Bluetooth

Haraldr Blátǫnn Gormsson

Stolen entire from The Village Hemorrhoid:

The Origin Of The Term "Bluetooth"

Harald "Bluetooth" Gormsson (Old Norse: Haraldr Blátǫnn Gormsson; Danish: Harald Blåtand Gormsen, died c. 985/86) was a king of Denmark and Norway.

The first documented appearance of Harald's nickname "Bluetooth" is in the Chronicon Roskildense (written c. 1140).

The Bluetooth wireless specification design was named after the king in 1997, based on an analogy that the technology would unite devices the way Harald Bluetooth united the tribes of Denmark into a single kingdom. The Bluetooth logo consists of a Younger Futhark bind rune for his initials, H (ᚼ) and B (ᛒ).

Ani

The most controversial place I've ever been
Tom Thornton

Ani, on the border between Turkey and Armenia.

Seven Kings Must Die - Netflix Movie

Seven Kings Must Die | Official Trailer | Netflix
Netflix

Uhtred of Bebbanburg returns. More treachery, more deceit, more people swinging swords and more bloody violence. It would have been nice if they could have made a full series about it, this movie just touches down here and there, it's like hopscotch. On some hops they stop for a few minutes, but for most you just get a quick glance of the devastation some bad guy has wrought and then it's on to the next scene. You best be paying close attention because that guy you thought was your ally turns out to be your worst enemy. Oh, you didn't see that coming, you chump? I wonder if maybe they did a movie instead of a series is because all these actors have gotten tired of living in the tenth century, I mean they've been there for years. Can't blame them.

The show does make the first king of England a faggot, but that kind of thing has been showing up since forever, so it's entirely plausible. And since Uhtred makes him vow to never marry, well, it kind of adds up.

P. S. Anyway, it's pretty great. It was nice to revisit this story since we've spent so much time there (watching seasons 1 through 4).

The Northman - Amazon Movie

The Northman Trailer #1 (2022) | Movieclips Trailers
Rotten Tomatoes Trailers

895 AD if I recall the opening scene correctly. Bloodthirsty tale of savages bent on murder and revenge. Norway, Russia, Iceland. Nicole Kidman, Bjork, slavery, foxes, ravens and hallucinogenic mushrooms. Vikings rowing and sailing longboats. It all looked pretty realistic. Not too much Hollywood, just some fancy metal working on the hero's sword. Fancy tapestry, though it looked like the designs were painted on. Maybe they were. People wearing cloth clothes, though no sign of a loom. Maybe they were knitted?

From the Wikipedia page: "nihilistic tone". Hit the nail on the head.

More Stone Age

See the 1,000-Year-Old Windmills Still in Use Today | National Geographic
National Geographic
Stu visited some old windmills and posted some photos.

Driven shaft and exposed gearbox in Salzkotten

This picture shows the bevel gears being used to drive the grindstone, which makes me wonder how they accomplished this before iron gears were something a farmer could afford. I mean, if the ancients could build the Antikythera mechanism they would surely have had the ability to make big bevel gears. But after that, nobody mentions gears until Leonardo starts putting them in his designs around 1500 and it wasn't until the 19th Century that we got the hobbing machine which automatically cuts metal gears. So I'm thinking the probably started casting gears around 1700. For a large, crude mechanism such as this mill casting should have been adequate.

We've been grinding wheat for thousands of years, so what did they do before 1700 to drive the grindstone? 

Wooden cogwheel driving a lantern pinion or cage gear

You could use wooden gears.

Cast iron mortise wheel with wooden cogs meshing with a cast iron gear wheel

This one kind of confuses the issue, as we have an iron wheel with wooden teeth engaging an iron gear.

Or just use a windmill with a vertical axis so you don't need gears at all. That's what we have in the video above.

The Last Kingdom - Season 4

The Last Kingdom | Season 4 Trailer
We finished watching Season 4 of The Last Kingdom last night. It's a great show. We started watching back in 2016 and we enjoyed all four seasons. From my previous post on the subject:

It's based on The Saxon Stories, a series of historical novels written by Bernard Cornwell, who also wrote the Sharpe's Rifles series, which I really liked.

In an interview, Cornwell said: "For some reason the history of the Anglo-Saxons isn’t much taught in Britain (where I grew up) and it struck me as weird that the English really had no idea where their country came from." - Wikipedia

Brief summary, with spoilers:
King Alfred has died and his son Edward has become King of Wessex. Our hero, Uhtred, attempts to retake his ancestral home of Bebbanburg, he fails, but the villain gets his comeuppance. Somewhere after the halfway point in the series (episode 7 or 8), we have the battle of Tettenhall where, with the help of the Welsh, the Danes are stopped. But Sygtrigg (a Dane) returns from a disastrous campaign in Irland (Ireland) and upsets King Edward and his sister's plans for the total domination of England.

Saint Olga

Saint Olga of Kiev

Such a sweet tender-hearted woman. Not. LeeAnn has the story.