ࡱ>  Root EntryyAR WordDocumentH1TableCompObj#y5@ bjbj22 H,,l  36V::Nottingham scholars - Paul Cavill, who runs the English Place-Name Society, Steve Harding, a scientist, and Judith Jesch, a Viking studies lecturer - have identified Wirral as the site of what was described as the bloodiest battle to have taken place in England. Five British kings and seven earls were killed on the Celtic side as were numerous Saxons, including two of Athelstan's cousins. The researchers base their conclusion on analysis of two place names - Brunanburh itself and Dingesmere - mentioned in the 73-line Chronicle. The former, meaning "Bruna's fort", has been assumed by many scholars to be the old name for Bromborough, where a well-established Scandinavian colony existed at the time of the battle, making it a sympathetic base for northern raiders. If Dingesmere could be identified as being near by, then that would provide confirmation. But the origin of that place-name was puzzling - until Professor Harding suggested it might be related to the Old Norse word for a place of assembly or Thing, as in Manx Tynwald or Icelandic Althingi. And indeed just such a parliament, known as Thingwall, used to be held in Wirral. The Thing field itself is thought to be Cross Hill, off the A551; the word would have been pronounced "Ding" by local Viking folk who had picked up a Celtic accent. The researchers then realised that Dinges-mere derived from the Old Norse for "marshland of the Thing". The place-name served to warn travellers of the dangerous marshland of the Dee, particularly when attending the Thing. Professor Harding said they had solved one of the most "important loose ends" in the story of the Battle of Brunanburh. A paper explaining the theory has been published in the Journal of the English Place-Name Society.     FHJ  hi-=hgCJaJhi-=hgCJaJ*  HJ  a$$a$$a$$a$$a$$a$$a$$a$$a$$ F1h:p[ A% |.!"#$ Pb' 00  !"$&'()*+-. GTimes New Roman5Symbol3Arial7Verdana;Wingdings?Courier New7Cambria3-3 fg7Courier[RRNormala$$$CJ_HaJmH sH tH OJPJQJDA@D Default Paragraph FontRiR Table Normal4 l4a (k( No ListkJZJ Plain Texta$$CJOJQJaJPJRRPlain Text CharCJOJQJaJmH sH PJ  "1ht+'t+'  0J#HP $P(i2!xx+ ,8@0( fTqion.ic B S  ?@!B)HNnEI$%:: Qingqi Wang Qingqi Wang  F'Microsoft Office Word 97-2003 Document MSWordDocWord.Document.89qOh+'0r  2 VbjSummaryInformation(%DocumentSummaryInformation8,Microsoft Macintosh Word Qingqi Wang@J@XPb Qingqi Wang2 Normal.dotmText-attachment-for-linking@F#՜.+,D՜.+,h8@ HPX`