~ Sceopellen ~

Yet again, medievalism hits the headlines, although this time only in a 2×3 inch square in The Times. I quote;

“Ancient Treasures Unearthed at Farm

A royal Anglo-Saxon cemetery, with some of the finest examples of gold jewellery found in Britain, has been discovered on farmland in Teesside.
The 109 burials, arranged in a rectangular pattern and dating from the middle of the 7th century, were found by Steve Sherlock, a freelance archaeologist. The finds, at the only known Anglo-Saxon royal burial site in the North East, include gold pendants, gold disks with filigree working and a sword. Robin Daniels, of Tees Archaeology, has described the pendansts as comparable with the treasure found at Sutton Hoo.

Firstly, why isn’t there a seven page article on this! If it actually is comparable to Sutton Hoo, and from the small image it looks to be a rather stunning set of finds, surely there should be more publicity.

I took quite a while over searching the internet for more information, and came across a local newspaper entry about the finds.

The one central pendant in the image is stunning; gold, filigree and the carving of what appears to be a cockle shell in the centre. I realise it’s unlikely to be anything to do with pilgrimages – but it only adds to my interest. I suddenly want to go to Teesside… Wonder why…!

Oh, and just to highlight another stunning point from today’s papers. The Guardian’s ‘The Poll’ in the G2 will next week ask; “Beowulf: Innovation or Tragedy?” Hilarity beckons. Check out the result and vote yourself at arts.guardian.co.uk/thepoll.

I must say, I am rather mixed on this one, despite the large list of ‘Beowulf innacuracies’ below. At the end of the day, if more people start studying A-S life and literature, everyone benefits. It is gradually shifting further and further into the public limelight. On the other hand, the movie could be seen as rather more of a ‘tragedy’ than a ’success’. The movie was innovative and celebrity-endorsed, which does help. Yet some things were lost; the heroic idiom, the culture of glory, the importance of the hall and the rituals surrounding it, the importance of exploration and travel balanced against the importance of home and hearth. The beauty of the language as the only language spoken in the movie was distorted by the deformed Grendel and could potentially be read as a sign of the antiquity and backwardness of the ‘monsters’.

Personally, too much was lost, and I personally cannot see how many people are going to join the medievalist ranks following that shameful excuse for representation… Lets see what the poll says!