Posts I enjoyed around the web this week:
The last Viking and his magical sword? Extraordinary find now on display in Oslo and undergoing publication. Decorated with gold letters that appear to be Latin letters but with a mysterious message and also embellished with Christian symbols (but found in a pagan burial ground). This extraordinary find seems to represent everything a sword symbolized to Vikings: power, magic, strength. Click here for “The Last Viking and his Magical Sword” on Archaeological News Network
This post by Laura McNeill on the excellent website Women’s Fiction Writers with eleven tips for writing domestic suspense is right on the mark and very handy. I’m voting for #8 Leave Early as “one I most need to remember this week” Which one hit home with you? Click here for Womens Fiction Writers “11 Tips for Writing Domestic Suspense”
“Monsters” found in Celtic sacrifices, “hybrid animals” formed after butchering with parts from cows, horses and goats. Seems to be a way of winning over the gods and may indicate myths similar to the Greek myths with snake heads on lion bodies and other fun creatures. But since this is a pre-literate culture we don’t have their myths to know. Incredibly intriguing, don’t you think? Click here for Hybrid Animals Unearthed at Pre-Roman Site in Dorset on Archaeology News Network
To fans of Dickens and other Victorian writers, a rare book dealer discovered an annotated set of bound copies of the literary periodical, All the Year Round, in which all the anonymous contributors are identified in Dickens’ own hand, such as Wilkie Collins and Elizabeth Gaskell. Many stories and essays previously misattributed are getting sorted out, and it turns out his sons were often included—an intriguing bit of nepotism. Oh, and he concealed his mistress’s sister’s contributions by referring to her as Aunt Margaret. Apparently paying good sums of money to her for her writing was a bit too embarrassing for possible public revelation. Click here for “Dickens Marginalia Reveal Famous Contributors” on The Guardian
This cartoon is so true. In response I am considering publishing my next book under Socrates’ name, my trusty canine assistant, and letting him do a book tour. People would show up in droves and he’d love it—as long as he was allowed to lick everyone instead of signing books. Via Janet Rudolph Click here for Cartoon of the Day on Mystery Fanfare
Taking the Bloody out of Bloody Mary, the queen not the cocktail. Historical reality and how Mary gained a bum rap. Good post by Nancy Bilyeau. Always an intriguing subject how the propaganda needs of victors or later people can twist our understanding of historical figures. Click here for “The Truth about Bloody Mary” on Nancy Bilyeau