Fans of Norah Lofts discussion
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How Far to Bethlehem?
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How Far to Bethlehem
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Hey Alice , is that you ? Hope so and if so hope you are well again. We have talked before I think about recurring themes in NL, but I had not thought of sailors, I must say. Have we mentioned the Innkeeper in HFTB? I know he wasn't really a sailor by profession, but he sold himself into the tin trade and had to sail to Cornmall ( from the Holy Land somemwhere!) and back to make money to marry the heitara lady. Which he didn't do of course , he married Eunice and kept the Inn.
Also, Pegleg in The House At OV, he was a 'beached' sailor til Martin gave him the chance to captain a ship again.
And Captain Fanshwe, a minor character in I Met a Gypsy. Capt Fanshawe was a lover of his own sex, which, actually is something else NL often has in her books . Think of Miss Doctor- and Mrs Twysdale the teacher in Jassy. And Rchard Coeur de Lion of course.
I also just got word from the Better World Books Co. that they searched all of their hardbound NL's and didn't find any kind of map. Most of their used books are library bound, and they didn't expect them to have any "extras", but I'm sure I saw it in a library bound book. I've sent 4 emails to the Bury St. Edmunds Library and gotten nothing. We must be asking too much! I'm still waiting for an answer from the C. Lofts address that Susan found, too.
Should we move our off topic emails to the right threads do you think? I worry that when I;m looking for posts on the progess of the map etc, I won't think to go to this thread for instance . Can we do this? Or am I being too anal?
Barbara, you're not being too anal. :-) The problem, though, is that once a comment is made on a thread, NOBODY can move it. The commenter, or a moderator, can delete it, but short of that, with this software, it's pretty much stuck wherever it starts out.
Oh right , thanks Werner. But thanks to Peggy above, I see we are back on track so I can stop obsessing ! Peggy, Wiki has a good section on the ancient tin trade in Cornwall.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mining_i...
I can't remember now whether I looked anything up at the first time of reading. I think I just assumed it, knowing that such a thing did exist , though not who were the actual buyers I must admit
PS Euphorus and Dorcas ( a name I have always loved ) , thank you
When I visited Glastonbury in 1972, someone told me of a tradition that Jesus lived there for a time (between ages 12 and 30, I suppose) and built a little house. That legend has to be the basis of Blake's lines "And did those feet in ancient times/Walk upon these hills of grren,/And was the precious Lamb of God/In England's pleasant pastures seen?"
Of course it does!! Do you know, I knew both those things - I mean the hymn ( being brought up a good C of E girl) and the tradition about Joseph of Arimathea and the hawthorn (?) tree and Jesus ' visit and all, and I never, not once, connected the two Thank you Mary , thank you .
Hi everyone! I am now back on line with my new computer, so am just checking up on here. I missed it all! My husband said I was wandering around like a lost soul without my computer! I actually got some DIY done though, and various jobs that I had neglected!Good to see that we are all still discussing our deal NLs books and the offshoots that come from them and that we are following these up, such as the "Cornwall and "Jerusalem by William Blake!"
Hope you are all well !
I had heard the legend, if that is what it is, about Joseph of Arimathea going to England. I had forgotten. This is so great.
DIY is "Do it Yourself " Sylvia, as in home handyman (woman) and that sort of thing.Joseph of A wasn't connected ( as far as I know ) to the tin trade, but there is a legend that he visited England.
Here is a interesting link , tho it doesn't mention the boy Jesus
http://www.canadafreepress.com/index....
And here is an even more imteresting link which ,and which actually connects back to the tin trade . So who knows!
http://www.greatdreams.com/jesus2.htm
Ha, ha, Peggy, mentioning maps and then running! Re: the Joseph of Arith. traditions, several things don't ring true for me. Joseph of A. was a member of the Sanhedrin, and I cannot see him being absent for long voyages away from Jerusalem. I also can't imagine Jesus absenting Himself for years from His family and community to "study and be in solitude" when He had not yet started His ministry. He was "God made flesh", and filled with the Holy Spirit and already had all knowledge and power. Personally, I can't see Him building a church building when the NT speaks so much about the body being the "temple" of the spirit. Jesus spoke of worshipping "in temples not made with hands." He taught people from boats, on the hillside, along the road, and in blds. already there. I often wonder what He thinks about our million dollar buildings and cathedrals. He preached against holding to the "traditions of men", but thousands have sprung up since the writing of the NT and are held up as gospel truth and law. John called Joseph a secret disciple of Jesus.
Having said all that, it is nice to think that He could have been related to Joseph and gone to England. (JMO!)
Well, I finished reading How Far to Bethlehem yesterday. For anyone who's interested, my full Goodreads review is posted at: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/... . Here, I'll just observe that any comments that have been made above in praise of it are entirely true, IMO! Of any of NL's novels that I've actually read, I'd have to say that I enjoyed this one the most.
Just read your excellent riview Werner . So nice to see a serious and scholarly one for 'our heroine'I was not au fait some of the theological unliklihoods, thank you for that. And I always did gloss over the nomenclature, not wanting to think too deeply about the beautiful resounding names of Balthazar ( though that one could perhaps have been a name given to him in captivity , his real African one being considered too outlandish? ) and Melchior .. well, yes, got to concede that one .....
Thanks, Barbara! Yes, we could possibly explain "Balthazar" as a slave name --that thought actually had crossed my mind, too.
I was musing that as Christmas was coming up maybe we could do a group read of HFTB, I know Alice and maybe others too, re-read it every Christmas time. Well, I've just read all though the thread ( adn very enjoyable it was too, such good comments and links and speculations and Werner has written a long online review of it, see message 107 above) Well now I wonder if perhaps we have discussed it quite thoroughly already? But there may be people on the board who havent yet read it and think that this time of year is perfect to do so.
What do others think?
Barbara, I have some other reading in hand, but having read How Far to Bethlehem already, I could chime in on a group discussion of it! However, if things go according to plan, I'll be leaving for Australia on Dec. 12, and will be away from my home computer until Dec. 31. (Don't own a laptop.) I might have some intermittent computer access while I'm gone, but that'll be about it.
I'm a Sunday School teacher to the oldest old ladies at church. I have quoted out of HFTB to make a point. I love it.
Something else I just saw for the first time, -the gold "triple crown of Jexal" which is the gift Gaspar takes to give to , so he supposes, an ordinary king but ends up being part of the legendary gold, frankincese and myrrh gifts to Jesus. Might the triple nature of it be NL's prefiguring the idea of the Trinity ? I know the Pope wears, or used to wear a triple crown.
Because of our discussion much earlier on Mary and virginity , I have been reading Marina Warners "Alone of All Her Sex" for the first time in a long time . I see that I was rather dismissive and shallow in a comment I made about arguments about the 'extent ' of her virginity - thank your Werner for a rather gracious handling of that I think it was published in 1976 or thereabouts, and it is not written from a faith point of view, being a scholarly and historical analysis It is highly respectful however and I don't think would be offensive to a believer , even though it is feminist in its ideological stance.
I just thought I'd mention it in case anyone was interested. So many of us on this board are interested in things religious , albeit from different view and is engrossing reading, particularly as lovers of HFTB.
I'm sorry I cant send a link but haven't figured out my pestilential new computer operating system and mail yet
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Alone of All Her Sex: The Myth and the Cult of the Virgin Mary (other topics)How Far to Bethlehem? (other topics)
Interesting idea about Luke. I never heard that before.
Alice