Thursday, March 28 2019

09:00 Lois and I spend the morning clearing up and vacuuming all over the house, because our U3A Danish group is holding its regular meeting here from 2:30 pm. We browse through the next 5 pages of Anna Grue’s "The Further You Fall", the crime novel that is the group's current project.

11:30 We walk into the village and pop into the local post office to send off two copies of the "Peter Rabbit" children's magazine to our 5-year-old twin children in Perth, Australia. Afterwards, we swing by the local Rowlands pharmacy to pick up some pills on behalf of Lois' former work colleague, Rose. We drop the pills off at Rose’s and come home.

12:00 We have lunch and listen to the radio at the same time, an interesting programme in the series "In Our Time", an episode about the Danelaw. The host of the program is the charming Melvyn Bragg.

The Danelaw was the name of the area that the Danish king Guthrum controlled after the peace treaty signed with the Anglo-Saxons at Wedmore in 878.

A border was drawn across England from London to the River Mersey. South of the border was the Anglo-Saxon jurisdiction, which was governed by the King of Wessex. The areas north and east of the border were under Guthrum's control and local Danish laws applied.

We hear an interesting discussion between Melvyn, the programme's charming host, and 3 academics. They are all agreed on the view that the establishment of the Danelaw was a positive development in English history, economically, politically and socially:

(1) economically: the Danelaw promoted the growth of towns and international trade - towns in the Danelaw were part of the Scandinavian trading network, with connections not only to Scandinavia but also to Byzantium and all the other places where Vikings had travelled, bringing further connections also with the Middle East and beyond.

(2) politically:  the Danes took over many smaller Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, paving the way for the united England which eventually emerged in later centuries.

(3) socially:  Danish society was less hierarchical than the Anglo-Saxon one, paving the way also for the development of more democratic institutions.

The city of York is a good example of the beneficial economic effects. In the Anglo-Saxon period, York was a quiet little town with a population of approx. 1,500 - and primarily centred on its cathedral. But the Danes transformed the city into a major trading centre, where a large range of goods were being produced in people's houses - goods made from wood, leather, iron, amber, antler, also many types of textiles, including woollen products. The population rose rapidly to between 10 and 15 thousand.

This economic transformation had its drawbacks: people lived very close to each other in wooden houses with thatched roofs and earthen flooring, which meant an influx of many kinds of insects and parasites, lice, fleas, ticks etc - yikes scary! The average lifespan was about 50 years for men - women lived till about 35 if they were lucky - yikes (again) !!! We assume that for the women this was because of problems and stresses of childbearing and suchlike.

These "Jorvik" residents (to the right) do not seem to be too surprised

by the visit of a bunch of time-travelling tourists from the 21st century (to the left)

– what madness!

The Danelaw was of course already packed with Anglo-Saxons as well as the floods of Danish immigrants, and because the two peoples were living side by side they soon created their own distinctive mix of the two cultures.

Customs, fashions etc. were not the same at the beginning: the Danes had different hairstyles, for instance. Historians have found a letter from an Anglo-Saxon to his brother, criticising his brother for adopting a Scandinavian hairstyle, with a "bared neck and blinded eyes", ie short in the back and long in the front (bangs).

Interestingly, in the Bayeux Tapestry depicting William the Conqueror’s conquest of England in 1066, the Normans, whose ancestors originated from Norway, were also depicted with short hair in the back and long bangs in the front, in the Scandinavian style. By contrast, you can easily recognise the Anglo-Saxons in the tapestry because of their long hair and moustaches, which was a much cooler look in my opinion, but  I’m going to let that one slide.

The typical Scandinavian hairstyles of the Normans in the Bayeux Tapestry

My goodness, what a crazy world we live in !!!!!!

13:00 I go to bed and take a short afternoon nap. I get up at 1:45 pm and prepare for our Danish group's meeting.

14:30 The group members arrive  and we read the next 5 pages of our crime novel, "The Further You Fall" by Anna Grue, taking turns to read out a paragraph in Danish and then translating it to English, followed by discussion.

Anna Grues " The Further You Fall ", the Danish crime novel that is

our Danish group's current project.

