The Gothic Splendor of Alchemised

This post is a bit of a hybrid one in that it features both writing and music and it's more reminiscent of what is usually on my music blog This Metal Road. Despite finishing the novel, I'm not fully ready or willing to leave the world of Alchemised behind and it appears that there are others who feel the same way. After reading the book, I was delighted to discover music inspired by Alchemised on Bandcamp and some of these tracks are featured throughout this post. All of the music in this post is by Mr Pianoful. The tracks are painfully beautiful and I feel they capture the morose sadness and grief of the Alchemised world well. I hope as you read this post you will listen to the tracks as they appear and linger within the music as you read the text.

This book first caught my attention because of its gorgeous cover art and extraordinarily large size. Clocking in at over a thousand pages long I often used to heft this bulky tome onto my lap at bookshops and idly look at it when it was first published in 2025. I was heavily drawn to the gothic cover art of the book but reluctant to read it due to being part of the romantic fantasy or “romantasy” subgenre which is a subgenre of fantasy and romance (“Romatic fantasy,” 2026). 

The “romantasy” subgenre exploded online a few years ago thanks to TikTok’s BookTok. Its impact has been so immense on the reading public that it now affects what types of books bookshops stock and feature. Romantic fantasy has always been a presence within popular culture with Wikipedia listing The Twilight Saga, The Little Mermaid and Edward Scissorhands as being notable examples of the subgenre in popular fiction and film (“Romatic fantasy,” 2026). However, I feel “romantasy” only really gained momentum fairly recently, specifically with the publication of books such as A Court of Thorns and Roses series by Sarah J. Mass. 

I have been a fantasy and high fantasy genre reader from way back in the day. I used to be one of those fantasy readers who made a point to re-read J. R. R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings at least once a year and I even tried my hand at the interesting yet excruciatingly under-edited fourteen book series The Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan. The Wheel of Times series was so long that the author passed away before he could complete it and the final two books in the series were written by Brandon Sanderson. I got to book seven in the series before the sheer weight and volume of the prose defeated me. How I wished Robert Jordan might have been considered an editor. It would have made his series so much more accessible if he didn’t bury his readers in so much prose. I swear I don’t think The Wheel of Time needed fourteen volumes to tell its tale. I was so sad I couldn’t finish the series that I spent some time online reading blogs that lamented the same things I did about the series. It was comforting to read about the pain of others who, like myself, wanted to continue The Wheel of Time but just couldn’t find the will to do so.

So it was with curiosity that I watched the explosion of online interest in a subgenre of fantasy that was made more real by the fact that these books began to pop up in bricks and mortar stores. I wondered what this “romantasy” subgenre was and why the popular books and authors within the subgenre rapidly gained cultish followings. Having now read some of the books myself, I strongly suspect the popularity of the subgenre might have something to do with the level of “spice” in some of these novels. Spice is a polite way of saying smut. Some of these books tend to lurch from one graphic sex scene to the next with narratives often spun around problematic treatment regarding consent, genderization, the limited agency of women, the idea of women as property to be possessed, misogyny and power dynamics. 

For these reasons I stayed away from the popular books and authors within this subgenre until I finally succumbed to the hype and read A Court of Thorns and Roses series, the Throne of Glass series and the Crescent City series, all by Sarah J. Maas. Overall, the books were fairly good to read, the world building was sufficient and honestly after reading so many books in the different series, I found myself often skimming past the “spicy” scenes in the books because after a while, you can only describe characters engaging in intercourse in so many ways before it becomes monotonous. I was more interested in the romance between the characters and the narratives within the various books because I actually did become invested in the characters and the overarching storylines of these novels.

However, after reading at least of the two defining series within the "romantasy" subgenre I feel the concerns people have about some of the more popular books within this subgenre are valid. Many of the most popular texts within the “romantasy” subgenre are problematic, especially if they are read without an understanding of patriarchy, feminism and consent. It's surprising to me that some popular titles within the subgenre have a Young Adult classification. I think by and large, most of the books in this subgenre where spice is an important element within the texts should have an eighteen plus classification. Not only for the overly sexualised content but also for the problematic way sex in some of these books interacts with questionable framing regarding gender, consent, patriarchy and power. Young minds are impressionable and we as a society should be more judicious about what we expose teenagers to especially if the material is consumed without a suitable intellectual framework around it. You need to arm impressionable readers with intellectual defence before you expose them to graphic texts. They shouldn’t just stumble into it. 

Thus, when I first saw SenLinYu’s Alchemised in a city bookshop I was reluctant to read it given how conflicted the “romantasy” subgenre does make me feel. But since seeing the book in the bookshop I have found myself often drawn to it. The main problem is I do like a good romance novel, gothic imagery and I am a fantasy genre reader so this book was sort of triangulating me. When I found out I could borrow it from my local library, I gave in and put myself down in the queue to borrow it. My library has the breathtakingly beautiful first edition copy published by Penguin Random House UK with sprayed edges. It’s magnificent looking. I kind of fell in love with the book just by looking at it. 

Cover Art of Alchemised by SendLinYu. Photo credit HammieRiffs.

Sprayed edges of the Penguin Random House UK first edition (2025). I wish this copy was mine but alas, the library wants it back. Photo credit HammieRiffs.

