[MR] medieval winter sports (Fwd: Aoife-Links Digest, Vol 14, Issue 2)

[SNSpies at aol.com]

In a message dated 12/8/2005 12:04:04 PM Eastern Standard Time,  
aoife-links-request at scatoday.net writes:

Today's  Topics:

1. Let it Snow! Medieval Winter Sports  (Aoife)


----------------------------------------------------------------------

Message:  1
Date: Wed, 7 Dec 2005 20:55:23 -0500
From: "Aoife"  <aoife at scatoday.net>
Subject: [Aoife-Links] Let it Snow! Medieval  Winter Sports
To: <aoife-links at scatoday.net>
Message-ID:  <00ee01c5fb9a$746c30f0$c775bacc at pcbz6mpmt4r04r>
Content-Type:  text/plain;    charset="iso-8859-1"

Greetings, Faithful  Readers!

Short but fun: This week we're focusing on medieval winter  sports. Have a 
hankering to hit the slopes? Fear not, Skiing predates the  Middle Ages! Skating 
is more your thing? Not to worry, ice skating is a fine  traditional winter 
sport your personae can enjoy.

So, with a white  winter bearing down upon us, perhaps it's time to dust off 
your woolens and  get out there, to overawe your neighbors and friends with a 
fine pair of bone  ice skate (or iron-bladed ones for you renaissance personae 
out there).   After all, winter is too much fun to pass up just because you 
don't know if  your sport is (or isn't) medieval!   

Cheers

Aoife

Dame Aoife Finn
a/k/a Lisbeth  Herr-Gelatt
Riverouge
Endless  Hills
Aethelmearc




History of  Skiing
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_skiing
(Site Excerpt) The  first hints to the existence of skis are on 4500 to 5000 
year old rock  drawings, e.g. at Rødøy in Norway. There are also remains of 
skis in bogs,  with the oldest ski found in Hoting, Sweden, which is about 4500 
years  old.

History of Alpine  Skiing
http://www.speedski.com/historyofskiing.htm
(Site Excerpt) Before  skis were used for fun and leisure, the ski was used 
for work and  transportation. The oldest known version is a wide, short ski 
found in Sweden  that has been shown to be over 4500 years old, and cave and rock 
drawings  suggest that skis were used even long before then. These first skis 
may have  been used by a hunter or a traveler, as they were commonly used 
during the  long winters in Northern Russia and the Scandinavian countries. Early 
skis  were not made for speed, but to designed to keep a traveler on top of 
the snow  as they went about their business.

History of  Snowskiing
http://www.kokotele.com/history.htm
(Site Excerpt) Literary  reference to skiing can also be found in Europe's 
far north in Virgil's  Aeneid, written almost 2000 years ago.Throughout Nordic 
history, skiing has  been a major catalyst of great events. An illustrative 
example is found in  Sweden history. In 1521 the Danes overran Sweden and 
massacred all the Swedish  nobles but one, Gustav Vasa, who was able to escape. The 
Swedes were left  without a leader, so two desparate peseants set out on skis 
to find Gustav. He  came back, drove the Danes out of Sweden, and set up the 
kindom that survives  to this day.

Hurstwic Bone Ice  Skates
http://www.hurstwic.org/history/articles/daily_living/text/ice_skates.htm
(Site  Excerpt) The bones were tied to the bottom of the shoes using leather 
thongs.  The holes for the thong are in the sides of the skates at the front 
and back.  The front of the skate (to the left in the sketch) has been shaped 
into a  wedge to help the skate to pass over irregularities on the surface of 
the  ice.

BBC London Features: Ice Skating Medieval  Style
http://www.bbc.co.uk/london/content/articles/2005/11/21/medieval_iceskates_fea
ture.shtml
(Site  Excerpt) Somerset House is just one of many amazing ice rinks to be 
found in  London this year but ice skating in the capital is nothing new. A new  
exhibition, Medieval London, includes a pair of ice skates dating back to the 
 Medieval times.

Figure Skating  History
http://www3.vjc.edu/academics/students/julius_eng212/jones/history.htm
(Site  Excerpt) Iron blades were created in Iceland during this time. A pole 
wasn't  needed anymore, because the iron blades gave a person more speed  .

Breughal's 'Hunters in the  Snow'
http://historyonthenet.com/Medieval_Life/huntersinthesnow.htm




------------------------------

_______________________________________________
Aoife-Links  mailing  list
Aoife-Links at scatoday.net
http://scatoday.net/mailman/listinfo/aoife-links