I’m wondering how people feel about anachronisms in historical fiction. Last week I came across a startling instance in a new paperback reprint of a well-received historical-type fantasy (perceived level of tech maybe 2nd or 3rd century CE). This is from a very respectable publisher, lots of critical attention, etc. Yet I hurled it across […]
Read more "anachronism!"I’ve come across this verb four times in Crossley-Holland’s translation of Beowulf. Shrithe (scriþan). I can’t quite triangulate on its meaning. I imagine something between slither and slide and slink and slip but it’s irritating not being able to pin it down. I know that in most languages there are no exact equivalents of many […]
Read more "scriþan"In honour of it being a holiday, I thought I’d post this poem by the Beowulf scop’s cat, that is, Henry Beard. Illustration by, well, me. (It’s an old pic; if I were doing it now I’d add a little boar, with bristles along its back, on top. Possibly some engraving on the sides.) Anyway, […]
Read more "brave Beocat, brood-kit of Ecgthmeow"
Gemæcce 