I appreciate how SenLinYu restrained the spice level of Alchemised to a reasonable level and instead directed a lot of energy and intent towards world building. I found the world and the magic system SenLinYu created to be quite remarkable in its believability. It was nice to see a magic system not influenced by Tolkien though I do understand that the origin of the novel was fanfiction published on Archive of Our Own that leaned heavily into the worlds of Harry Potter and A Handmaid’s Tale  (“Alchemised,” 2026). 

The same problematic aspects regarding genderization, patriarchy, power dynamics and obsessive love is present in Alchemised but the story is also good. The book also seeks to address the issues of rape. Rather than egregiously categorising rape as something that could be related to passion and love, the book doesn’t shy away from how society sometimes deals with issue of rape and how vulnerable women individually and collectively are to rape in war situations. The book also touches on issues of racism, colonialism and it was also quite fascinating to read how SenLinYu dealt with what could be seen as Stockholm Syndrome when the main female lead grows emotionally close to the person holding her captive. It’s quite a fearless book in how many areas it seeks to delve into. 

The story and the characters are complex and to the author’s credit the characters all live within shades of grey. There is very little clear cut morality because within a civil war situation morality can be a luxury that can’t be afforded. It can sometimes boil down to one bad choice versus another bad choice. SenLinYu asks us how we can judge the characters when they are faced with these dreadful choices while also gently prodding us to do just that. By creating horrific scenarios within the narrative the author covertly nudges us to judge the characters, to assess them. Did the characters make the right decisions? Can we understand and empathise with the choices that were made? What would we have done in this situation? What choices would we have made?

When you try to imagine some of the worst systems humans invented and forced others to live by such as slavery in Africa between 1300 to 1900 or the extermination camps of the Nazi regime, you wonder how did people survive? Despite a system built to crush you, to pulverise your body and soul into submission or oblivion, people still found ways to hang onto their humanity, to nurture love and hope. In many ways, this is what Alchemised explores. How does the good within humanity survive in the face of utter inhumanity?

Someone online said that when they really get into a novel, an emptiness opens up once the book is read and they miss the characters. A hole is left where the characters and the world they lived in once were. This is how I felt after reading Alchemised. It’s strange to feel this way given the world of Alchemised is so traumatised, traumatic and ghoulish but the two protagonists in the story are so poignant in their suffering and their love for each other that it creates a wellspring of beauty resting within this terribly dark and threatening landscape. When you enjoy the interspersing of light and dark as much as I do, this contrast between the characters and the world they inhabit makes the narrative of Alchemised addictive to read. 

Alchemised has not lessened my overall doubtful feelings about the "romantasy" subgenre but to completely condemn the subgenre for its problematic aspects would be to ignore the fact that it sits within a broader pop cultural framework that often promotes sexism, racism, misogyny, patriarchy and inequality. The "romantasy" subgenre is an outgrowth of what already exists within our popular culture. It reflects what is there as opposed to challenging it the way some texts do such as Han Kang's The Vegetarian. One of the most difficult and uncomfortable novels I've read to date, The Vegetarian is a text that should be read alongside the more popular books in the "romantasy" subgenre. One of the most impactful narrative elements of The Vegetarian is the voiceless nature of the main character. Her story is told and framed by others and this is such a simple yet condemning tool used by the author to make a statement about women, autonomy and agency. 

It’s nice to know that there are books that I can read within the “romantasy” subgenre that don’t leave me feeling too compromised. On one hand it’s great that women are not shamed for enjoying the spice of “romantasy” and there are indeed well crafted characters and storylines to be had within the subgenre. But the questionable aspects of the subgenre and its impact on readers shouldn’t be overlooked either. For me, Alchemised is almost more than its subgenre because its story and what it examines moves beyond the world of either fantasy or romance. It looks steadily into the deeply uncomfortable truths about our society, our humanity, our cynicism and our corruption while also showing us our fragility, our tenderness and our capacity for hope and endurance in the face of great suffering. 

References

Alchemised. (2026, November 11). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alchemised

Romantic fantasy. (2026, November 11). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romantic_fantasy

For the Love of Rocks

 As someone who already has far too many hobbies, a revival of my dormant teenage interest in rocks and minerals is not something I necessarily welcome. But whilst admiring someone’s polished rocks on Twitch after phase one of their first ever rock tumbling experience it unexpectedly and powerfully rekindled what appears to be a latent but still present interest in rocks. Instead of continuing to research about Robert Frost, I spent the day shopping on Amazon for rocks and experimenting with sanding and polishing the three rocks I have at home. 

Despite my saying my interest in rocks has been dormant, I feel like I should explain why I have three rocks in my home. I should have suspected my interest in rocks was reappearing when two or three years ago I impulsively wandered up to a seller’s table at my local shopping centre and purchased three rocks from her. At the time I told myself I just fancied a small portion of amethyst geode as something to add to my home decor but I ended up buying two other rocks alongside the amethyst. 

Clearly there was more going on than just the desire for interesting home decor. Sadly, I used to remember what those other two rocks were called but time has since washed that information from my memory. I put those rocks in a glass candle holder and over the years since that purchase I have frequently dusted these rocks and scoffed to myself what a waste of money they were and more than likely unethically sourced. They seemed for all intents and purposes something of folly fueled purchase and one that I believed I would not be repeating.