Anna Grue,  the author of our crime novel

"The Further You Fall" is the first crime novel in a long series that revolves around Dan Sommerdahl, a copywriter in a Danish advertising agency, who becomes a superb amateur detective, solving a lot of murders, in collaboration with his old friend Flemming, a detective commissioner in the local police.

Unfortunately, however, at the beginning of this first novel in the series, Dan is undoubtedly heading for a complete mental breakdown,  due to problems at his workplace, where he has been promoted way out of reach of his comfort zone, to put it mildly.

His wife Marianne is a doctor, which is lucky. And when one morning Dan finally breaks down in an uncontrollable torrent of tears, and cannot get out of bed, Marianne is there for him.

The author gives us a long, detailed description of the climax of Dan's final collapse, including a detailed depiction of the scene where Marianne gives him an injection in the buttocks, the only way she can calm him down - yikes!

"[She] picked up her doctor’s bag and found the syringe. She held it up vertically and gave it two quick, hard taps with her fingernails, so the air bubbles came up. Then she pressed the plunger a little and a few drops squirted out. Marianne pushed her husband over on his side, pulled down his boxer shorts and emptied the syringe into his right buttock.”

"... After a couple of hours, Dan had fallen into a heavy sleep, and Marianne walked the short distance up Gørtler Street, to the left along Algade Street and down to Town Hall Square and the pretty, one-storey corner building that housed the surgery."

Some team members find that the writer tends to include too much detail even though I myself like to get these extra facts and descriptions myself, because it makes it easier for me to imagine the scene. 

There are a lot of cool details, and the book is well written in my opinion. Also the scene where Marianne pulled Dan's boxer shorts down and emptied the syringe into his right buttocks, has its comical side, I think – an earthy contrast with Dan's high-flown ambitions in his role as a well-paid creative director.

However, this debate is something that we, as a group, do not quite agree on as yet - the jury is still out on that one. So we'll have to see.

Patti, the group's newest member, revealed that last weekend she took part in a major demonstration in London calling for a halt to the Brexit-madness.

Patti's demonstration in London

Our Danish meeting is just about to end, so once more I cheer our little group by expressing my firm belief that the prolonged Brexit-madness is at least not as bad as being involved in a war. No one is dying except for the people who are dying of boredom ha ha ha! As usual I get a few laughs with that one.

16:15 The meeting ends, and the members depart. Lois and I relax with a cup of tea and a box of chocolates, which Lois's former workmate, Rose, gave us this morning to thank us for picking up her medicine at the pharmacy. Yum yum!

We feel completely washed up, as always after a "Danish" day, where we spent the morning clearing up and cleaning the house, and the afternoon steering our Danish group's latest meeting. We are getting old, no doubt about that.

18:00 We have dinner and spend the rest of the evening watching a bit of television. The 14th episode of the current (and final) season of the Big Bang Theory sitcom is on.

A fun episode featuring a guest performance by William Shatner (Star Trek’s Captain Kirk) as a member of Will Wheaton's “Dungeons & Dragon Evenings” group. Sheldon is so excited about getting the chance to meet Shatner that he throws up all over him, which was a nice idea.

There are apparently some other celebrities in Will's group, but Lois and I don't have the faintest idea who they are, as usual.

Good grief, what madness !!!!!

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

Danish translation

09:00 Vi bruger formiddagen på at rydde op og støvsuge overalt i huset, fordi vores U3A danske gruppe holder sit regelmæssige møde kl 14:30 hos os. Vi blader igennem de næste 5 sider af Anna Grues ”Dybt at falde”, den krimiroman, der er gruppens nuværende projekt.

11:30 Vi går hen ind i landsbyen og smutter ind i det lokale postkontor for at afsende to eksempler af ”Peter Rabbit”-børnemagasinet til vores 5-årige tvillingebørnebørn i Perth, Australien. Bagefter kigger vi ind i det lokale Rowlands-apoteket for at hente nogle piller på vegne af Lois’ tidligere arbejdskollega, Rose. Vi kommer hjem.

12:00 Vi spiser frokost og lytter til radio samtidig, et interessant program i serien ”In Our Time”, et afsnit, der handler om Danelagen. Programmets vært er den charmerende Melvyn Bragg.

