Yes, building a realistic setting for our historical fiction can be fun. But recreating the world of Sixth Century post-Roman Britain in The Song-Sayer's Lament had some real challenges. Normally, I'd always start with maps for the period, to get the geography right. But I have this "thing" about language and authenticity, like this... 1. … [Read more...] about Five Steps to Recreating Sixth Century Britain
Nennius
Sixth Century Britain – Who Stole Britain’s Sixth Century?
I paid my first visit to Sixth Century Dark Ages Britain almost fifty years ago. It was Rosemary Sutcliff’s fault, since it was through the pages of A Sword at Sunset that my juvenile “King Arthur’s Round Table” image of the so-called Dark Ages first began to dissolve – the idea dawning that a more “realistic” portrayal of the period may be … [Read more...] about Sixth Century Britain – Who Stole Britain’s Sixth Century?