Weorod

'Beowulf. son of Ecgtheow, spoke:
'So, son of Halfdane, prince of the Shieldings,
we are glad to bring this booty from the lake.
It is a token of triumph and we tender it to you.
I barely survived the battle under water.
It was hard fought, a desperate affair
that could have gone badly; if God had not helped me,
the outcome would have been quick and fatal.
Though Hrunting is hard-edged,
I could never bring it to bear in battle.
But the Lord of Men allowed me to behold
an ancient sword shining on the wall -
for he often helps the unbefriended -
a weapon made for giants, there for the wielding.
Then my moment came in the combat and I struck
the dwellers in that den.  Next thing the damascened
swordblade melted; it bloated and burned
in their rushing blood.'

From Beowulf, translated by Seamus Heaney

A lovely blipmeet today in Winchester with ThingsBeautiful.  We had a coffee-and-cake catch-up then wandered into the cathedral's Inner Close to watch living history specialists Weorod and their 'Dressing the Warrior' display.  Really preferable, I thought, to the battle re-enactments because the two guys who presented it were very knowledgable and shared that with us.  Every piece of equipment was a copy from an archeological excavation and we were given the names and places they came from.

This young man (the silent one of the pair) was being dressed up in all the gear.  He looked wonderfully unfierce with his smile and his baby-blue eyes.  So for this reason - and no other - I am tagging today's blip for SillySaturday. Many thanks to Admirer for hosting ;))

Happy Saturday evening  xx