NORTHUMBRIA’S ambitions north of the River Forth were abruptly ended in 685, when King Ecgfrith’s cousin Bridei mac Bili, King of the Picts, defeated him at Nechtansmere, even as Ethelbald and Offa were restoring Mercia to dominance south of the Humber.
That political decline coincided, however, with the ‘Northumbrian Renaissance’, a flame sparked by the Synod of Whitby in 664. The vigorous Irish monasticism brought to King Oswald’s court by Aidan now blended with the cultural riches of the Byzantine world imported from Rome by Benedict Biscop, and the age of Cuthbert, Bede, Willibrord and Alcuin lit up all England, and the courts of Europe.
Northumbria’s cultural capital, the monastery at Lindisfarne, was sacked by the Vikings in 793; her political capital at York fell to Ivar the Boneless in 866. But the Scandinavian Kingdom of Jorvik lasted only until 927, when Northumbria’s people recognised Alfred the Great’s grandson, Athelstan, as the first ‘King of the English’.
Précis
Defeat by the Picts in 685 clipped Northumbria’s wings, and alongside the resurgence of Mercia signalled a gradual decline in the kingdom’s power. But the cultural and religious ‘renaissance’ led by the monastery at Lindisfarne bequeathed to all England a legacy that outlasted even the Viking invasions of the 8th and 9th centuries, and defines English identity to this day. (60 / 60 words)
Defeat by the Picts in 685 clipped Northumbria’s wings, and alongside the resurgence of Mercia signalled a gradual decline in the kingdom’s power. But the cultural and religious ‘renaissance’ led by the monastery at Lindisfarne bequeathed to all England a legacy that outlasted even the Viking invasions of the 8th and 9th centuries, and defines English identity to this day.
Variations: 1.increase the length of this precis to exactly 65 words. 2.reduce the length of this precis to exactly 55 words. 3.introduce one of the following words into the precis: about, if, may, or, otherwise, ought, whereas, who.
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Word Games
Sevens Based on this passage
Suggest answers to this question. See if you can limit one answer to exactly seven words.
Variations: 1.expand your answer to exactly fourteen words. 2.expand your answer further, to exactly twenty-one words. 3.include one of the following words in your answer: if, but, despite, because, (al)though, unless.
Jigsaws Based on this passage
Express the ideas below in a single sentence, using different words as much as possible. Do not be satisfied with the first answer you think of; think of several, and choose the best.
Spinners Find in Think and Speak
For each group of words, compose a sentence that uses all three. You can use any form of the word: for example, cat → cats, go → went, or quick → quickly, though neigh → neighbour is stretching it a bit.
This exercise uses words found in the accompanying passage.
1 Dominance. Light. Slew.
2 Chase. Govern. Monastery.
3 Age. Beat. Form.
Variations: 1. include direct and indirect speech 2. include one or more of these words: although, because, despite, either/or, if, unless, until, when, whether, which, who 3. use negatives (not, isn’t, neither/nor, never, nobody etc.)
Add Vowels Find in Think and Speak
Make words by adding vowels to each group of consonants below. You may add as many vowels as you like before, between or after the consonants, but you may not add any consonants or change the order of those you have been given. See if you can beat our target of common words.
mstr (7)
maestro. master. mister. mistier. moister. moisture. muster.
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