Harts Ease
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| − | + | [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harty,_Swale '''Harty''']{{By|TH}} is a tiny town in what is now the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isle_of_Sheppey Isle of Sheppey], just off the coast of [[Fathers Ham|Faversham]]. Harty was once a separate island, before changes in the waterways caused it to merge with Sheppey; the map in ''RW'' shows that general flooding of all coastal areas in the future has erased the rest of Sheppey, leaving Harty alone. | |
| − | '' | + | Besides being an early site of Viking incursion into England, Sheppey has been briefly involved in various conflicts in English history, but Harts Ease has no apparent importance in ''RW''. However, in 1998 (much too late to have influenced the novel), the archeologist Paul Wilkinson argued that Harty had great historic/mythological stature—being, in his opinion, the actual setting of ''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beowulf Beowulf]''. {{By|MJ}} Wilkinson proposed (in a 1998 essay that can be read as part of "Beowulf in Kent", from [https://favershamsociety.org/product/faversham-society-papers-beowulf-in-kent-free-download/ The Faversham Society], with additional commentary by Griselda Cann Mussett) that ''Beowulf'' actually described an early Germanic settlement in North Kent, rather than Scandinavia, and that the name Heorot (King Hrothgar's hall) could have been related to Harty. A detailed rebuttal casting doubt on virtually every part of Wilkinson's reasoning can be found [https://runetree.co.uk/pages/posts/Beowulf-Not-in-Kent-6.php here]. {{By|EB}} |
Revision as of 20:02, 6 September 2025
HartyTH is a tiny town in what is now the Isle of Sheppey, just off the coast of Faversham. Harty was once a separate island, before changes in the waterways caused it to merge with Sheppey; the map in RW shows that general flooding of all coastal areas in the future has erased the rest of Sheppey, leaving Harty alone.
Besides being an early site of Viking incursion into England, Sheppey has been briefly involved in various conflicts in English history, but Harts Ease has no apparent importance in RW. However, in 1998 (much too late to have influenced the novel), the archeologist Paul Wilkinson argued that Harty had great historic/mythological stature—being, in his opinion, the actual setting of Beowulf. MJ Wilkinson proposed (in a 1998 essay that can be read as part of "Beowulf in Kent", from The Faversham Society, with additional commentary by Griselda Cann Mussett) that Beowulf actually described an early Germanic settlement in North Kent, rather than Scandinavia, and that the name Heorot (King Hrothgar's hall) could have been related to Harty. A detailed rebuttal casting doubt on virtually every part of Wilkinson's reasoning can be found here. EB