Once I was a clever boy learning the arts of Oxford... is a quotation from the verses written by Bishop Richard Fleming (c.1385-1431) for his tomb in Lincoln Cathedral. Fleming, the founder of Lincoln College in Oxford, is the subject of my research for a D. Phil., and, like me, a son of the West Riding. I have remarked in the past that I have a deeply meaningful on-going relationship with a dead fifteenth century bishop... it was Fleming who, in effect, enabled me to come to Oxford and to learn its arts, and for that I am immensely grateful.


Sunday 28 March 2021

The Swedish equivalent of Sutton Hoo


A week ago I posted a piece about James Campbell on the man at Sutton Hoo

This weekend the Mail Online has an article about what had been described as Sweden’s Sutton Hoo. The site at Uppsala is a sizeable burial ground with ship burials and some at least of the grave goods - notably the helmet that is illustrated - show affinities to the discoveries at Sutton Hoo. This is reinforced by the evidence for the East Anglian dynasty, the Wuffingas, having Swedish roots. 

The barrows were excavated in the 1920s and 1930s and the funds are being reevaluated. 

The survival of bird feathers seems amazing, yet they yield insights into the spiritual world of those buried and those who buried them. The idea of feather bedding the departed into their eternal rest is both striking and rather endearingly domestic.

The illustrated article, with a slightly misleading titlecan be seen at Iron Age warriors were buried in Sweden with luxury bedding


Posted by at

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)