Hæðfeld: Where Edwin lost his head?

Where, exactly, was the battle of Hæðfeld? I have a theory, based on research I’ve done on water courses and roads of 632.

Working Roman baths in 7th C Northumbria?

Were there any working baths in seventh-century Northumbria? I’m guessing not, but perhaps some of those wall forts were in reasonable shape. Birdoswald? How about Arbeia? We know that Osric was born there…

My new site

I am switching Gemæcca, my previous site, to WordPress—and taking the opportunity to rename it Gemæcce. It will happen gradually. Think of this as a test. As such, I’m just going to repost something from my personal blog.

East Anglian accession dates

According to Bede, when Hild is recruited to the church in 647 CE she is in East Anglia, and has been for a year. I’m trying to work out why.

Happy 1400th anniversary to Hild!

How do you say, fourteen hundreth in Latin? I will cheerfully admit that my Latin is rubbish, but I had a go anyway.

I am coming to the UK at beginning of October

NOTE: This blog relates to 2014. I’m coming to the UK next month, 1—10 October. I’ll be doing a bunch o’ stuff to support Hild. If you’re a reader of this blog I hope you’ll come along and introduce yourself.

Latin for fourteen hundredth anniversary?

This year is the 1400th anniversary of Hild’s birth. According to Bede.* Given that her feast day is mid-November, and in my novel her birthday is mid-October, I’ve decided autumn would be a splendid time to celebrate.

Anglo-Saxon ethnic origin stories

It was a challenge to set aside the most recent hypotheses about the ethnogenesis of the English and write purely from Hild’s experience, her cultural perspective.

HILD out in the UK on Thursday 24th July

Hild will be out in the UK on Thursday July 24. The first UK notices are beginning to appear. I’m particularly proud of two. One from Alex Woolf…the other from Max Adams.

Hild’s first religious foundation

I’m now into <iHild II (working title Menewood) and I’ve started to wonder about the location of Hild’s first religious foundation. Aidan, when he recruited Hild to the Church in AD 647, gave her a single hide of land on which to live for a year. Bede tells us only that this land was “ad septentrionalem plagam Viuri fluminis.”