Part of the Runriket…there are two runestones at Risbyle. “The two runic stones here at Risbyle were raised att the beginning of the 11th centure and they are among Upplands oldest. Here we meet the Skålhamra family, one of the powerful dynastics which lived in the district around lake Vallentuna during the Viking Age. The test on the stone nearest the Skålhamra road mentions Ulvkättil, Gye and Une who ‘had this stone raise after Ulv their good father. He lived in Skålhamra’.”
Upplands 160 “ulfkitil * uk * kui uk + uni + þiR × litu * rhisa × stin þina * iftiR * ulf * faþur * sin * kuþan on * buki * i skul(o)bri * kuþ * ilbi * ons * at * uk * salu * uk * kusþ muþiR * li anum lus * uk baratis” “Ulfkætill ok Gyi ok Uni/Unni þæiR letu ræisa stæin þenna æftiR Ulf, faður sinn goðan. Hann byggi i Skulhambri. Guð hialpi hans and ok salu ok Guðs moðiR, le hanum lius ok paradis.” “Ulfketill and Gýi and Uni/Unni, they had this stone raised in memory of Ulfr, their good father. He lived in Skolhamarr. May God and God’s mother help his spirit and soul; grant him light and paradise.”
Upplands 161 “ulfR * iuk i barstam * iftiR * ulf * i skulobri * mak * sin * kuþan * ulfkil lit akua” “UlfR hiogg i Baristam æftiR Ulf i Skulhambri, mag sinn goðan. Ulfkell let haggva.” “Ulfr of Báristaðir cut (the stone) in memory of Ulfr in Skolhamarr, his good kinsman-by-marriage. Ulfkell had (it) cut.”
I was looking for an audiobook about marginalia but failed miserably (recommendations, anyone?). Instead, I found this.
The history of the book is long and storied, this book goes into a lot of detail about the different part that make up the book.
It starts by exploring the history of substrates, papyrus, parchment and paper, explaining the making and significant developments along the way.
Then it talks about the development of inks, and the processes by which the two are joined, with various writing and printing mechanisms. This is followed by a history of how collections of written work were put together, starting with scrolls and working through codices to the modern day idea of a book. Ultimately it talks about the binding of pages together into the portable units of knowledge we know today.
The history here talks about the feeding of ideas from one culture to another, how each learned from others, the innovations flowing in all directions between the Chinese, the Christians, the Muslims, the Egyptians and many others, with the silk road being a vital highway for the transmission of these ideas.
There is also a lot of context and further information added about some of the landmark inventions along the way. The moveable type of Guttenbergs press was certainly innovative, but it was not an advance made in a vacuum, there were other developments around the same time which he brought together. And the switch to the automation afforded by adding rollers to these presses was nearly as important to the widespread dissemination of information.
Something which is alluded to but largely missing from this book is a discussion of the rise of literacy over the period covered – books had to have understanding eyes to read them.
A potted history of the book, this tome covers a lot of ground without great depth – it keeps itself interesting by including a lot of stories of significant people along the way. A worthy read, a jumping off point for many potential interests, codicology, the German book fairs, papyrus making, tanning, lithography and plenty of others.
Part of the Runriket. “The two runic rock carvings south of the creek show that todays road coincides largely with the ancient route, which during the Iron Age ran to the west of the Vallentuna lake. At that time, the road went between these two runic carvings. 100 metres northwards on the eastern side of the road, there is a runic stone which, like the two runic rocks, tells about the bridge-builders of the Viking Age. The watercourse which then crossed the route was considerably larger than the brook which we see today.”
Upplands 142: “Ingefast lät resa stenen och göra bron efter Jarlabanke sin fader och Joruns son, och Kettilö lät resa stenen efter sin man. Öpir ristade.”
Upplands 146: “Ingeborg lät hugga hällen och göra bron efter Holmsten, sin man, och efter Torsten, sin son”
Upplands 145: “Torkel och Fulluge läto hugga denna häll och göra bron efter Sten, sin fader. Olev högg.”