Given this, I assumed I was done with rocks but a few days ago I found myself glued to my laptop screen as a Twitch streamer took us through their first ever attempt at rock tumbling. Seeing those polished rocks was not what I had been intending to watch as I was tuning in for an episode of a long standing series this streamer usually does that most certainly does not feature rocks or rock tumbling in any substantial way. But I couldn’t take my eyes of the screen and I even gasped at how pretty some of the polished rocks turned out. I was making comments out loud to no one about the rocks and I even felt a bit deflated when normal programming resumed and they put away their rocks and started the show I was actually tuning in for. I knew then I was toast. It was going to be rocks or bust for me.

So I did a very twenty-first century thing. I bought rocks on Amazon from National Geographic. I won’t lie. I am really looking forward to receiving my rocks. It’s unfortunate this is the route I am taking to obtain my rocks but it’s the most affordable way to start my rock collection. I did try to search for some brick and mortar stores to source my rocks from but no one local to me was selling rocks in the quantity and price I was looking for. Moving forward I will try to buy individual rocks from small businesses around my area. It’s the least I can do: financially support my fellow rock nerds, oh erm,  I mean my fellow rock enthusiasts. 

But moving slightly away from my myopic obsession with rocks, yes rocks can be a nice thing to have in one’s life but more than the rocks it’s the joy these darned rocks give me that gives them value, that makes the hobby worth having. Joy is a nearly indescribable concept and obtaining it can feel at times, out of reach or inaccessible. Having something that unlocks joy in your life in a substantive and sustainable way that doesn’t just trigger temporary endorphin hits like for example what shopping or social media can do, is invaluable. It’s what a contented life is built on. I wouldn’t say it’s meaningful or fulfilling in of itself but it forms part of the nexus that most likely will lead you on a path to living a life that becomes meaningful and fulfilling. 

For me the rocks could be part of the puzzle of life that some refer to as ikigai (生き甲斐). This Japanese philosophical concept can be roughly translated as a ‘reason for being' (“Ikigai,”, 2026). It refers to something that gives a person a sense of purpose, a reason for living and adds meaning to life (“Ikigai,” 2026). It’s a hard concept to define but this Venn graph provides a good attempt at encapsulating what ikigai could be described as:

Ikigai Venn Graph. Source: Internet Archive (Ikigai, n.d.)

Some argue ikigai doesn’t necessarily include anything to do with paid work but others would include that within their meaning of ikigai as a life concept because work takes up so much of our time and some people like to find meaning within their work. I’m agnostic about how one defines ikigai beyond it being a life source, it’s the thing that gives us a sustainable and nourishing sense of zing in our lives. I believe it doesn’t need to be something specific either, like a hobby. It can be broad based, like a love of learning which then can interact with a specific activity. 

Two other deeply valuable Japanese derived concepts that have been impactful on me over the years have been tsundoku and forest bathing. Forest bathing is when you stare at natural, living greenery be it a tree or a plant and become absorbed in the feelings staring at nature can induce. Technically I think forest bathing involves walking in wooded areas but as a city dweller the best I can manage is usually park trees or my own balcony garden. The other concept is tsundoku. Michelle Spear from the University of Bristol writes:

The term describes the habit of acquiring books and allowing them to accumulate unread. It combines the idea of stacking things up (tsunde), leaving something for later (oku) and reading (doku). The result is a concept that captures the quiet optimism of a pile of books …  Far from being a sign of being time poor or lacking in discipline, tsundoku may reveal something surprisingly important about how the brain responds to anticipation … When we encounter something that promises enjoyment or discovery, the brain’s reward system becomes active (Spear, 2026).

I have linked Spear’s article below in the Reference section if you would like to read more about the concept of tsundoku. For me, it helps to explain why having lots of unread books lying around always felt good and reassuring rather than stressful or wasteful.

Going back to rocks, the contrarian in me also appreciates that something as mundane and commonplace as rocks can be so meaningful for me. In a world dominated by social media where materialism, exclusivity and clout derived from flexing wealth seems to be highly admired, it’s actually really great to value something like commonplace rocks and minerals. I’m not talking about the real high value collector specimens. I’m talking about the small stuff you can buy relatively affordably online or even pick up on walks near rock worthy places like beaches and hilly areas. It’s something kids grow up doing because it’s quite cheap to do and can be nearly free if you are lucky enough to live near places where you can beach comb or trail walk. I love the humbleness of rock collecting and its accessibility. 

In a socio-economic society that highly values showcasing how you can access the inaccessible because you have clout or large sums of wealth, it’s a relief to indulge in something accessible, simple and affordable. It’s a balm in today’s world. The escape into the ordinary and the simple is in of itself a deep pleasure. I think this may be why some people enjoy hand sewing as opposed to using a sewing machine or doing things like wood carving. Simple, low tech, quiet and mindful activities can soothe the weary soul. 

Want to see my rocks? Here they are. Photo credit: HammieRiffs.

