posted
I am restarting work on a novel. The genre is fantasy. It is set in what is now Wales circa, ~50AD, and is centered on the conflict between Celts and Romans, Celt religions and Roman religions, etc. I am currently preparing background info and will outline chapters starting in June if not before. I am looking for first readers and anyone who is willing to look at info and comment on it. I am NOT looking for praise; I AM looking for problems that I create and issues to be clarified.
Please go >>here<< to take a look and let me know if you are interested in becoming a reader/commenter, etc.
Even if you are not interested in reading the drafts, I would love for anyone with a knowledge of or interest in the following topics who would be willing to comment on the Codex materials:
Role of women in Celt society !IMPORTANT!
~50AD Roman military organization, religion and warfare
~50AD Celt social organization, religion and warfare
Anything Druidic (real, not recently made up)
Welsh topography and climate
Wargaming (we will wargame the battle scenarios using the Battle for Wesnoth free software)
Many thanks in advance!
By the way, this whole thing started out as a challenge by Kathleen.
posted
It sounds interesting. I wouldn't say I was an expert in any of that, but I'd be willing to read.
If you do happen to need information about Welsh harps, I might be of more help. I play (when I practice, which I haven't recently) a neo-Celtic harp. (That means I have sharping levers and the strings are mono-filament, not gut.) If I don't know an answer on that subject, I could probably point you towards someone who would.
I also happen to own two Cardigan Welsh Corgis--a breed of herding dog that is at least that old. Their bones have been found in ancient Welsh archaeological digs.
[This message has been edited by Meredith (edited May 05, 2009).]
posted
You might want to check out Ronald Hutton's book on druids. If I remember correctly, it won't necessarily tell you a lot about ancient druids, but what he does do is identify and contextualize all the more recent (say last 500 years or so) myths about druids, so you know what's made up and what's drawn from contemporary historical evidence.
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posted
The <<read here>> wanted a log in and password.
I'd be happy to help you in your druidic quest. Heck I've read Steven Saylor and Lindsey Davis novels, saw Rome on HBO and have the Gladiator DVD. Doesn't that make me an expert?
[This message has been edited by Owasm (edited May 05, 2009).]
Doh! I had the site locked up. Anyone can read it now. If you are willing to help me out, please email me with a preferred username and password and I'll give you full access.
posted
Looks interesting. Are you planning on using this site for the LH Midsummer madness challenge?
I don't know anything in particular about the time frame, but I would like to help. I am pretty good at logical inconsistencies- at least in everyone else's writing. LOL
Leslie
Wait, if OWASM's expertise comes from HBO, then sign me up! I love Rome.
[This message has been edited by LAJD (edited May 05, 2009).]
[This message has been edited by LAJD (edited May 05, 2009).]
What roles did the Corgis play? Were they herding dogs? Were their legs any longer back then?
I'll have to research or find an expert on the question about harps. That one I don't know off the top of my head.
Corgis were general farm dogs. They were certainly herding dogs--of cattle originally. I can share photos of one of mine herding sheep. They would also rid the farmstead of vermin, act as watch dogs, and play with the kids. It's possible they were even used for hunting.
Old style corgis (corgwn is the correct plural, I'm told) would probably have had longer legs than today's corgis. But Cardigan corgis (as opposed to Pembroke corgis, which are a more recent breed, post Vikings) come from the same stock as basset hounds and dachsunds, so they wouldn't have had really long legs even then. One interpretation of the word corgi is that it is Welsh for "dwarf dog".
Not knowing the geography of your story, I'll add that Cardigan Welsh corgis would have been most prevalent in what is now Cardiganshire.
I wouldn't say I've done exhaustive research, but the best I've been able to come up with so far is that probably nobody knows for sure.
quote:It is impossible to pin down the origins of the Gaelic harp; the historical and archaeological record does not provide us with evidence of the invention of the instrument, but instead shows shows us fleeting glimpses of a thriving tradition.
There's more information on the history of the Irish harp than for Wales. (Look up Welsh harp and you're likely to find the early Renaissance triple harp.) Even so, I can't find anything that goes back farther than about 700 A.D., at best, for the triangle harp, ancestor to the modern neo-Celtic harp.
However, as the quote above indicates, the tradition almost certainly goes back farther than that. It is possible that an angle harp (without the front pillar of a triangle harp) was used at an earlier period. But, again, there's no historical or archaeological record to say one way or the other.
It is likely that some form of harp was in use at least that early. Harps were developed independently in nearly all parts of the world in ancient times. The triangle harp goes back about 3000 years in Egypt.
By the earliest references, being a harper was a high-status position, distinct from ordinary entertainers.
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