Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2010/01/04
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Walls only really work in the minds of the people who build them, and it almost always depends which side of the wall you are on and whether you are being kept in or out. A bit of wall history: A significant part of the Maginot line failed completely in WWII because the commander who had the keys to a strategic fort section went on holiday and took them with him. The German army just marched around it. (Source: Military Blunders - book and BBC 2 documentary series by Geoffrey Regan) The "Great Wall" of Britain and the Vikings: Hadrian's Wall (117 km / 73.5 miles long) was built to defend the northernmost border of the Roman Empire in Britain against marauding tribes from what is now Scotland. Work began around 122 AD and took approximately six years to complete (they obviously didn't need to get planning permission from the local government ;-) ). The wall was finally abandoned around 140 AD. The settlers who followed found it a wonderful source of ready-made building stone. Viking raiders first started to attack the English coast in the 8th century, centuries after the Romans had left, the most famous attack being on Lindisfarne Priory in Northumberland. The raids soon gained a more geopolitical aspect as the Vikings (Norsemen) began to settle in the areas north and a little to the south of the river Humber and as far north as Northumberland and Durham. There were actually two different groups of Vikings - the Danes (invaded as settlers) and the Norwegians (looting warriors) - and their spheres of influence were more or less geographically separated by the Pennine hills down the backbone of northern England - Norwegians in the West and Danes in the East. Larger cities and trading communities were built at strategic locations on navigable rivers like the Ouse that flows through York - first a Roman settlement (Eboracum, where Emperor Constantine was crowned) ) then, later, a Viking settlement (Jorvik). King Alfred won a decisive battle against the Vikings at Edington and made a treaty with the settlers that limited their sphere of influence to Lincolnshire, Derbyshire, Leicestershire and the northernmost counties of England (Danelaw). The last great battle between Britons and Vikings took place at Stamford Bridge (near York) in 1066 (a bad year for Britain, the army was still exhausted from the battle and King Harald lost against the Normans at Hastings after, according to the Bayeux Tapestry, he got an arrow in his eye. Apparently, one side of my family is descended from early Norse christian settlers - my mother's side has the name Barraclough, originally the locational name "beara cloh", describing the village they originated from - roughly meaning wooded slope or wooded ravine. Many of the words in the Yorkshire dialect I grew up with are of Viking (Norse) origin, e.g. laik = to play, skep = basket, ginnel = narrow street or snicket (all of which I used as a child) as in "Is yower Martin laikin aht - wirrof darnt ginnel un off ovver to't mill to laik abaht in't skeps." The enormous baskets piled up outside the textile mills were great for playing hide and seek. There are hundreds more here: http://www.viking.no/e/england/e-yorkshire_norse.htm Cheers Douglas On 04.01.2010 23:20, Mark Rabiner wrote: >> Spencer wrote: >> "Walls never work. The Great Wall didn't work. The Maginot Line didn't >> either. We are dealing with a global clash of cultures and religions. My >> opinions only of course. :)" >> >> Actually some walls work very well. The Great Wall worked to keep Mongols >> out of China for several hundred years. Hadrian's wall kept what is now >> England from speaking Norwegian or Celtic. The Israeli wall is given >> credit >> for significantly reducing raids on Israel. The Maginot Line would have >> worked if the guns could have been pointed towards Belgium. The only wall >> that didn't work in recent years is Wall Street. ;-) >> Larry Z >> >> > > Forgot the Walls of Jericho and the Berlin wall! > Which was so nice when it was no longer there. > > Mark William Rabiner > > > > > _______________________________________________ > Leica Users Group. > See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information > >