Onsdag den 29. november 2017

09:00 Lois og jeg står op, lidt senere, end normalt. Jeg mindes at jeg i dag skal koncentrere mig om at læse et middengelsk digt, der blev skrevet for 600 år siden, ”Sir Gawain og den grønne ridder”. Lyndas U3A ”Making of English” gruppe har dens næste møde på fredag, og dette digt er gruppens nuværende projekt.

Desværre kan jeg ikke komme uden om, at ridderens hud er knaldgrøn. Stakkels ridder!!!! Ridderens kone, Lady Bertilak, har normalt-farvet hud, men digteren siger ikke, om hun er glad for, at have en mand med grøn hud, eller ej. Har det skabt lidt afstand i deres forhold? Måske kan hun ikke svinge sig op til at have sex med ham, og derfor er hun så ivrig til at forføre Sir Gawain, da han tilbringer nogle nætter i den grønne ridderens slot. Men det er jeg ikke helt sikker på – juryen er stadig ude om det!!!

Lord Bertilak (aka den grønne ridder)

i sengen med Lady B.

Lady Bertilak kryber 3 nætter i træk ind i

Sir Gawains soveværelse, mens han er på besøg i parrets slot –

Hun vækker ham ved at kilde ham under hagen.

Du godeste, sikke en redelighed!!!

10:00 Jeg tager min middel-engelsk antologi frem, men jeg har svært ved at koncentrere mig.

I dag ville have været min lillesøster Kathys 70. fødselsdag, hvis hun stadig levede. Hun afgik ved døden uforventet for snart 5 år siden, i februar 2013. Hun efterlod Steve, sin mand, Gill, sin lillesøster og mig, der alle i dag savner hende meget på forskellige måder. Hun var født, da jeg var kun 20 mdr gammel, og jeg husker slet ikke tiden før hun kom til verden. Som barn var hun simpelthen altid der.

ét af et sæt billeder, min mor fik taget af en professionel

fotograf, i andledning af mine 2. fødselsdag:

mig, min mor (26) og Kathy (4 mdr)

Kathy og mig: ”vores første skænderi” (sandsynligvis ikke det første,

og helt sikkert ikke den sidste ha ha ha)

1949walk: Min mor tager os en tur over klinterner og markene omkring

kostskolen ude på landet nær havnebyen Dover, hvor min far arbejdede,

og hvor der var udsigt over den engelske kanal over til den franske kyst.

vores første kys????

Lykkelige dage!!!!

12:30 Vi spiser frokost og bagefter går jeg i seng for at tage mig en gigantisk eftermiddagslur. Jeg står op kl 16, og læser endnu flere vers af ”Sir Gawain og den grønne Ridder”.

Jeg kan ikke modstå fristelsen til at slå de interessante ord op i mine referenceværker. Der er mange sjove ord, der i de seneste 600 år desværre er forsvandt fra vores sprog, for eksempel, ”swang”, der henviser til underlivet: vikingerne brugte et beslægtet ord, ”svangi”, der også henviste til underlivet, men desværre kan jeg ikke finde ordet i det moderne danske sprog – pokkers! Er det for sent at starte en kampagne for at genoplive ordet? Sandsynligvis, ja – pokkers!  

18:00 Vi spiser aftensmad og ser lidt fjernsyn. De viser en interessant dokumentarfilm ”Digging for Britain” (2. del af 4), en serie, der giver en oversigt af hvad landets arkæologer har afdækket i 2017. Dette afsnit handler om udgravninger i det østlige England. Programmets vært er den charmerende Alice Roberts.

Arkæologer har i de sidste få måneder fundt spor af en pludselig teknologisk fremskridt i en 400.000 år gammel stenalderlandsby nær Barnham i Øst-Anglia. De har fundet både meget primitive flintesten-redskaber, der blev brugt for at nedskære dyr, men også i samme området meget mere avancerede stenredskaber, for eksempel håndøkser, og beviser for bruget af ild i landsbyen.

Man ved, at der dengang var to art mennesker i Europa: heidelberg-mænd, og også neandertaler. De spekulerer om, at de primitive stenredskaber var skabt af en homo heidelbergensis befolkning og de mere avancerede redskaber var skabt af indvandrende neandertaler, der også vidste hvordan man kan bruge ild til forskellige formål.

Klimaet dengng var meget anderledes, end i dag: meget varmere, med dyr såsom elefanter, løver osv der holdt til i området – arkæologerne har fundet en del af en elefants stødtand i landsbyen.

For ca 400.000 år siden var der en stor skovrydning-event over hele Europa, muligvis som resultatet af én eller anden naturlig katastrofe, såsom en vulkanudbrud (plus atomvinter) eller et stort meteornedslag. Det er muligt, at skovrydningen førte til stort anlagt befolkningsbevægelser. Måske sporene af neandertaler i Barnham-område udgører de første beviser for en ny indvandrende neandertalisk befolkning i England – der eksisterede dengang en bred landbro mellem England og kontinentet.

