which was the area I knew best. Sadly for me, and thankfully (I think) for him, I couldn't find my notes and so went along with nothing but my five year old memories of my MPhil.
And I had a wonderful time. Listening to James talk, I felt all the old love I had for that period come rushing back. I remembered how much I'd enjoyed speculating wildly in the silence of my own mind on the missing infant burials,* I remembered Tania Dickinson pushing bad photocopies across the room and squinting to try and see what she was talking about when she showed me pictures of these shield wotsits** and I remembered how much I just loved that whole period. It was marvellous, and James is a really good speaker.
In general, I'm also beginning to really enjoy just going to Treadwells, which is such a weird and interesting place. There's quite a cool evening event on 4 June, which is a fake Victorian seance which I'm considering going to. Would anyone be interested? The blurb for it is here.
Finally, I think anyone who has some free time on Sunday should cough up a tenner and come along to hear me talking about the Craven Street Bones. Come on! It'll be fun! I am pretty good value for money when it comes to 18th century gore and guts.
*Most pre-industrial cultures have a really high rate of infant mortality. Either the Anglo-Saxons magically didn't, or they disposed of their infant dead differently, as they don't show up in most early Anglo-Saxon cemetaries.
** That's the technical term.
And then I realized that I was soon going to go on a killing spree and destroy all in my path if I didn't leave Oxford soon, gave up on the phd, ran away to London to go to Camberwell, and the rest is history. And for ages, I kind of half forgot about the whole subject in a mildly pained way.
Anyway, fairly recently, jholloway said he was doing a talk at Treadwell's on Anglo-Saxon paganism, focusing on the conversion period. Which was the area I knew best. Sadly for me, and thankfully (I think) for him, I couldn't find my notes and so went along with nothing but my five year old memories of my MPhil.
And I had a wonderful time. Listening to James talk, I felt all the old love I had for that period come rushing back. I remembered how much I'd enjoyed speculating wildly in the silence of my own mind on the missing infant burials,* I remembered Tania Dickinson pushing bad photocopies across the room and squinting to try and see what she was talking about when she showed me pictures of these shield wotsits** and I remembered how much I just loved that whole period. It was marvellous, and James is a really good speaker.
In general, I'm also beginning to really enjoy just going to Treadwells, which is such a weird and interesting place. There's quite a cool evening event on 4 June, which is a fake Victorian seance which I'm considering going to. Would anyone be interested? The blurb for it is here.
Finally, I think anyone who has some free time on Sunday should cough up a tenner and come along to hear me talking about the Craven Street Bones. Come on! It'll be fun! I am pretty good value for money when it comes to 18th century gore and guts.
*Most pre-industrial cultures have a really high rate of infant mortality. Either the Anglo-Saxons magically didn't, or they disposed of their infant dead differently, as they don't show up in most early Anglo-Saxon cemetaries.
** That's the technical term.