Notes and pictures from L'anse aux Meadows, August 2010

Darrell Markewitz, the leader of the DARC Reenactment last month at L'Anse aux Meadows in northern Newfoundland -- a re-creation of activities at the Vinland Viking landing site now commemorated by a national historical park -- Darrell, I say, has posted pictures and notes at his blog, Hammered Out Bits which will give you some idea of the site, the landscape, and the activities.   Here are three pictures to tempt you to go see the rest.

"An honest to God Elizabethan psycho" and a fascinating reading list about literacy

So far this weekend two especially noteworthy posts have come to me via Google Reader.

Thanks to Dr. Beachcombing, I got to read about said Elizabethan psycho, Sir Richard Grenville, who

... was of so hard a complexion that, as he continued among the Spanish Captains, while they were at dinner or supper with him, he would carouse three or four glasses of wine; and, in a bravery, take the glasses between his teeth, and crush them in pieces, and swallow them down, so that oftentimes the blood ran out of his mouth, without any harm at all to him: and this was told me, by diverse credible persons that, many times, stood and beheld him.

To see what kind of excesses eating wineglasses can lead to, I refer you to this post.

If, however, you are in a less excitable mood, Stephen Christomalis provides the world with his reading list for a grad course on writing systems and literacy. Now if I could just pull myself away from this screen, I could indulge myself in such treats as

John Defrancis, The Chinese Language: Fact and Fantasy.
While the title suggests that it is more generally on language, the core of the book is on the nature and social context of the Chinese characters, ranging from basic semiotic issues to modern romanization efforts, and the gross misunderstandings most Westerners have of the script.

Enough to make your mouth water, isn't it? Beats reading debates on the fragile economy.

"History’s ultimate insult"

"He doesn’t even ...have a Wikipedia page."

Thus saith Dr. Beachcombing in his Bizarre History Blog. Have a look at the most recent entry, on Madog, Prince and Poem for another meditation on the obscure.