Du godeste, sikke en skør verden vi lever i !!!! Det er interessant, at ordet ”neandertaler” mere nyligere er blevet brugt for at beskrive meget dumme mennesker – jeg foreslår til Lois, at det ville være bedre at bruge ordet for at beskrive ikoniske figurer i hightech industrier, som for eksempel den 46-årig Elon Musk, administrerende direktør og produktarkitekt i Tesla Motors, men det er Lois ikke helt sikker på. Juryen er stadig ude om det, skal vi sige.

22:00 Vi går i seng – zzzzzzzz!!!!!!!

English translation

09:00 Lois and I get up a little later than usual. 

I recall that today I have to concentrate on reading a medieval poem written 600 years ago, "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight." Lynda's U3A "Making of English" group has its next meeting on Friday, and this poem is the group's current project.

Unfortunately, I cannot get past the fact that the knight's skin is bright green. Poor knight !!!!

The knight's wife, Lady Bertilak, has normal-colored skin, but the poet does not say if she is happy to have a husband with green skin, or not. Has it created something of a distance in their relationship? Perhaps she cannot bring herself to have sex with him, and that's why she is so eager to seduce Sir Gawain while he is spending a few nights in the green knight's castle. But I'm not entirely sure - the jury is still out on that one !!!

Lord Bertilak (aka the green knight)

in bed with Lady B.

Lady Bertilak creeps into Sir Gawain's bedroom 3 nights in a row 

while he is on a visit to the couple's castle -

she wakes him up by tickling him under the chin.

Good gracious, such goings-on !!!

10:00 I take out my middle English anthology, but I find it hard to concentrate.

Today would have been my little sister Kathy's 70th birthday if she were still alive. She died unexpectedly nearly 5 years ago, in February 2013. She left behind Steve, her husband, Gill, her little sister, and me, who today all miss her greatly in various ways. She was born when I was only 20 months old and I do not remember the time before she came into the world. When we were children, she was just always there.

one of a set of pictures my mom had taken by a professional

photographer, on the occasion of my 2nd birthday:

me, my mother (26) and Kathy (4 months)

Kathy and me: "Our first quarrel" (probably not the first

actually, and certainly not the last ha ha ha)

1949walk: My mother takes us for a walk over the cliffs and fields

surrounding the boarding school out in the countryside near Dover - 

the school where my father worked, and where there was a view of 

the English Channel over towards the French coast.

our first kiss ????

Happy days !!!!

12:30 We have lunch and afterwards I go to bed and take a huge afternoon nap. I get up at 4pm, and read more verses of "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight".

I cannot resist the temptation to look up the poem's interesting words in my reference works. There are many fun words that have disappeared from our language over the past 600 years, for example, "swang", referring to the abdomen: the Vikings used a related word, "svangi", which also refers to the abdomen but unfortunately I cannot find the word in the modern Danish language - damn it! Is it too late to start a campaign to revive the word? Probably, yes - damn it!

18:00 We have dinner and watch television. An interesting documentary is on, "Digging for Britain" (2nd part of 4), a series that gives an overview of what the country's archaeologists have uncovered in 2017. This episode is about excavations in eastern England. The host of the program is the charming Alice Roberts.

In the last few months archaeologists have found traces of sudden technological advances in a 400,000-year-old stone age village near Barnham in East Anglia. They have found both very primitive flint tools that were used to butcher animals, but also in the same area much more advanced stone tools, such as hand-axes, and evidence of the use of fire in the village.

It is known that at that time there were two species of humans in Europe: homo heidelbergensis, and also neanderthals. There is speculation that the primitive rock tools at Barnham were created by a homo heidelbergensis population and that the more advanced tools were created by immigrant neanderthals who also knew how to use fire for various purposes.

The climate was very different from today: much warmer, with animals such as elephants, lions, etc., hanging out in the area - the archaeologists have found a part of an elephant's tusk in the village.

About 400,000 years ago, there was a major deforestation event all over Europe, possibly as the result of some natural disaster, such as a volcanic eruption (followed by an atomic winter) or a major meteor strike. It is possible that the deforestation led to large population movements. Perhaps the traces of neanderthals in the Barnham area constitute the first evidence of a new immigrant neanderthal population in England - at that time there was a wide land-bridge in existence between England and the continent.

My god, what a crazy world we live in !!!! It is interesting that the word "neanderthals" has more recently been used to describe very stupid people - I suggest to Lois that it would be better to use the word to describe iconic characters in high tech industries, such as the 46-year-old Elon Musk, managing director and product architect at Tesla Motors, but Lois is not entirely sure. The jury is still out on that one, let's say.

22:00 We go to bed - zzzzzzzz !!!!!!!