Yay. Eubank wins. What a tear up though! It was good to see both dads talking to each other as well as both others sons. Not seen a fight like that for ages.
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What are you watching on TV right now?
- Thread starter Mottie
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Honey hunters. Nutters that hang on ropes off the side of a cliff, hundreds of feet up in the air to get honey from bees nests.
It’s a long way down!
It’s a long way down!
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By chance i caught Michael Portillo's Great British Railway Journeys which visited Maldon in wednesday's episode. Anyone with an interest in Viking history knows the town as the scene of one of the most famous battles against the Saxons.
The local Ealdorman, Byrhtnoth, caught them cold and picked them off one by one when they tried to cross a causeway from a nearby island. Their leader complained it wasn't a fair fight and Byrtnoth agreed to allow them free passage to the mainland where the Vikings proceeded to turn the tables and took the Ealdorman's head. The event was recorded by a skald who turned his folly into an epic poem: 'The Battle of Maldon'.
Rang the shield rims, and sang the corselets of mail
a certain terrible dirge. Then at the battle's height
Offa a sea-farer sent to the Earth dead,
and there Gadd's kinsman was laid low to the ground:
soon it was at battle that Offa was hewn down.
He had however accomplished that vow to his lord
that he had uttered before to his giver of rings,
that either they both ride to the fortified
home unhurt or else perish fighting
on the battlefield and die of their wounds.
He lay slain nobly near the lord of his people.
At school, I read Tolkien's translation "The Homecoming of Beorhtnoth", taken from a fragment of the saga which conveys the heroic tone of the battle fought on the sandbanks which haven't changed that much over the course of a milennium.
Portillo was chatting with a local guide who found a Viking sword, confirmed as 10th century by archaeologists, to the north of Maldon and believes the battle was fought there, rather than the official account which states it was fought further West where the Vikings landed from Northey Island. It's not easy to sift the accounts of those times to get to the real history but from a fragment of poetry and a rusty old sword we see glimpses of those epic deeds of mighty warriors.
The local Ealdorman, Byrhtnoth, caught them cold and picked them off one by one when they tried to cross a causeway from a nearby island. Their leader complained it wasn't a fair fight and Byrtnoth agreed to allow them free passage to the mainland where the Vikings proceeded to turn the tables and took the Ealdorman's head. The event was recorded by a skald who turned his folly into an epic poem: 'The Battle of Maldon'.
Rang the shield rims, and sang the corselets of mail
a certain terrible dirge. Then at the battle's height
Offa a sea-farer sent to the Earth dead,
and there Gadd's kinsman was laid low to the ground:
soon it was at battle that Offa was hewn down.
He had however accomplished that vow to his lord
that he had uttered before to his giver of rings,
that either they both ride to the fortified
home unhurt or else perish fighting
on the battlefield and die of their wounds.
He lay slain nobly near the lord of his people.
At school, I read Tolkien's translation "The Homecoming of Beorhtnoth", taken from a fragment of the saga which conveys the heroic tone of the battle fought on the sandbanks which haven't changed that much over the course of a milennium.
Portillo was chatting with a local guide who found a Viking sword, confirmed as 10th century by archaeologists, to the north of Maldon and believes the battle was fought there, rather than the official account which states it was fought further West where the Vikings landed from Northey Island. It's not easy to sift the accounts of those times to get to the real history but from a fragment of poetry and a rusty old sword we see glimpses of those epic deeds of mighty warriors.
Byrhtnoth spoke, his shield raised aloft, brandishing a slender ash-wood spear, speaking words, wrathful and resolute did he give his answer:
"Hear now you, pirate, what this people say?
They desire to you a tribute of spears to pay,
poisoned spears and old swords,
the war-gear which you in battle will not profit from.
Sea-thieves messenger, deliver back in reply,
tell your people this spiteful message,
that here stands undaunted an Earl with his band of men
who will defend our homeland,
Aethelred's country, the lord of my
people and land. Fall shall you
heathen in battle! To us it would be shameful
that you with our coin to your ships should get away
without a fight, now you thus far
into our homeland have come.
You shall not so easily carry off our treasure:
with us must spear and blade first decide the terms,
fierce conflict, is the tribute we will hand over."
"Hear now you, pirate, what this people say?
They desire to you a tribute of spears to pay,
poisoned spears and old swords,
the war-gear which you in battle will not profit from.
Sea-thieves messenger, deliver back in reply,
tell your people this spiteful message,
that here stands undaunted an Earl with his band of men
who will defend our homeland,
Aethelred's country, the lord of my
people and land. Fall shall you
heathen in battle! To us it would be shameful
that you with our coin to your ships should get away
without a fight, now you thus far
into our homeland have come.
You shall not so easily carry off our treasure:
with us must spear and blade first decide the terms,
fierce conflict, is the tribute we will hand over."
Man like Mobeen.
A cracking final in University Challenge last night: only one question in it at the end and Christ's College win their first ever trophy by five points! Best of all; they get Gandalf to present the trophy.
A deodorant advert for smelly tits, bums, fannies, bollocx and feet. Just wash the f'cking things!
The mighty Saddlers
Me too, very interesting indeed, and just finished.
Last night we watched the final episode of Pan Am 103. The first time I've heard the full story.
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Just watching David Bowie doing Heroes on YouTube, taken from an old top of the pops. He just sparked up a fag
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Up.
That Elsie Dots mother on the news thanking everyone that has helped her and the other two mothers who lost their children in the Southport attack. Brought a tear to my eye. How can any parent fail to be moved by that? 
The Gold about the Brinks Mat robbery - laundering the proceeds. Even some great 80s music thrown in. BBC can still make a decent drama, it seems. Almost worth the cost of the licence that I should have.
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