The Essex Book Festival 2014 Adventures with words
1 March to 31 March. 2014
Various venues across Essex
Cambridge Literary Festival
1-6 April
Various venues across Cambridge
New Writing South Build your social web presence
2, 9 , 16 April
The Writer's Place, 9 New Street, Brighton BN1 1UT
Monday 31 March 2014
Thursday 20 March 2014
The Sword in the Stone and the Castle of Glass
In my translation of The Sword in the Stone mentioned in previous blogs I pointed out that the stone in which Arthur finds the sword has a special significance. The sword is described as thrust into an anvil which is in turn contained within a block of nearly transparent stone. This indicates that it has come from Caer Bannwg, Castle Foursqaure also known as the Turning Castle or the Castle of Glass which is the home of the Celtic Gods. I suggested that the writer might have had in mind a block of transparent marble but it seems I was wrong.
Although the action in the Sword book nearly all takes place in the Spirit World the topography throughout is of the physical world of the fifth century or earlier. I had assumed that the Castle of Glass was a figment of a poetic imagination but it seems I was wrong there too. Just outside Inverness is the vitrified hillfort of Craig Phadrig built by the Picts around the 4th century BC. It was built of granite but following a great fire which some archaeologists think might have been deliberate the inner and outer walls have vitrified, that is to say they have turned to glass as a result of immense heat. Furthermore within the fort is a smal tumulus of earth cobtaining a stone at the centre. (T Wallace 1921)
By the fifth century the Picts were Druids and in the mid-sixth century St Columba is said to have visited this site where he had a bit of a row with the Pictish Archdruid when he tried to persuade them to join the Celtic Church so this is a site which had meaning both for the Picts and for the Christian Druids. It is still not really known how the stone became vitrified since it would require an intense heat up to 1300 degrees Centrigrade for the stone to turn to glass. It is not surprising that 800 years on people might have concluded this could only have been the work of the gods but it seems quite possible that although the Castle of Glass itself exists only in the Spirit World (and can indeed move around) the writers of the book were aware of the existence of this physical castle of glass in Scotland.
I can't wait to go and visit. Details of the site can be found at http://canmore.rchams.gov.uk/en/site/13486/details/craig+phadrig or just google craig phadrig to find a selection of entries.
Although the action in the Sword book nearly all takes place in the Spirit World the topography throughout is of the physical world of the fifth century or earlier. I had assumed that the Castle of Glass was a figment of a poetic imagination but it seems I was wrong there too. Just outside Inverness is the vitrified hillfort of Craig Phadrig built by the Picts around the 4th century BC. It was built of granite but following a great fire which some archaeologists think might have been deliberate the inner and outer walls have vitrified, that is to say they have turned to glass as a result of immense heat. Furthermore within the fort is a smal tumulus of earth cobtaining a stone at the centre. (T Wallace 1921)
By the fifth century the Picts were Druids and in the mid-sixth century St Columba is said to have visited this site where he had a bit of a row with the Pictish Archdruid when he tried to persuade them to join the Celtic Church so this is a site which had meaning both for the Picts and for the Christian Druids. It is still not really known how the stone became vitrified since it would require an intense heat up to 1300 degrees Centrigrade for the stone to turn to glass. It is not surprising that 800 years on people might have concluded this could only have been the work of the gods but it seems quite possible that although the Castle of Glass itself exists only in the Spirit World (and can indeed move around) the writers of the book were aware of the existence of this physical castle of glass in Scotland.
I can't wait to go and visit. Details of the site can be found at http://canmore.rchams.gov.uk/en/site/13486/details/craig+phadrig or just google craig phadrig to find a selection of entries.
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