Now that I have resigned myself to the notion that I now have a rock collection that I will be interacting with on a regular basis I am planning more ikigai-inducing activities such as a trip to a local university to look at their rock and mineral museum to learn more about rocks and minerals. There will also be day trips to the state museum shop and the port city of Fremantle to look for polished rock specimens and I feel nothing but unbridled joy and delight at the prospect of doing all of these things. But what I especially look forward to the most is sitting in a quiet room with a desk and my rocks and being completely absorbed by them. 

Thanks for reading and I will see you next time.

Post script:

 Some of the rocks and minerals from my National Geographic rock and mineral kit that arrived in the mail after this post was published. In the centre of the collection are two round geodes I will open with a hammer.

References:

Ikigai. (2026, July 26). In Wikipedia.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ikigai Ikigai Venn Graph Infographic. (n.d.). Archived from https://archive.org/details/93742e-9d-3bb-64ff-2016bed-21e-77a-5958f-3c-256ffd-8b-9a-0c-853a-728061ee-77c-5f . Retrieved July 26, 2026.Spear, M. (2026, 20 July). Why you keep buying books you don’t read – and why it feels so good. The Conversation. https://theconversation.com/why-you-keep-buying-books-you-dont-read-and-why-it-feels-so-good-286801

Eating History: Medieval Pottage

 It’s always pleasant whenever you discover something in a round about fashion. The zigs and zags of the journey enhance the pleasure of the discovery. My road to pottage came via Any Austin’s YouTube channel’s video titled “I Figured Out Where Kingdom Come 2's Fountain Gets Its Water”. Kingdom Come: Deliverance II is set in 1403 in the Kingdom of Bohemia (now the Czech Republic) (“Kingdom Come: Deliverance II,” 2026). The game sits within the last century of the medieval or Middle Ages which Wikipedia defines as being between 500 CE (Common Era) to 1500 CE (“Middle Ages,” 2026). I have embedded the episode below should you wish to watch it for yourself.

Watching Austin discuss the minutiae pertaining to one aspect of this fictional depiction of a real era triggered my dormant interest in medieval history. In particular, I enjoy cooking recipes from past ages as well as from video games. It’s especially pleasing when these two things coincide with each other. Being deeply impressed with Warhorse Studios attention to historical detail, I watched many other essays videos about Kingdom Come: Deliverance II and one of them mentioned the ever present pot of stew simmering perpetually over a fire which enables players to obtain food as they traverse the open world map of the game. 

In keeping with the medieval-esque theme I next watched a playthrough of Gothic 1 Remake by Alkimia Interactive and again the ubiquitous pot of stew sat prominently within the game. Being a lover of soup, by this stage I was starting to be latently drawn to the idea of medieval stew but I still had not yet become sufficiently motivated enough to try to cook it until I stumbled on Medieval Way’s “What Was Pottage? The Medieval Stew Peasants Lived On for Generations”. 

Being under the misunderstanding that pottage was largely consumed by peasants, I was deeply interested to learn that the cooking pot was often one of the most valued possessions of a peasant household and that it was passed down the generations (Medieval Way, 2026). I was also intrigued to discover that pottage was eaten at all levels of society and that rather than being just a recipe, it was a food system (Medieval Way, 2026). It was a means of cooking, preserving and consuming food without much waste, time or effort (Medieval Way, 2026). The base of the dish are grains and legumes with meat frequently being in the form of a single piece of pork or bacon and often for peasant households, used to flavour the dish with its fat and salt content rather than being a significant ingredient in of itself (Medieval Way, 2026). To this base layer of grain and protein, herbs, vegetables and water are then added (Medieval Way, 2026). 

Wealthy households used pottage as a means of displaying their wealth by featuring dishes that contained significant and multiple types of meat and luxury spices such as saffron that often had to be imported (Monk, 2023). Pottages in noble households were often extravagantly coloured using various spices and exotic in ingredients (Medieval Way, 2026). 

But what do I mean when I say pottage is a food system? Pottage worked as a closed loop system. For peasant households, meat was provided by the animal (usually a pig) raised on the property and used sparingly to flavour the stew with vegetables and herbs being sourced from the small family vegetable plot that often had hardy vegetables like leeks and onions featuring as the mainstay of these types of subsistence plots (Medieval Way, 2026). Everything needed for the pottage, including firewood for the fire, was often sourced very locally, if not just several steps from the front door. Pottage was in effect a closed loop system much like what permaculture is today for some modern gardeners. It cycled around continuously particularly if vegetable and herb seeds were able to be harvested, stored and then planted the following season.

The food system offered by pottage rarely wasted food. Due to the continuous application of consistent heat from a wood fire, the worst of spoilage was often kept at bay, allowing yesterday’s leftovers to form the basis of a new pottage the following day when the cooking pot would be topped up with fresh ingredients (Medieval Ways, 2026). Though wealthy households did not necessarily have a closed system due to the importing of various pottage ingredients, it can be reasonably assumed that their kitchens still used the same methodology of food preservation and cooking as peasant households where leftovers were used as the base of the following day’s stew and fuel use was efficient because the kitchen fires were often kept burning rather than allowing to go cold.

