It is approximately the year 1200 AD.
A man is in a tavern having a very good time, drinking heavily, and suddenly he gets a message written in runes on a piece of wood. The message is very clear: “Gyda says that you should go home.” How he responds to this is unknown, but he does write a message in return that, I'm told by the author Eleanor Barraclough, doesn't make any sense.
However, we forgive him for being inebriated, and thus we're into the world that Eleanor takes on in her new book, Embers of the Hands: Hidden Histories of the Viking Age.
I felt when Eleanor wrote about Gyda and her beloved, she was having an especially good time. What is it he was reading, these rune carved things? And how does she interpret them?
Watch the full conversation above, or listen to an audio version below:
LINKS:
Embers of the Hands: Hidden Histories of the Viking Age Eleanor Barraclough on Amazon
The opinions expressed on this website and on The John Batchelor Show are those of John Batchelor and guests, and not those of CBS News.
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