Hi, Greensleeves. Great Tales of English History sounds like a gruesomely fascinating book!

 

The only place where I've seen a reference to the Viking brutality you described is in Sarum by Edward Rutherford. It's one of his romp-through-history-at-a-galloping-pace books, set near Stonehenge. (Is there still a place called Sarum around there? And is it worth visiting?) As soon as I read the description in your post, I remembered his description of the same procedure. As I recall, when I read it I actually said "ewwww" out loud!

 

Is the Lacey book good? Do you recommend it?

 

Linda

Sarum no longer exists. In the Middle Ages it was a prosperous town with a castle and a Cathedral, but it was abandoned in the 13th century and a new town built a few miles away; Salisbury. It is remembered as the most famous of the so-called Rotten Boroughs. In the 13th century it was entitled to send two Members to Parliament, and even after the settlement had been abandoned that right continued for centuries. In 1831 there were three houses on the site and seven voters, but it still had two MPs. The Reform Act of 1832 swept away the Rotten Boroughs and Old Sarum was joined with Salisbury for voting purposes.

I wonder how far they got before the poor man died? yuk!

Great Tales of English History is very good.  I particularly liked the story about Elmer the Flying Monk.  He was attempting to fly 900 years before the Wright Brothers.