Pottage was eaten throughout the whole day, it was breakfast, lunch and dinner (Medieval Way, 2026). Pottage also heavily reduced food waste by utilising leftovers and allowing nearly all types of vegetables and meat to be broken down enough to become edible through a slow and lengthy cooking process (Medieval Way, 2026). Alongside bread, pottage was the main way people of the Middle Ages nourished themselves (Medieval Way, 2023; “Pottage,” 2026). The nourishing aspect of pottage is also of great interest to me. The combination of grains, legumes and vegetables which is slowly cooked into an easily digestible meal gives the body the best chance possible to extract the nutrients available within the meal (Medieval Way, 2026). It seems to be a highly nutritious and efficient way of eating. 

My brain finds it hard to fathom an expanse of time as long ago as the medieval period and for the duration which it extended to. What did the Middle Ages look like? What was happening during each century? Using John Haywood’s The New Atlas of World History: Global Events at a Glance we can peek back into the mists of time to catch a glimpse of some of the events from each epoch starting with 500 CE to 600 CE. During this particular period there were several outbreaks of bubonic plague that reduced the population of Europe by one third, Roman law was codified under Emperor Justinian and Scots from Ireland began settling in northern England (Haywood, 2011, p.72). Vietnam unsuccessfully challenges Chinese rule, multiple kingdoms collapse in India and China and Jerusalem is captured by Arab forces (Haywood, 2011, pp.72-73). Slavic immigration from East Central Europe into the Balkan begins and Italy is conquered by the Eastern Roman Empire. In approximately 575 CE,  Indian mathematicians invented the concept of zero and devised the decimal system of numerals (Haywood, 2011, p.73).

In 600 CE to 700 CE Chinese monk Xuanzang brought the scriptures of Buddhism from India to China, Muhammad the founder of Islam lives and passes away between approximately 570 to 632 (Haywood, 2011, p.73). Abu Bakr becomes Muhammad’s successor and the text of the Qur'an is written down (Haywood, 2011, p. 73). The stirrup is introduced to Europe, porcelain is invented in China and in 643 CE there is the earliest reference to the use of the heavy two-wheeled plough being used in Western Europe (Haywood, 2011, p.73). Pope Gregory the Great attempts to convert the Anglo-Saxons and Nestorian Christians from Persia bring Christianity to China (Haywood, 2011, p,73). Christianity is also introduced to The Nubian kingdoms and Tibet is unified under Songtsen Gampo (Haywood, 2011, p.73). Prince Shotoku creates a centralised Japanese state and Egypt is conquered by Arab forces (Haywood, 2011, p. 73). During this period the earliest texts reproduced by woodblock printing occur in China (Haywood, 2011, p.73). 

In 700 CE to 800 CE Japan codifies its penal and civil law, the first West African kingdom, Ghana (now Mali) is formed, a schism in Islam occurs between majority Sunni and minority Shi’a, the earliest English poet Caedmon dies and the Islamic shrine Dome of the Rock is completed in Jerusalem (Haywood, 2011, p.79). Arab expansion into the West is temporarily halted after their defeat at the hands of Charles Martel at Tours but resume in the next era when Arab forces conquer Sicily in 963 CE, while Chinese expansion in central Asia is halted by Arab forces (Haywood, 2011, p.82 & p.86). A breach between the Byzantine and Roman churches occurs and the Japanese Shinto religion is absorbed into Buddhist teachings (Haywood, 2011, p.82). The concept of immunisation against smallpox begins to be explored in India, the introduction of the three field system of crop rotation results in increased agricultural production in Western Europe, the Tang dynasty starts to decline in China and an alliance between Tibet and the Uighurs ends Chinese rule in Central Asia and the Arab powers adopts the Hindu numeral system in approximately 760 CE (Haywood, 2011, p.83). The first Russian state is founded in approximately 882 CE with Kiev named as its capital (Haywood, 2011, p.87).

In 800 CE to 900 CE the first paper money transfers occurred in China , Rome was raided by Muslim pirates in 846 CE and Christianity spread to Denmark and Sweden (Haywood, 2011, p.86). This period also sees heavy Viking raiding in Western Europe with Alfred the Great of Wessex rallying the Anglo-Saxons to stand against the Vikings (Haywood, 2011, p.87). The Norse settle Iceland, Armenia gains independence, the Tang dynasty orders the persecution of Buddhism and Christian teachings, there are indications of the possible early use of gunpowder in China, the earliest examples of polyphonic music also occur and the oldest surviving dated printed book, a Chinese copy of the Buddhist Diamond Sutra is printed in 868 CE.

During 900 CE to 1000 CE Althelstan became the first king to govern all of England and Korea was unified by Wang Geon (Haywood, 2011, p.90). Simple gunpowder weapons come into use in China, lost-wax metal casting is introduced into sub-Sahara Africa, the Holy Roman Empire is founded when German king Otto I is crowned in Rome, the Norse Greenland colony is founded, Denmark is converted to Christianity by King Harald Bluetooth, Islam spreads to West Africa and parts of East Africa due to trading and the first stone castles are built in France (Haywood, 2011, p.91).

In 1000 to 1100 of the Common Era, the Normans conquer Southern Italy and Sicily and early ripening rice from Vietnam was introduced to China in 1012 allowing for two rice crop harvests per year, boosting population growth and making rice the staple food in China (Haywood, 2011, p.94). Dar al-’llm (House of Knowledge) is founded by Caliph al-Hakim in Cairo and teaches theology, philosophy and science, William the Conqueror conquers England in 1066 and the Domesday Book is written in England in 1086 and it provides a detailed survey of land value and ownership (Haywood, 2011, p.95). 

