Monday, March 01, 2010

Where Wookiees Come From

Or possibly where they go; like so many parts of English-speaking culture, it is found in England. There, in (or surrounded by) the parish of St. Cuthbert Out,* you will find the village of Wookey Hole. Presumably, the furry, libbytarian sapients make their homes in the manner of Hobbits, though undoubtedly with higher ceilings.

How I found the place hangs a tale; you see, I was looking at Roman Engineering starting with bridges (some are stunningly lovely), got onto dams (there's a few left, mostly with silted-up reservoirs, wandered-away watercourses, or broken; all three, in some cases). This led to Roman mines and the Dolaucothi Gold Mines especially, from there to the lead mines at Mendip, from there to the caves likewise, and thenceward to....Wookey Hole. Ahh, they're a fiendishly subtle lot, they are.

Best side trip was here; even the articles I can't read well have fascinating photographs!
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* As opposed to, of course, the parish of St. Cuthbert In. --He's not the patron of housecats, is he?

5 comments:

wolfwalker said...

start in ancient Rome and end up on Kashyyyk ... man, that's one epic wikiwander.

og said...

The roman Arch. There are plenty good reasons Arch and Architecture have the same root. Nice.

Anonymous said...

Wikipedia: Perhaps the fundamental raison d'ĂȘtre for the internet as a whole.

Jim

jeff said...

Check out pictures of Trier in Germany for some interesting Roman architecture. The Back Gate is impressive.

NotClauswitz said...

Marvelous stuff! Wandering on motorcycles up into a small backwater of the Alps our guide took us through a series of narrow and twisting tunnels, through a crevasse, and out into a narrow valley inhabited by people who spoke ladinisch. A spoken vernacular of Latin used by the Roman troops (and their camp followers) who were garrisoned up there and abandoned when the Empire fell. Ebnit.