New Book Claims Merlin Had Scottish Roots

The Telegraph (UK) ^ | 8-28-2007 | David Sapsted

[Cymbaline]

Makes sense. Isn’t that where Hogwarts is located?

[blam]

"So was 541 the year the Dark Ages began?"

The Tree-rings world-wide indicate a slow cooling trend leading up to 540AD and in 540AD the temperatures plummeted, worldwide.

The Dark Ages: Were They Darker Than We Imagined?

"Procopius : "...during this year a most dread portent took place. For the Sun gave forth its light without brightness...and it seemed exceedingly like the Sun in eclipse, for the beams it shed were not clear." Lydus : "The Sun became dim...for nearly the whole year...so that the fruits were killed at an unseasonable time."

"Michael the Syrian : "The Sun became dark and its darkness lasted for eighteen months. Each day it shone for about four hours, and still this light was only a feeble shadow...the fruits did not ripen and the wine tasted like sour grapes."

Was this a local phenomenon? According to the book "Volcanoes of the World", Dr. Timothy Bratton has noted that there was a small eruption of the volcano Mt. Vesuvius in AD 536. Could this be the cause? It may well have contributed to the scene (although the eruption was much smaller than the big one of AD 79), but it can not really account for the similar conditions that were experienced around the world. In China, "the stars were lost from view for three months". Records indicate that the light from the Sun dimmed, the expected rains did not eventuate, and snow was seen in the middle of summer. Famine was widespread, and in the midst of the turmoil, the Emperor abandoned the capital."

"Bad luck tends to get bunched together, and thus came the plague. The Justinian Plague, named after the Byzantine Emperor of the time, is reported to have begun in central Asia, spread into Egypt, and then made its way through Europe. By some accounts, it was as bad as the Black Death which "plagued" Europe in the Middle Ages. "

[blam]

Astronomers unravel a mystery of the Dark Ages

Catastrophic event preceded Dark Ages - scientist

[Lucius Cornelius Sulla]

In 541 AD vast areas of Western Europe were NOT CHRISTIAN.

Firstly, most of Europe outside of the Germanic countries were Christian, either orthodox or Arian. Secondly the discussion was not about the year 541 (what event were you referring to, by the way?), but to the Dark Ages, lasting till about 1000 AD. By the year 800 (Charlesmagne's crowning as Roman Emperor), only the Scandinavians were still pagan,

[muawiyah]

541 was the beginning of the Dark Ages. We were not talking about anything in the far distant future (our recent past).

Even today there are tens of millions of heathens and pagans in Europe.

[TigersEye]

Er ye wont rheal mogic ee’s a Scottsman ye’ll be lookin’ farr. ;^)

[SunkenCiv]

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[SunkenCiv]