Clement II is appointed by the Holy Roman Emperor Henry III to reform the Roman church, and the Pope excommunicates the patriarch of Constantinople resulting in a split between the Roman and Greek churches (Haywood, 2011, p.95). Meanwhile between 1041-1048 CE China experiments with movable type printing, a supernova is observed by Chinese and Arab astronomers, in 1095 CE Pope Urban II initiates the First Crusade at Clermont, France and the first European university is founded at Bologna (Haywood, 2011, p,95). During this era, Chinese scientist Shen Kuo correctly identifies the origins of fossils, the first water powered clocks were built for the Song dynasty in China in 1090 and first earliest known use of magnetic compasses being used in Chinese ships happened during this period (Haywood, 2011, p.95).

In the next epoch spanning 1100 to 1200 the Kiev Rus state broke up into smaller principalities in 1132, the University of Paris was founded and in Europe and the Middle East the counterweight trebuchet, a massive stone hurling machine designed for siege warfare was developed. (Haywood, 2011 pp.98-99). Cannons being used in warfare are first documented in China, the Song dynasty constructs a fleet of treadmill operated paddlewheel ships and Chinese ships are outfitted with watertight bulkheads (Haywood, 2011, pp 98-99). The earliest description of oil paints is provided by Theophilus, the Second Crusade fails to capture Damascus, Serbia obtains its independence from the Byzantine empire, the Third Crusade fails to capture Jerusalem with Saladin defeating the crusaders at Hattin in 1187 (Haywood, 2011, pp.98-99). Zen Buddhism comes to Japan and philosopher Peter Abelard is condemned for taking a rationalist approach to the scriptures and Abbey church of St Dennis, the first building in Gothic style is built near Paris (Haywood, 2011, p.99).

1200 to 1300 sees the Fourth Crusade succeeding in conquering Constantinople in 1204 and the Latin empire is subsequently founded (Haywood, 2011, p.99). New Zealand is settled by Polynesians from Tahiti, the earliest documented European windmills begin operating in England while China explores water powered textile machinery (Haywood, 2011, p.99). In 1215 King John of England announces the Magna Carta which limits the power of the monarchy, the Mongols invade Russia, the Teutonic Knights undertake crusades against the pagan Prussia and the Fifth Crusades fails to take Egypt while the Sixth Crusades sees Christian rule return to Jerusalem (Haywood, 2011, p.102). The kingdom of Great Zimbabwe is founded, the Aztecs move into the Valley of Mexico, St Francis of Assisi establishes the Order of Friars and the Inquisition is established by the papacy in 1232 (Haywood, 2011, p. 102). Korea succeeded in inventing metal moveable-type printing and this era also sees the lifespan of philosopher Roger Bacon who was an early champion of empirical scientific methodology (Haywood, 2011, p.102). 

In this century, water powered sawmills started to become used in England and early hand guns were deployed by the Islamic slave soldiers and mercenaries of the Mamluk armies (Haywood, 2011, p.103). The Holy Roman Empire in effect dissolves after the death of its emperor, Frederick II and moves forward as a loose confederation of self-governing principalities (Haywood, 2011, p.103). Constantinople is recaptured by the Byzantines in 1261, Korea becomes a vassal state of the Mongols, the Mongols also invade Java, Japan and Baghdad, the crusaders are chased out of Palestine by the Mamluks and Ottoman Turk chief Osman declares independence (Haywood, 2011, p. 103). In 1290 people of Jewish heritage were expelled from England, the first wearable reading glasses were invented in Florence, the mechanical clock was invented and the Venetian merchant Marco Polo gives his account of his travels in China in 1298 (Haywood, 2011, p.103).

During 1300 CE to 1400 CE England is forced to recognise Scottish independence after their defeat at Bannockburn in 1314, the Hundred Years War between England and France begins in 1337 and the Ottomans obtain their first conquest after the fall of Gallipoli (Haywood 2011, p.107). Moscow is sacked by the khan of the Golden Horde, the Aztecs establish a state at Tenochtitlan, the Black Death reaches Baghdad and China and kills a third of Europe’s population (Haywood, 2011, p.107). There are peasant uprisings in both France and England, paganism rapidly declines in Europe as one of the last pagan enclaves, the Lithuanians, adopt Christianity in 1386 (Haywood, 2025, p.107). 

In the final century of the Middle Ages which covers the period 1400 CE to 1500 CE the Battle of Tannenberg occurs which sees the Teutonic Knights being defeated by Poles and Lithuanians in 1410 (Haywood, 2011, p. 112). Malaya adopts Islam, China undertakes naval expeditions to Southeast Asia, the Middle East and East Africa, Portugal begins exploring the West African coast, the Aztec empire expands and in 1431 Joan of Arc is burned at the stake by the English (Haywood, 2011, p.112). Portolan navigational maps begin to be produced in Portugal, Albert II of Austria is crowned the first Habsburg Holy Roman Emperor in 1438, the Hundred Years War ends with the defeat of England at The Battle of Castillon in 1453, Ivan II adopts the title of Tsar in 1472, Spain is reconquered by Christian forces, feudalism arises in Japan and the Portuguese begins slave trading in 1441 (Haywood, 2011, p.113). Moveable-type printing makes its way to Europe and three-masted sailing ships come into use, making oceanic travel more possible (Haywood, 2011, p.113). Construction of the Ming Great Wall of China started in 1474 and The Spanish Inquisition began in 1478 (Haywood, 2011, p.113). 

