Sunday, February 17, 2008

My Precious...


Look who I bumped into today! We took the family out to visit the Anglo-Saxon village at West Stow and saw these guys there too, who were thankfully more approachable than Gollum.


So what were they doing hanging around West Stow? Well not many people know that J R R Tolkien's Middle Earth, as featured in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, was not just a place of fiction, but it actually did exist. According to resources at West Stow, Middle Earth was an Anglo-Saxon name for the early European world of the first millennium(AD0-100) and West Stow was a typical settlement in this period of history. Tolkien was a professor of Anglo-Saxon and thanks to his epic trilogy, Frodo and his team of friends can help people create a link between West Stow as a place and how Anglo-Saxons perceived the world around them.

We dropped in at West Stow to follow the Ring Quest, which offers the opportunity to explore the Anglo-Saxon village and surrounding parkland, while hunting for clues and riddles.


Even though we could have explored the whole of the parkland, we only managed to complete the hunt for runes in the village before disappearing off to a birthday party.


However, it was very interesting and fun. It was a great opportunity to explore the houses in the village and we've come away with a better understanding of the runic alphabet.

If you haven't already been to West Stow. It is well worth a visit, as there is normally lots to do to entertain both children and adults alike.

4 Comments:

Rosie said...

Hi 21st Century Mummy, that first picture gave me quite a shock when it suddenly appeared on my computer screen! My 4 year old her my yelp and wandered over. Bizarrely she finds the picture attractive???!!

Unknown said...

yey for West Stow! Last time I visited with the Young Archaeologists Club. Their favourite games always involve Lord of the Rings whilst we are digging holes. Perhaps its time to revisit!

Florries Mum said...

I loved Lord of the Rings, but My Precious gives me the creeps. We were walking in the forest on the other side of the road on Sunday, it was a beautiful afternoon in the sun-shine and we even saw a deer.Luckily Florrie didn't or we wouldn't have seen her for dust.

Her indoors said...

Hi Rosie - apologies for the horror moment. All I can say is that when IJ grows up, I hope she changes her taste in men ;-D

Hi Zooarchaeologist - West Stow is fab...do visit again. You won't be disappointed ;-D

Hi Florries mum - yes he gives me the creeps too. Sunday was lovely wasn't it...and you were so close to us.

BTW ~ I know I've been a bit quiet but some exciting things are happening over on The Rubbish Diet with very interesting news on the way. So if you notice some silence over here, you'll understand why ;-D