And You Thought Braveheart Was Bad...

     I am one of many historical novelists who rolled her eyes and cried "Welladay!" watching the movie Bravehearrt with its wildly fanciful and downright irritating historical inaccuracies. No, William Wallace was not the father of Edward III... I know someone who was told that her recounting of the execution on Blacklow Hill of Piers Gaveston could not be accurate because everyone knows Patrick McGoohan threw him out a window. Read the Randall Wallace novel... it's just as bad, and he admits it's all fantasy and that he thinks it should have happened the way he said, not how it really did. Tell Gaveston that! Heck, tell Isabella that! "Mais non, I will not couchez avec this smelly blue Scottish man!"
     But... given the choice I would rather the kids I know got their history from movies like Braveheart... than from video games.
   That's one thing I learned during my little "Battle of Hastings" party with the neighborhood boys that I wrote about in yesterday's blog. Throughout the video two or three of them kept telling me about scenes in games the movie reminded them of. One boy's brother's name is Jason. I told him about Jason and the Argonauts and how Jason was a famous hero. He replied, "Jason wasn't always a hero because sometimes he fights other good guys." In the game. Another boy proceeded to describe all the weapons a medieval soldier would carry into battle, axes and swords and crossbows and morning stars.. all at the same time. I noticed in the game Stronghold that in the Dark Ages version the otherwise acceptable stronghold has a neat line of latrines and numerous eel pond.
     I never have been an old fuddy duddy when it comes to games. I had an old Sega Genesis once and only stopped playing with it because my eyesight and it were no longer compatible. But I worry about kids' understanding of the history of the peoples of our planet. I can imagine how hard it is to teach history these days.. constantly having to correct peculiar notions of what Beowulf was about or how much of the sort of goofy magic was in a legendary hero's story.
     I don't know what I am proposing.. nothing really. The average parent is not going to be able to sit down with their kids and calmly explain that knights did or did not do this or that. So just be aware as you are writing your novels that you probably will never be able to compete for the 15 year old mind.
     However, if any game companies are interested, my novel of Anglo Saxon England is definitely available for licensing.. Ah, "An Involuntary King: The Game". Splendid.

Anglo Saxon Friendship Bracelet, from ShowMe

Reprinted without permission from ShowMe, a UK kids' educational site. Please visit the site for full illustrations.

Anglo-Saxons were really good at weaving and embroidery. Many beautiful examples of material, clothes and belts have been found. One of the ways they used to decorate their clothes was by plaiting or braiding coloured thread.

Their jewellery and other metalwork was often decorated with patterns that looked like braids or plaits too.

Braiding is really easy to do. It's fun, and with a little practice you can get really beautiful results. Your friends will love getting presents that you've made yourself.

You will need:

Silk embroidery thread, wool or leather cord
Scissors
Sticky tape

The very easiest plait is one with three threads, but you're all too clever for that so here's how to plait with five.

Start off by cutting five lengths of your thread. Try to make them all about the same length.

Take one end of each piece of thread and tie them together with a simple knot.

Now tape the knotted end of your threads to a tabletop or any clear, steady surface where you can do your plaiting.

Lay the threads out flat in front of you, like in our picture.

Start with one of the outer threads, it doesn't matter which side.

Cross it over the two threads next to it and into the middle.

Now do the same with the outer thread from the other side.

That's all you do! Keep going, always crossing the outer threads over into the middle and remembering to swap sides each time. Remember as well to tighten the plait each time you cross over - pushing the plaited section gently up to the last plait each time.

Try to keep the plait smooth and even as you go.

There you go, easy isn't it? When your plait is long enough, or you get to the end of the threads, tie a knot again to keep the plait in place.

Untape the plait and tie the two ends together to make your bracelet.

You'll find that the more you plait, the easier it gets.

It's fun to experiment with different colours and different numbers of threads. Beads look pretty threaded on to bracelets as well.

As you plait, spare a thought for those Anglo-Saxons, plaiting just like you (apart from the sticky tape of course) hundreds of years ago. Do you think they made bracelets for their friends too?