In many ways, you can understand why the medieval period is also called the Middle Ages. It’s a period that bridges the Dark Ages with the early semblance of what would become the basis of our modern world today. In this era we see printing, the early moves towards scientific and empirical based theories, the perpetual development of new technology for warfare, oceanic capable sailing ships and international trade. All these are elements of our modern world today. I could be facetious and say that in the West this period was fueled by pottage but while that would be overstating the importance of pottage to the era, it could be argued that the food system built around pottage could be seen as having contributed to the overall path towards modernity in the West.

Pottage was built around subsistence farming, extracting maximum nourishment from the food available and wasting very little in terms of food and fuel. During the period where pottage was one of the most consumed foods in Europe, developments in technology, agriculture, science, culture and literacy were also occurring. I’m not saying pottage was responsible for any of this but it certainly couldn’t have hurt to have had a nourishing, sustainable and flexible food system such as what pottage offered during this period of quite remarkable discovery and development. People in general terms had something substantive to eat and it was more than likely nourishing. 

Anecdotally, it is often said we are becoming less educated and knowledgeable overall in the modern age. We are also in a period where our food systems can at times feed us until we are full but at the same time, fail to properly nourish us. I am not an advocate of looking back at the past as if it were better than modernity. I like living in the modern era and would in no way wish to live a life akin to that of someone from the Middle Ages. It holds no romance for me. But food systems and how they impact us and our development both negatively or positively at a societal, cultural and economic level is an interesting issue to think upon. 

I’ve had a terrific time exploring pottage. It has been far more intellectually stimulating than what I first thought a pot of stew could be. The final phase of our examination of pottage involves me actually cooking pottage. Here is a photograph of the ingredients I used to cook my pottage earlier today:

Photo credit: HammieRiffs

In keeping with the spirit of pottage, my first pottage consisted of ingredients I already had in the fridge and cupboard: dried blue boiler beans (which I soaked overnight in cold water), oats, smoked ham, vegetable stock, mushrooms, onion, beetroot, carrot, potatoes and cabbage. I also added water, a small amount of garlic, dried sage and dried parsley. I couldn’t fit everything into the pot at first so I waited for it to boil down a bit before adding the beetroot. I was worried about the beetroot. It seemed an odd ingredient to add but it was something in my fridge that could, for all intents and purposes, be added to my pottage so in it went.

I simmered the pottage on a very low heat for three hours and this is the end result: 

Medieval gruel for dinner tonight. Photo credit: HammieRiffs.

The pottage turned out very thick and it seemed to be in between a soup and a stew. Moreover, though it was made from food harvested from our modern food systems, it doesn't look like modern food. It’s a strange thing to say but it looks medieval. It looks like food from another era. The modern day cook in me wanted so very much to add salt and pepper but I did not. The most surprising thing about the pottage was how tasty it was! I was greatly taken aback. The flavour of the ingredients, in particular the vegetables, really sings when it has been cooked using pottage methods. Due to the ingredients being slow cooked, the flavour of all the ingredients have fully incorporated together and it tastes harmonious and in balance. My modern day palette wants more salt and craves the zing that pepper would give but the pottage doesn’t need it. It is very tasty in its own understated, deeply nourishing way. If you wish to cook pottage I used the instructions from the Medieval Way video featured above.

The only regrettable thing about the pottage is the lingering smell of boiled cabbage in the kitchen. I might jazz things up with the pottage tomorrow by baking a loaf of bread to serve with it using a 1750 French colonist bread recipe I have from Kaskaskia, a town in Illinois that sits on the west side of the Mississippi River. I might also bake a fig torte based on Marian Burros' New York Times Cooking Plum Torte recipe first published in 1983 using some of my preserved home grown figs from my most recent summer harvest. In one meal I will have spanned centuries and it is only because I live in the modern era that I have the capacity to indulge in these frivolities. This was a quirky yet wonderful way to spend my Saturday afternoon. Thanks for reading and may your own pottage be tasty and true. 

Post script:

I did bake the 1750 bread recipe and the fig torte the following day. 

Photo credit: HammieRiffs

Photo credit: HammieRiffs

References

Haywood, J. (2011). The New Atlas of World History: Global Events at a Glance. Thames & Hudson Ltd.

Kingdom Come: Deliverance II. (2026, June 4). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingdom_Come%3A_Deliverance_II 

Medieval Way. (2026, June 4. What Was Pottage? The Medieval Stew Peasants Lived On for Generations. [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JPA81ZuzDm8 

Monk, C. (2023, November 12). Medieval culinary glossary: Saffron. Monk’s Modern Medieval Cuisine. https://modernmedievalcuisine.com/2023/11/12/medieval-culinary-glossary-saffron/ 

Middle Ages. (2026, June 4). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_Ages 

Pottage. (2026, June 4). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pottage

Reading Robert Frost

 Our jumping off point for our study into Robert Frost is an article by Jessica Laser for The Paris Review provocatively titled, “Is Robert Frost Even a Good Poet?”. In this article she interviews journalist and Frost biographer Adam Plunkett. 

