An armillary sphere to fit a medieval finger….

  I didn’t know what an armillary sphere was until I saw this page and was prompted to look it up at Merriam Webster, where the definition is:- “ar·mil·la·ry sphere: an old astronomical instrument composed of rings showing the positions of important circles of the celestial sphere”. Then I realised that such spheres are often seen in…

A lookalike of Richard’s ring….

  Is the modern ring below, found at this site , meant to be one of the three rings in the NPG portrait? See above. If so, which one? To me, the left ring and the one in the centre look about the same…. The one on the right is totally unlike the “star” ring…

Medieval jewels have been found, but my emerald has gone forever….

This illustration is from the Yorkshire Post and has been chosen to illustrate the sort of wonderful finds that have been made by detectorists. There has been a positive rash of such discoveries, and each time I am reminded again of how dreadful it must have been, way back when, to lose something as valuable…

A Tale of Two Medieval Rings

  The two gold rings, thought to be about 600 years old An interesting article about two beautiful gold medieval rings caught my eye.  The article explains how the rings, thought to be about 600 years old were found in a field in Dorset.  The larger one would have been worn over a glove while…

A second ring was found within sight of Sandal Castle, and then lost….

On Facebook, I recently reposted an item from a year ago, concerning the above love ring found at Sandal Castle. The following link was the particular article that alerted me about it. There are many more, I am sure. http://www.mylearning.org/learning/creative-writing-at-sandal-castle/The%20most%20interesting%20finds%20from%20Sandal%20Castle.pdf While looking for more information about this ring, I learned that it is not the only one to…

Enigmatic signs and messages in a portrait of Richard III….

Everyone knows about Leslau and his theories concerning the Hans Holbein portrait of Sir Thomas More and his family. In Leslau’s opinion, the portrait reveals much about the fates of the “Princes in the Tower”. Another Holbein painting, “The Ambassadors” is also filled with secret messages. Or so it is said. I cannot argue one…

Blacksmiths for Gods and Heroes: Tracing the Magical Blacksmith through Myth

Originally posted on Giaconda's Blog:
? ? Hephaestus from an Attic red Kylix vase decoration. Who Were the Legendary Smiths?: The figure of the often deformed or maimed blacksmith who forges remarkable weaponry and armour for gods or heroes is a re-occurring archetype in myth across many cultures. We have Hephaestus in Greek myth…