A Viking Christmas

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Hugh
Posts: 595
Joined: Wed Sep 06, 2000 6:01 am
Location: Virginia

A Viking Christmas

Post by Hugh »

A happy thought for the season:

‘Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the hall
Not a creature was stirring, not warrior nor thrall.
And I in my armour, my greaves and my helm,
Was drunker than anyone else in the realm.
I staggered upstairs and fell into bed
While four quarts of mead were ablaze in my head.
Then up from below came the sounds of a brawl
So I grabbed up my axe and ran down to the Hall.
I missed the last step and crashed down in a heap
Thinking "Why can't those low-lifes downstairs go to sleep!"
When what to my wondering eyes should appear
But two brawny strangers, wielding mallet and spear.
I said to myself "We'll soon have them beat!"
Then I noticed ten warriors laid out at their feet.
I gave out a yell and leapt into the fray....
I'll always regret my poor choice of that day.
For one laid his hammer to the side of my nose
And up, up, up to the rafters I rose.
Then came a lone frightened voice from the floor
"Those are no mortal warriors--- that's Odin and Thor!"
Then they looked at each other and they said "Battle's done.
Now they know who we are, it no longer is fun."
Then Thor raised his hammer, and his elbow he bent,
And with a loud crash, through the ceiling they went.
I crawled through the Hall and flung open the door,
Not really sure that I'd seen them before.
The snow bathed in starlight, the moon like a glede,
I saw them ride off on an eight-legged steed.
And I heard them exclaim, ere they flew out of sight,
"TO HELA WITH CHRISTMAS, WE JUST LOVE A GOOD FIGHT!!!"
Trying to Walk in the Light, Hugh
1 John 1:5
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f.Channell
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Location: Valhalla

Post by f.Channell »

I used to make mead.

Crazy stuff. Different than any other alcohol.

F.
Sans Peur Ne Obliviscaris
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JOHN THURSTON
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Joined: Sat Nov 28, 1998 6:01 am
Location: MARSHFIELD, MA. USA
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A 10!!!!

Post by JOHN THURSTON »

I may not check every post for actual historical accuracy. Some, like Sensei Freds' "15th Century Life" are just fun, and I take them that way.

If the 14th Century was Calamitous for the Old World (Tuchman: "A Distant Mirror, The Calamatous 14th Century")

The 15th and following centuries were a complete disaster for the then natives of the New World.

Plague, Smallpox, measles and other dideases by the dozens that we have talked about were deadly.

The "Caribs" proved 'unsuitable' as slave labor for the "Conquistadors" and just plain died, creating a need fpr the sturdier stock from, mostly, East Africa..

Thus the deadly trade triangle started.

The British outlawed slavery and took it on themselves to chase down many a "Blackbirder" on the high seas.

I Read Basil Davidson's "the African Slave Trade" a long time ago and it is true that many natives in the area of the Bight of Benin sold political enemies and captives to the slave Traders.

In their defense, they had no idea of what 'slavery' in the New World really meant. Death on the Blackbirders and in the plantations of North and South America.

A complex pattern, and a sad one, only resolved in tthe blood of 500,000 Americans in the 19th Century.


At the time of the landing (not in Virginia as Planned) in Plymouth, later called Plymouth Bay Colony and most "land titles" are based on the Mayflower Compact.

(Philbrick: "Mayflower") The Pilgrims (and i have had arguments with the descendants of the Puritan Church had an idea of what a pilgrimage was that I still don't understand, they seemed to me to just have designated their own holy place.

Leyden Street in Plymouth is named for the Leyden group of Pilgrims who composed the bulk of the passengers on Mayflower and Speedwell.

Myles Standish was so short that he was called "Captain Shrimpe" and , to his immense embarassment, had to have his rapier shortened so that it would not drag on the ground.

In any event, as I have noted, many many native American "Towns" were found derelict and filled only with bones as if out of some Apocalype Sci Fi story.

j
"All Enlightenment Gratefully Accepted"
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