Ever since I did the Scotcast I’ve been receiving messages on facebook, on twitter, on the forums, and I’ve even been getting personal emails asking for more about Wales. And my response has always been the same, I’ll do it but not yet. Well, I think that right now will be the best time to get that ball rolling. Why? Because the Germanic East and the Celtic West are about to come into direct conflict. Sure, things have never been all that...

Last episode we ended at 597. For those of you who are really into Anglo Saxon history, you might recognize that date as the date that Christianity gets reintroduced to Anglo Saxon Britain. It’s a big deal. A huge deal, in fact. It will bring war, it will bring chaos, and it will bring all manner of changes in the lives of the people in what will eventually become England. And one of the big changes has to do with sex. Now the truth of it...

Ok, from the title you might have gathered that we’re going to be talking about Ceawlin today.  Now from all this discussion of various anglo saxon leaders, you might have noticed that while I’ve been saying Cynric, Cerdic, and Ceawlin… with C being a CH sound… we also have this Cutha fellow in Wessex, and Creoda in Mercia.  And there the C is being pronounced with a hard C sound rather than a CH.  So what’s the...

Ok, today we’re going to talk about defensive equipment. What is the point of all that training if you’re going to die right away in battle. So we’ll need a way to keep you alive and healthy for as long as possible. As you might imagine, the shield, or bord in Old English, is a key piece of equipment in Anglo Saxon warfare. And unsurprisingly, the shield is one of the most common items of found in graves from the pagan period. Though that...

Remember the Romans? God I hope you answered yes. So those Romans and their approach to weaponry was surprisingly utilitarian. The weapons were issued by your superiors, and then returned after use. They were a tool and nothing more. It wasn’t even like the famous speech in Full Metal Jacket. “This is my rifle. There are many others like it, but this one is mine.” Nope, it was just a weapon of war. “Here’s your gladius, Paulus. Try to...

You’re probably gathering from last week that warfare is becoming a great deal more common. We had that great early era where a lot of what we were dealing with seemed mostly like farmers occasionally getting into spats that got out of control, with a few exceptions. But now we have these Werods running around, and we have the sons of Ida fighting with their neighbors, and the southern kingdoms fighting with their neighbors… Sure,...