Athelney Abbey, Wessex 904 AD
Athelney Abbey, Wessex 904 ADThis tale is not about me, but about my beloved friend, flown to the bosom of our Saviour at a ripe old age earlier this year. My given name is Asher, like the eighth son of Jacob, but I am known here in my adopted land as Gwyn, meaning Blessed. I am a stranger from a land stranger still. Born in Old Saxony—I use the term to distinguish my homeland from that of Seaxna or New Saxony, whose people I frequent on these Britannic shores—I am the grandson of an illustrious grandfather, and must recount whence my friend John and I came.
BlessedConsider the shape of a triangle. Well, that was my homeland. From angle to angle a man would travel for eight days. The greatest of the tribal duchies, Old Saxony, embraced the whole territory be