Danelagen var navnet på det område som den danske konge Guthrum beholdt ved fredsaftalen i Wedmore i 878. Før fredsaftalen var han konge over størstedelen af England.

Grænsen blev trukket tværs over England fra London til Mersey. Syd for grænsen gjaldt angelsaksiske love og blev styret af kongen af Wessex. Områderne nord og øst for var under Guthrums kontrol, og der gjaldt de lokale love. Mange af krigerne, der havde deltaget i slagene mod englænderne, slog sig ned i Danelagen. I stedet for at plyndre begyndte de at ernære sig ved handel og landbrug. Vikingerne fik så stor kontrol med Danelagen, at de navngav gårde, landsbyer og egne på det skandinaviske sprog. Navne, som eksisterer den dag i dag. Da vikingerne fandt sig tilrette, giftede de sig med kvinder fra lokalbefolkningen, der betragtede sig mere som vikinger end englændere.

I dag refererer nogle historikere til Danelagen som "det skandinaviske England".

En interessant diskussion mellem Melvyn, programmets charmerende vært, og 3 akademiker. Alle er enige om, at etableringen af Danelagen var en positiv udvikling i engelsk historie:

(1)    økonomisk set: Danelagen fremmede væksten af byer og international handel – byer i Danelagen sluttede til det skandinavske handelsnetværk med forbindelser ikke bare med Skandinavien men også til Byzantium og andre steder, hvor vikinger havde rejst til.

(2)    politisk set: danskerne overtog mange mindre angelsaksiske riger, og banede vejen for det forenede England, der til sidst opstod i senere århundreder.

(3)    socialt set: de danske samfund var mindre hierarkisk, end det angelsaksiske, hvilket banede vejen for udviklingen af mere demokratiske institutioner i senere århundreder også.

Byen York er et god eksempel på de økonomiske effekter. I den angelsaksiske periode var York en rolig lille by med en befolkning på ca. 1.500 – og kredsede først og fremmest om sin domkirke. Men Danskerne omdannede byen til et større handelscenter, hvor en stor vifte af varer bleve fremstillet – af træ, leder, jern, rav, antler, også mange typer af tekstiler, herunder uldne produkter. Befolkningen steg hurtigt til 10 – 15.000.

Den økonomiske transformation havde sine ulemper: folk boede meget tæt på  hinanden i træhuse med stråtag og jordgulve,hvilket betød en tilstrømning af mange slags insekter og parasitter, lus, lopper, flåter osv – yikes uhyggeligt! Den gennemsnitlige levetid var ca 50 år for mænd – kvinder levede til ca 35 år, hvis de var heldige – yikes (igen)!!! Vi formoder på grund af fødselsproblemer og den slags.

Disse ”Jorvik”-indbyggere (til højre) synes ikke at blive overrasket

af besøget af en flok tidsrejsende turister fra det 21. århundrede (til venstre)

Danelagen var selvfølgelig allerede propfyldte me angelsaksere udover de danske tilflyttere, og de to befolkninger levede side om side og skabtede deres egen blanding af de to kulturer. Vaner, moder osv adskillede sig fra hinanden i begyndelsen:  danskerne havde anderledes frisurer. Historiker har fundet et brev fra en angelsakser til sin bror, hvor han kritisererer sin bror for at adoptere en skandinavsk frisure, med en ”blottet nakke og blindede øjne”, dvs kort i bagsiden og lang i forsiden (pandehår).

Interessant, fordi i Bayeux-tapetet, der skildrer Vilhelm Erobrerers erobring af England i 1066, blev  blev normanerne, der oprindeligt stammede fra Norge, skildret med kort hå i bagsiden og langt pandehår. I den anden side kan man sagtens genkende angelsakserne på grund af deres lange hår og overskæg, hvilket var meget sejere efter min mening, men det springer jeg over.

Den typiske skandinavske frisurer af normannerne i Bayeux-tapetet

Du godeste, sikke en skør verden vi lever i !!!!!!

13:00 Jeg går i seng for at tage en kort eftermiddagslur. Jeg står op kl 13:45 og forbereder mig på vores danske gruppes møde.

14:30 Gruppemedlemmerne kommer og vi læser de næste 5 sider af vores krimiroman, ”Dybt af falde” af Anna Grue.

