h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Wasn't Hovis from Macclesfield?

Sorry. I was responding to Pierce's 'colonies' remark.

Anyway, Pierce, I'll have you know, old friend, that we (Southern) English defeated and turned back the Danes at the Battle of Olney Bridge (unlikely coincidence but true), this now being the front line between varieties of northern and midland accents, (influenced by the Danes), and true Southern Saxon ones, Olney being on the Southern side of the border.

Jab

oh well, as long as you don't annoy prof. animal chaos, who - as i understand it - is a yorkshireman and thus one of us. york is after all our old stronghold in the northeast, the capitol of the danelaw. has been since the days of old harold bloodaxe

it's the rest of the british isles we only see as colonies

(who is not quite sure he's got it all right - and anyway doesn't really give a fetid dingos kidneys about it )

Have a read of the Orkneyinga Saga.

oh, please my father was a historian and i am fed up with sagas and legends and history and what have you

my older is a teacher - he is even worse!

It was the Norf wot was your colony. We stopped them Danes from going further South (after the days of King Arthur forcing them back). That's why York was so prominent - it's in the North.

I partly put this in to get The Prof going - but he hasn't bitten on it yet.

Jab

oh but the north now seems to have been far more than just a colony. it was a part of the realm of vikings, who originally came from norway, sweden and denmark, but over many years inhabited vast parts of england and scotland, iceland and greenland.

but they controlled far more than that: (at times) their 'area of interest' spread from russia in the northeast to newfoundland in the northwest and as far as istanbul to the southeast and africa to the southwest.

'area of interest' was a term invented during the cold war, and in fact the role of the vikings was more or less that of the US today

it makes me feel so ashamed

I don't bitetoo super modest

no disrespect to anyoneof course

but if you ain't Yorkshire born,your a foreignersaves time categorising

You missed out northern france, it was Vikings who eventually conquered the whole of England, admittedly they spoke french at the time but it was the Vikings and /not/ frenchies

William the illegitimate, so called because a) his parents were not married, and b) because he was a complete and utter

yes, of course, who could forget the normans. ivanhoe never did

it was the normans who conquered their viking cousins in england in 1066

ivanhoe,a rake, strimmer and hedge shears