About 2,000 years ago a tragedy unfolded. A sixteen-years-old girl, who suffered during her young life from scoliosis, was killed. Her red hair was shaved off on one side, she was stabbed at the base of her neck on the right shoulder, and strangled with a woolen rope. The rope was still around her neck.Continue reading “The Killing Fields, of the Celts”
Tag Archives: peat
The United Frisian Emirates and Black Peat
In this post we’ll explain that the Frisian lands might as well be named the United Frisian Emirates. Of course, there are some differences with the modern United Arab Emirates. The Emirate Arabs have camels and goats, whilst the Frisians have cows and sheep. It’s hot and dry, instead of wet and cold, albeit thingsContinue reading “The United Frisian Emirates and Black Peat”
Take a virtual hike through Zuid-Holland and Utrecht
This blog is a virtual hike. Grab a coffee and go 200 kilometers per hour. When ploughing through piles of research on where the Frisians roamed, we stumbled upon interesting Frisian place names. A few weeks ago we, the two Frisian bastards, took another hike. We walked a track of 31 km along the riverContinue reading “Take a virtual hike through Zuid-Holland and Utrecht”
One of history’s enlightening hikes, that of Bernlef
This post isn’t about the West-Frisian writer Hendrik Jan Marsman (1937-2012), whose pen-name was Bernlef. Nor is this post about student corporation Bernlef in the city of Groningen in the Netherlands. No, this is all about the original. Bard and harp player Bernlef, who lived in Frisia somewhere between 760 and 840. And if youContinue reading “One of history’s enlightening hikes, that of Bernlef”
In debt to the beastly Westfrisians
This post is about the harsh history of the ‘beastly’ Westfrisians, and especially those of the town of Medemblik. Medemblik, grande dame of region Westfriesland in province Noord Holland in the Netherlands. There are many legends about Medemblik. For example that it was the city where heathen king Radbod resided. But, above all it’s aContinue reading “In debt to the beastly Westfrisians”
How a town drowned overnight
Rungholt. A thriving and wealthy town that disappeared overnight in the year 1362. For six centuries only legends told us about what happened to Rungholt: a town submerged in the sea as a punishment of God. According to medieval legends, you could still hear the sound of its bell tower rising from the dark depthContinue reading “How a town drowned overnight”
Frisia Coast Trail 