[littlemanpoet]

Again, pardon the lack of quotes. Yes, Nerindel, it will be as you have queried. There may be an aspect to which Aedhelhild (sorry no ansi to hand again), having known Eodwine before his elevation, may be somewhat less intimidated. But play it as your character is best played, by all means.

Originally Posted by Bêthberry

I toyed with the idea of burning down the old White Horse Inn after Bethberry left, to leave the place open for lmp to set up his mead hall as he wishes, but decided to leave things for him to work out.

Glad you didn't. I don't foresee a burning down; too hard to control those things, and there's too much good about the old White Horse worth preserving.

One aspect of the Rohirrim which has never seemed very Anglo-Saxon (or Viking) to me is the horse-rearing and the wide grasslands. I have always read those traits as pertaining to Tolkien's rough geographical layout of Middle-earth, which would put Rohan in the same tradition as the cosssacks of south eastern Europe. Well, okay, I know the Kievian Rus was founded by Vikings.

I lean on Shippey for this: the particular Anglo-Saxon kingdom that Tolkien called his geographic home, was old Mercia (a latinate word); translated into the West-Midland Anglo-Saxon: literally, 'the Mark'. Shippey goes on to provide evidence (I don't have the tome with me) that the West Midland love of horses is specific to The Mark. Consider how many totemic chalk-horses there are scattered over England; maybe there were more horses in Anglo-Saxon England than the Normans would have liked us to believe. But this is beginning to sound like a Books discussion the way I'm rattling on, so I'll shut up about it.

As you can see from the above few paragraphs, I'm very very enamored of the whole Anglo-Saxon aspect of the English past and history (they are two different things). So this is a really good fit for me at the Mead Hall.

Expect Ruthven when she's least expected!

Cool! Gandalfesque, there, eh?