Anna Grues ”Dybt af falde”, den danske krimiroman, der er

vores danske gruppes nuværende projekt.

Anna Grue

"Dybt at falde" er den første krimiroman i en lang serie, der kredser om Dan Sommerdahl, tekstforfatter i et dansk reklamebureau, der bliver til en suveræn amatørdetektiv, og løser en masse mord, i samarbejde med sin gamle ven Flemming, en kriminalkommisær i det lokale politi.  

Desværre er Dan i en ussel tilstand imidlertid  i begyndelse af denne første roman i serien, og er uden tvivl på vej til et fuldstændigt psykisk sammenbrud på grund af problemer på sin arbejdsplads.

Hans kone Marianne er læge, hvilket er heldigt. Og da Dan endelig bryder helt sammen i gråd, og kan ikke længere stå op om morgenen, er Marianne dér for ham.

Forfatteren giver os en lang, detaljeret beskrivelse af klimakset af Dans sidste sammenbrud, herunder en detaljeret skildring af scenen, hvor Marianne giver ham en sprøjte, den eneste måde, hun kan berolige ham på – yikes!

”[Hun] hentede sin lægetaske og fandt sprøjten, holdt hun den lodret og gav den to hurtige, hårde smæld med neglen, så luftboblerne kom op mod kanylen. Så trykkede hun stemplet lidt i, og et par dråber sprøjtede ud. Marianne skubbede sin mand over på siden, trak hans boxershorts ned og tømte sprøjten ind i hans højre balde....”

”...Efter er par timer var Dan faldet i en tung søvn, og Marianne gik den korte strækning op ad Gørtlergade, til venstre ad Algade og ned til Rådhustorvet og den kønne, lave hjørnebygning, der rummede Lægehuset”.

Nogle gruppemedlemmer synes, at forfatteren har tendens til at inkludere for meget detaljer, selvom jeg selv kan lide at få disse ekstra kendsgerninger og beskrivelser, hvilket gør det nemmere for mig at forestille mig scenen. Der er en masse kulørte detaljer, og bogen er godt skrevet efter min mening. Også scenen, hvor Marianne trak Dans boxershorts ned og tømmer sprøjten i hans højre balde, har sin komiske side, synes jeg – en jordnær kontrast med Dans højtflyvende ambitioner i hans rolle som en godt lønnet kreative direktor.

Denne debat er imidlertid noget, som vi, som gruppe, ikke helt enige om – juryen er stadig ude om det. Men vi får se!

Patti, gruppens nyeste medlem, afslørede, at hun sidste weekend deltog i en stor demonstration i London, der krævede en stopper for Brexit-vanviddet. 

Pattis "Brexit" protest

Jeg opmuntrer gruppen igen med mit faste tro, at den langvarige Brexit-vanvidsaga i det mindste er ikke så dårlig som dét, at blive involveret i en krig. Ingen er ved at dø, bortset fra dem, der dør af kedsommelighed ha ha ha !

16:15 Mødet slutter og Lois og jeg slapper af med en kop te og en æske chokolade, som Lois’ tidligere arbejdskolleger, Rose, gav os i morges for at takke os for at hente sin medicin hos apoteket.

Vi føler os helt slået ud, som altid efter en ”dansk” dag, hvor vi brugte formiddagen på at rydde op og gøre rent i huset, og eftermiddagen på at styre vores danske gruppes seneste møde. Vi bliver gamle, ingen tvivl om det.

18:00 Vi spiser aftensmad og bruger resten af aftenen på at se lidt fjernsyn. De viser det 14. afsnit i den nuværende (og sidste) sæson af sitcommen Big Bang Theory.

Et morsomt afsnit, som fremviser William Shatners gæstepræstation, som et medlem af Will Wheatons Dungeons & Dragons-gruppe. Sheldon bliver så begejstret over muligheden for at møde Shatner, at han kaster op over ham, hvilket var en rar idé.

Der er tilsyneladende nogle andre kendisser i Wills gruppe, men Lois og jeg har ikke den fjerneste idé, hvem de er, som vanligt.

Du godeste, sikke et vanvid !!!!!

22:00 Vi går i seng - zzzzzzzzzzz!!!!!!