In the grounds of Gripsholms Slott are a pair of rune stones. Sö 179: “× tula : lit : raisa : stain : þinsa| |at : sun : sin : haralt : bruþur : inkuars : þaiR furu : trikila : fiari : at : kuli : auk : a:ustarla| |ar:ni : kafu : tuu : sunar:la : a sirk:lan:ti” “Tola let ræisa stæin þennsa at sun sinn Harald, broður Ingvars. ÞæiR foru drængila fiarri at gulli ok austarla ærni gafu, dou sunnarla a Særklandi” “Tóla had this stone raised in memory of her son Haraldr, Ingvarr’s brother. They travelled valiantly far for gold, and in the east gave (food) to the eagle. (They) died in the south in Serkland.”
Sö 178: “HælgulfR(?) ok ØyulfR þæiR letu ræisa stæina baða at broður sinn Kætilmund ok bro æftiR Somu, moður sina. En Bruni(?) hiogg, broðiR hennaR.” “Hälgulv och Öulv de lät resa båda stenarna efter sin broder Kätillmund och (gjorde) bro efter Soma sin moder. Och Brune (?), hennes broder, högg.” “Hälgulv and Öulv they had this stone raised in memory of their brother Kätillmund and built a bridge in memory of Soma their mother. But Brune carved the runes”
Gripsholms Slott is set on a small island near the city of Mariefred (though it doesn’t have the population of 10,000 needed to technically be a city in Sweden).
In the courtyard of Gripsholms Slott are a pair of what appear to be Turkish canons, but the notice explaining their history claims they were captured in Russia.
This book collects some stories about gender non-conforming people in Georgian times, from before we had the understanding and rich language we now have to describe people outside the heteronormative world.
We have been handed down little in the way of unbiased information about these people, with much of the record of the time being exaggerated rumour or court proceedings. The author has tried to piece together a rigorous history from these pieces, sometimes straying into conjecture.
There are a number of people covered in the book, from cotqueans in the molly houses of London, courtiers in France to sex workers in New York. Each is described in terms of non-conformity we understand these days, although often using the language of the time rather than modern phasing.
Two things strike me about these histories, first about the legal situation, male same-sex relationships were outlawed. This is something which doesn’t make a lot of sense to me, there is no victim in consensual relationships, so why is there a crime committed? Non-consensual acts should clearly be criminal, no matter who the parties to those acts – there is a victim. It seems again like a conflation of same-sex with non-consensual in the eyes of the law, a view which remains prevalent among some in society today. Given the significant legal consequences men still involved themselves in these relationships, at great risk, which suggests that there is a strong sense of value they attached to their partnerships.
The other thing is that there is a difference in how gay relationships were seen depending on the class of those involved. For the common men it was clearly criminal, while for those of stature companions were considered part of their eccentricities. I guess the eloquence afforded by education, as well as the space to take a companion without overtly sharing a room, would have made explanation of the situation seem less suspicious.
The book itself is well researched and is unafraid of talking about the relationships of the people it covers, and acknowledges where the histories are incomplete or reconstructed. I found it a little self-indulgent in places, with the author breaking in to the world he is talking about with commentary from a modern perspective. There is a place for that reflection, especially as much of the subject matter was censored at the time. There is more depth in the epilogue, but I found it sat uneasily within the body of the book.
Overall, this book explores the ideas that non-heteronormative relationships existed long before we had language to understand those relationships. The law had a hard time understanding it, and the populace was split, with some supportive and others disgusted. These are not new ideas, we didn’t invent homosexuality 150 years ago, but we did start talking about it. And once we did, people could more easily explain their particular place in the world and find other people with whom they felt alignment.
A good read if you want to understand more of sexual non-conformance in those times, and get some context for how and why things are the way they are now. It is a collection of tenuously related stories around a common theme, but I don’t see there would be another way to present this kind of material. It is likely that each has a more detailed history elsewhere, should you care to find it.
