Ælfthryth and the Rubbish King

(In which I keep my solemn promise to [drink wine and] feed back interesting bits from David Crowther’s ‘The History of England’ podcast.)

Omg guys, check out real life Cersei Lannister from the 10^th Century named Ælfthryth (futurebabynameIcallit)!!! Renowned beauty and total badass, she wed and bed a pair of brothers—the second one being King Edgar the Peaceful. Although Ælfthryth had a son with Edgar—Æthelred—it was her stepson, Edward the Martyr (not to give anything away!), who inherited the throne upon Edgar’s death. Newly crowned, Edward paid an ill-advised visit to stepmummy Ælfthryth’s castle where he swiftly met his demise. Rumour has it that stepmummy’s henchman stabbed Edward to death whilst Ælfthryth was distracting him by offering him a drink! Ælfthryth then placed her son Æthelred on the throne and ruled in his stead until he came of age. As it turns out, Æthelred was a completely rubbbbbbbbish king and was called ‘Æthelred the Unready’—whoops! But, I mean, whatever, look at his sword!

I’ve been plowing through some of the more obscure Thomas Hardy novels lately, and this particularly lovely Weekes Word comes from A Pair of Blue Eyes (1872):

Penetralia: from the Latin penetralia (innermost things) and coming to mean a secret or hidden place by the mid 17th century. Ex: In the penetralia of her heart, Weekes  the Unwilling harboured a covetous desire to try on Æthelred the Unready’s ridiculous hat-crown-pot.

So I say, kitty cats, raise a glass to Monday and drink up–unless Ælfthryth is offering the vino!!

xWG // #dazeandweekes