Originally posted by Frances_iom
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Many thanks for the notification. The first half of the series was very good. I will listen to the man Seamus on I-Player! -
Heaney was good to listen to but, as aeolium commented, there's not a lot to be said about the bard, specifically, of Beowulf. I rather hoped for a bit more concrete info in the case of Bede, but perhaps there isn't any there either.
I wonder why he is (more?) frequently known at the venerable, rather than saint. I did not know he was (am I remembering accurately?) the only Englishman to have been granted the title of Doctor of the Church.It isn't given us to know those rare moments when people are wide open and the lightest touch can wither or heal. A moment too late and we can never reach them any more in this world.Comment
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I enjoyed Heaney's talk, but it was hardly about the Beowulf bard but more generally the role of the poet in the A-S world, and quite a few other poems were discussed.
It makes me wonder again why, when relatively little is known about any individual Anglo-Saxon, the series does not focus more on aspects of life during that period rather than on individual portraits.Comment
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I can never understand the objections to this. Roman writers did it all the time, though they did tend to switch from historical present to past and back again more readily than we do.Originally posted by Sir Velo View PostComment
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... well, altho' he was born in Aosta and was a monk at Bec, St Anselm of Canterbury - he of the ontological argument - might be thought of as English by adoption : he was Archbishop of Canterbury 1093-1109. And St Anselm is certainly a Doctor of the Church.Originally posted by french frank View PostComment
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The title Venerabilis seems to have been associated with the name of Bede within two generations after his death. There is of course no early authority for the legend repeated by Fuller of the "dunce-monk" who in composing an epitaph on Bede was at a loss to complete the line: Hac sunt in fossa Bedae . . . . ossa and who next morning found that the angels had filled the gap with the word venerabilis. The title is used by Alcuin, Amalarius and seemingly Paul the Deacon, and the important Council of Aachen in 835 describes him as venerabilis et modernis temporibus doctor admirabilis Beda.Originally posted by french frank View PostComment
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Thanks. According to Wiki (AtW) venerable is a stage before being canonised (as apparently Bede was in the end). Just a tradition, then, I suppose, to continue with the Venerable title in Bede's case.Originally posted by Sir Velo View PostIt isn't given us to know those rare moments when people are wide open and the lightest touch can wither or heal. A moment too late and we can never reach them any more in this world.Comment
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According to 1066 and All That, he was The Venomous Bede, author of The Rosary, one of a Wave of Saints who overran the country (including St Neot, who invented whisky). Now why don't they teach them that at school these days?Originally posted by french frank View PostComment
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Must confess that the dry academic essays are the ones I appreciate most
. Although you don't really get much of an idea of the subjects as people (not surprisingly), I do like the context. So Alfred and Offa were successful - for me.
The Caedmon essay, OTOH, did convey the individual but, alas, that was presumably the part that came from the writer's imagination. It did have the effect of making me want to trawl around and see what I can find, though. Whereas I would let the other two essays suffice!It isn't given us to know those rare moments when people are wide open and the lightest touch can wither or heal. A moment too late and we can never reach them any more in this world.Comment
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For various reasons I missed too many of the A-S essays and some aren't available as podcasts [rights resons] so I wonder if any of you [or between you] have a complete set of podcasts that were made available that I could scrounge?
Being a techy person this period of history is a mystery and I'm using my retirement to fill in many gaps in my pitiful knowledge of the past. I did like the Alfred [he's just down the road in Winchester but for years all I knew was the bit about the cakes, just like everyone else] and Offa ones too.Comment
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I thought I'd have a go at translating this colourful expression into Anglo-Saxon, but when I got my nose in a book, I found this snippet -Originally posted by Gordon View Post
The Anglo-Saxons had two words for being inebriated - druncen and windruncen.
Now, why might you want to distinguish between being drunk and being drunk on wine? I suppose they got drunk often enough on ale, but wine was something for celebrations. And what parties they must have been to warrant a separate word!
Those were the days.Comment
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I don't think there were rights issues, but (unlike some podcasts) these were available for only 30 days after being broadcast. Anyway, I have downloaded the lot. Do get in touch if I can help.Originally posted by Gordon View PostComment
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Thanks RW for that I've sent you a PM with my email. I'n nt sure that the PMs get posted because I have problems with log in - I'm supposed to be logged in but when I post it says I'm not and refuses to let me do so!!
If you do get a PM from me then please let me know here?Comment
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