In the interview with Laser, Plunkett says:

"Frost’s mind really did work by trying to strip ordinary problems down to the deepest tensions underlying them. That doesn’t mean that he was always wise … he could be extremely stubborn and crass and prejudiced, especially in his old age. That people tend to rest in easy interpretations of his poems comes in part from the idea that the man who was writing the poetry was in some way simple … I’d add that, as I see the arc of Frost’s career, the more he’s institutionalized, the worse his writing gets. The more access he has to a privileged, cosmopolitan, educated world, the more that world starts to crowd out his other exposures, and there’s a loss there" (Laser, 2025).

Knowing next to nothing about Frost, I like that one of his many biographers points out a very human trait about Frost which in his view impacted his work. Frost seemed to be influenced by those around him. His work was affected by the institutionalisation that he himself was so critical of (Laser, 2025). I think as we move into more elite or rarified circumstances, it would be very hard for it to not affect your values and world views and it’s nice to know Frost was not immune to that. It makes him more reachable. It humanises him to me. 

In regards to reading Robert Frost, Plunkett has this to say:

"Reading Frost requires a kind of modesty and curiosity. Coming to this modesty has been a big part of my own experience with him. At first, I was reading a lot of the poems and thinking, This is dumb. What a dumb way of looking at the world. Then I would think more, and read them again, and the twentieth time, I would realize I had been holding on to a false sense of certainty. Frost called poetry “guessing at myself.” If you have a picture of yourself or of the other or of the world that’s entirely certain, then you can’t really guess at it: (Laser, 2025).

I do appreciate the idea that the world and the things in and of this world should remain somewhat unknowable. To think you have complete knowledge in any field is a form of spiritual and intellectual death because it quells the curiosity in us, the desire to know and in order to have this desire to know, you need uncertainty. You do in fact need modesty. I’m glad I didn’t read Frost when I was at university because I was too adamant then. When you are young you are insecure and in your insecurity, you seek to leave an impact or a mark by embracing strident and formed opinions. But honestly I would argue that education works best in conjunction with humility. I believe if you approach a subject matter with humility the depth and breadth of that subject matter is open to you.

Finally, Plunkett concludes by saying:

"I’d say that, for me, the biggest gift of the art is his ability to see potentially transcendent beauty and a sense of meaning in things that you’d otherwise think of as too obvious to really regard. It’s a kind of grace of attention." (Laser, 2025).

I really like Plunkett’s observation about Frost seeing transcendent meaning in the obvious because I feel the same way about Frost’s poem, “Nothing Gold Can Stay”. It’s in part about dawn and what isn’t beautiful or transcendent about dawn? It’s a bit bloody obvious but Frost didn’t shy away from lingering on it and observing it in such a profound way. 

These are the first thoughts about Frost. I hope to borrow and read a biography about Frost from the library soon. If I can find it in the library, I will be reading Robert Frost: A Life (1998) by Jay Parini which has been recommended as being a balanced biography of the American poet. 

Thanks for reading. Hopefully I will have something more to write about Robert Frost soon as we continue our journey and our series.

References:

Laser, J. (2025, March 17). Is Robert Frost Even a Good Poet? The Paris Review. https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2025/03/17/is-robert-frost-even-a-good-poet/ 

The Robert Frost Series - An Introduction

A big reason for dipping my toe back into my writing blog was that I have become deeply interested in the works of Robert Frost. One of the favourite poems is Frost's 1923 poem "Nothing Gold Can Stay". I intend to study the poems and works of Robert Frost and I thought that instead of doing this alone, I will blog about it and take you on the journey with me. As Frost wrote in his 1939 essay "The Figure a Poem Makes"

It begins in delight and ends in wisdom ... For me the initial delight is in the surprise of remembering something I didn't know I knew (Frost, n.d.)

I was surprised to remember that the only reason I knew the poem "Nothing Gold Can Stay" is because I read S.E Hilton's The Outsiders as a young teen. I had forgotten that was where I first gained exposure to this poem. I only remembered after reading the Wikipedia entries about Frost and the poem. 

I hope my journey through Frost's poems and works will begin in delight and end in wisdom. As I read, think and write I will be sure to take you along with me in the coming days, weeks and seasons. See you then.

References
Frost, R. (n.d) Complete Poems of Robert Frost. Internet Archive Wayback Machine, Retrieved 13 June, 2026 from https://archive.org/details/RobertFrostCompletePoemsOfRobertFrost

Introduction

I decided to re-boot this blog but take the polemic out of it. Post 2020 the world is changed and it doesn't need any more people contributing to the fractious politics of today. This doesn't mean politics and world affairs aren't important because they are but in these times, if you are going to learn about the world, please learn from those who are informed and learned in their areas of expertise and knowledge. But just because my posts will no longer contain much political content or commentary, please do not turn your back on politics because politics matters so much today as does knowledge, reading and learning. 

Thank you for reading this blog. I hope you enjoy your time here.

Cheers

Hammie.