O/T Battle of Brunanburh

[WanChaiMiller]

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Frustrating because it's so contentious or simply because there is so little evidence to prove it one way or another?

I think you're being modest when you say you're academic involvement is at the level of interest rather than expertise.

It fascinates me that, for a group of people united by a common passion for a fairly unfashionable football team currently punching above its weight, we have such a diverse set of demographics in terms of background, knowledge and geography...

Agree CT. Which is why I like the site and I think ot is such an impprtant part of it.

Talking of which I still do not know the title of your book to buy. I cant find the direct message button. Can you ppst it up for a few minutes and delete before frog realises.

[mikemiller]

Ive just read an article on the battle. I have no real interest in history of this sort. There is an idea it could have taken place in the Rotherham area. Is there a museum, information site or any reference of it in the town to signify / reference the battle.

The thing that struck me, I know its odd, but, in the year 937, without mobile phones, how would 3 armies from different parts of Britain know where and when to meet?

I remember reading somewhere (probably the Rotherham Advertiser?) that a local historian had proposed the battle site as the top of Bonet Lane in Brinsworth, near to where the old post office used to be. Don't know what that was based on - I'm guessing geographical features and items that had been excavated.

[CAMiller]

Agree CT. Which is why I like the site and I think ot is such an impprtant part of it.

Talking of which I still do not know the title of your book to buy. I cant find the direct message button. Can you ppst it up for a few minutes and delete before frog realises.

Just click on CTMillers name and the Private Message option is available from the menu that appears. Failing that, hit the Report Post icon (Triangle), that will send me an email with your address and I'll pass it on to CT

[nakedtruth]

At risk of looking stupid on a subject I know nothing much about, could the place be Bamburgh in Northumbria?

Known as Bebbanburg and similar names in the past, also a place much fought over historically

The corruption of names over the centuries makes it possible?

[monty_rhodes]

At risk of looking stupid on a subject I know nothing much about, could the place be Bamburgh in Northumbria?

Known as Bebbanburg and similar names in the past, also a place much fought over historically

The corruption of names over the centuries makes it possible?

Almost certainly not. We have several 10th century forms for Bamburgh from the ASC and elsewhere which give Bebbanburh and Babbanburh and Bede states the name derives from a Queen Bebba. There are no recorded forms which show a "u" or "r" in the first element. Bamburgh was a very well known place and it's hard to believe early scribes would consistently have shown the first element wrongly as Brun or Brunn in their names for the battlefield.

[great_fire]

Most historians think it happened on the Wirral so wrong coast.

[nakedtruth]

Almost certainly not. We have several 10th century forms for Bamburgh from the ASC and elsewhere which give Bebbanburh and Babbanburh and Bede states the name derives from a Queen Bebba. There are no recorded forms which show a "u" or "r" in the first element. Bamburgh was a very well known place and it's hard to believe early scribes would consistently have shown the first element wrongly as Brun or Brunn in their names for the battlefield.

So when was the Brunanburh spelling first recorded?

And by whom?

[monty_rhodes]

So when was the Brunanburh spelling first recorded?

And by whom?

The earliest reference still extant is in Manuscript A of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle and it dates from no later than 955 AD - only 18 years after the battle.
I did say above that MM is not the place to examine all the very detailed evidence. Great_fire is simply wrong. The Wirral case is mainly argued by philologists (not historians) from Nottingham University some of whom live on the Wirral and is assiduously promoted by local media, council and tourism interests. Of the articles published in reputable academic journals in the last decade most criticise the Wirral evidence and support alternative sites.