So many book suggestions! I should have asked months ago.
Chris
> On 10 Feb 2016, at 17:47, Bob Whitmire <fujixbob@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>
> Further research suggests earsling as the original Old English word, literal
> meaning backwards, or of the back. It appears first in a translation of
> Psalms, possibly by Alfred the Great. More recent shift shows spelling as
> arseling, meaning, well, you know what it means.
>
> The word first came to my attention in Bernard Cornwell's Last Kingdom
> novels, which have been produced for television by the BBC. Cornwell surmises
> the correct pronunciation as er-sling.
>
> I like these books. The protagonist is Uthred of Bebbanburg (Bamburg), a
> Saxon child captured and raised by Danes who nevertheless finds himself as
> the only heathen in the pious Alfred's entourage. (Humm. Why does Bob like
> Uthred?)
>
> What may be the final installment of the books is either just out or soon to
> be. At any rate, earsling, or arseling, is now a part of my permanent
> vocabulary. Thank you, Mr Cornwell, and thank _you_ Alfred of Wessex.
>
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