Factoids about the Middle Ages

Newman, Paul. Daily Life in the Middle Ages. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, 2001, p. 183.

On dancing:

Simple dances performed as a group appear to have been the most popular, if not sole, form of dancing enjoyed by all classes up to mid-15th century. Then, starting in northern Italy, a more stylized form of dancing appeared. In these dances, couples paired off but still functioned as part of a coordinated group and the dancing was still either slow and gliding (bassadanza) or somewhat faster (ballo)…

Regardless of the pace and form, dancing was, as it always has been, part of the courtship process. Ring dances and the later more stylized dances gave members of the opposite sex a chance to see each other, show off, and flirt, in the same way that square dancing and other communal dances continued to do centuries later. Further, even with the generally communal nature of the dancing, there are still many descriptions from throughout medieval Europe of dances in which couples often broke off from the main group or otherwise contrived to achieve more intimacy during group dances.

( Video example of English Country Dancing behind the cut )

No Man's Child - Chapter 17

When winter first begins to bite
 and stones crack in the frosty night,
when pools are black and trees are bare,
 'tis evil in the Wild to fare.

FOTR: The Ring Goes South

~oOo~



~oOo~

There. Just so.

I have cleared the table and set Elesinda to its scrubbing after our noon meal. The Council shall assemble in my lord's hall and I wish naught give him cause for unease, for seldom does he attend. For that I built up the fire and placed his chair at the foot of his banner so he might best appear before it. The hall is warm and comfortable, with winter rugs hanging before the high windows, cushions upon the benches, and the sharp scent of burning leaves of rosemary thrown upon the fire to sweeten the air.
( Continued here )