My old friend Julian de la Motte-Harrison has written two novels about the Norman Conquest of Britain. I previously wrote about this, as follows:
“‘Senlac‘
I’m not usually keen on historical novels. In my youth I read a lot of Georgette Hayer – but that wasn’t so much for the history as the romance…. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgette_Heyer . However, I thought I’d have a go at reading an historical novel by an old friend from Uni – ‘Senlac’ by Julian de la Motte…
Julian has an interesting history of his own. His ancestress the Countess De La Motte fled the French Revolution, taking with her a family treasure – a thorn from the crown of thorns which was placed on the head of Christ. Julian now has that thorn – a direct link, if not proven to be with Jesus, then with the French Revolution and an ancestress who became an emigrant.
Emigrants – people – make history – whether the ‘little’ people or the ‘big nobs’.
The main characters in ‘Senlac’ aren’t just big nobs, they’re aggressive, argumentative big knobs and they didn’t migrate to find a better life for themselves and their families or to avoid danger – they crossed the English channel to conquer and take over – and, as history tells us, they did so very successfully.
For me, they’re equal in bad attitude with the Vikings – not surprising, as they are Norse-men – Normans. I’ll quote from the ’Wikipedia’ entry for Normans.
‘The English name “Normans” comes from the French words Normans/Normanz, plural of Normant, modern French normand, which is itself borrowed from Old Low Franconian Nortmann “Northman” or directly from Old Norse Norðmaðr, Latinized variously as Nortmannus, Normannus, or Nordmannus (recorded in Medieval Latin, 9th century) to mean “Norseman, Viking“.’
Not my kind of people at all, but I thought I’d give is a try as Julian has a quick wit and an individual view of life which might come through even when writing of a right bunch of ******** – which, to my mind, is what the conquering Normans were.
I’m of Irish blood, and that Norman attitude – big, blocky towers dominating the landscape – doesn’t chime with me, at all. I like roundness – curves, soft lines.
Maybe it’s for Julian to talk me round and get me to take an interest in these psychos.”
And so, I was interested to read in ’The Orcadian’ of the 21st of March, that a Medieval triptych has been donated to The Orkney Museum and that the story told thereon describes how the Normans of France might have had a strong connection with Orkney!
It will take some time to organize the transfer of the triptych from Italy to Orkney, and meanwhile I’ll send the relevant page from the ‘Orcadian’ to Julian, who might include the Orkney Normans in his next novel!
For more info. about the triptych – maybe best to contact The Orkney Museum, Tankerness House…
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