Comments on: The Trouble With Heroes

By: Laura Resnick

Laura Resnick — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 18:55:13 +0000

Thanks for those suggestions!

Laura

By: Patricia Mathews

Patricia Mathews — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 14:29:55 +0000

The basics about Hilda can be found in a rather sketchy form in Bede’s “Ecclesiastical History of the English People.” Don’t let the title “Venerable” put you off – Bede is a clear and lively writer.

One of the other students in my class had a YA novel about Aethelflaed she was reading. I forget the title and was going to google for it. I got the bare facts on her out of my medieval history books, which included translations of The Anglo_Saxon Chronicle. Which has its own moments, including the time the chronicler, starting to write a dry-as-dust logbook account of a notable battle found himself breaking into poetry and ended up going all-out!

Odd, that I haven’t really sought out novelizations the way I usually do when interested in a period. Perhaps because we’re going into it in such depth?

Oh – one of their heroines, after whom a number of women were named in period, is the OT (in some versions) character of Judith. The lady who cut off the head of Holofernes. There was a heroic poem written in period about the incident and the poet clearly totally approves of the lady. Cutting off the head of the invading general! Way to go, m’lady! So if you read fantasy, check out Guy Gavriel Kay’s “Last Light of the Sun”, in which a very evident alternative-Aethelflaed is named Judith – and the author/narrator is very clearly intimidated by her!

And if I ever get it properly traqnslated, I’ll send you the Maxim that begins with true Medieval practicality “The King is obliged to acquire a Queen with property”, but then goes on about their respective duties. He may have been Head of State, but she was a combination of Prime Minister, Secretary of State, and often, Vice President/Regent for when he was away or dead.

By: Laura Resnick

Laura Resnick — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 16:50:21 +0000

Now that you’ve got me interested in Aethelflaed and Hilda, can you recommend any books–fiction or nonfiction?

By: Patricia Mathews

Patricia Mathews — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 03:58:32 +0000

However, whatever later eras made of Guinevere, and whatever the customs of Roman Britain were, the Anglo_Saxons respected strong and complex women who gave good advice and could lead armies. The literature of the period is full of things like a poet’s prolonged riff on the story of Judith and Holofernes (The poet KNOWS she did the right thing and has made a heroic epic out of it.), of maxims like “A queen must be able to advise her husband well”, of Aethelflaed, lady of the Mercians (historical figure, daughter of Alfred the Great, apparently highly respected) – not to mention Abbess Hilda of Whitby, who was running the biggest religious dispute-settlement since the Council of Nicaea.

There are similar stories out of Ireland in a slightly earlietr period.

So I’m going to suggest that Guinevere was heavily watered down over the millennia, that a real Early Medieval queen would have been a whole lot more than “a barren adulteress!”

I am SO looking forward to your story about her.