Rosemary Sutcliff is correct spelling of eminent historical novelist and writer of children’s literature, not ‘Rosemary Sutcliffe’ (with an E)
Blogger loved Dawn Wind by historical novelist and children’s literature doyenne Rosemary Sutcliff
In 2010 Joanna R. Smith blogged about reading Rosemary Sutcliff’s Dawn Wind—“gorgeous historical fiction” about Britain in the 6th Century AD. She loved (Rosemary Sutcliff’s): “storytelling and characters, and her talent of letting you hear and see and feel the things in her books. Her prose is quiet and lyrical and compelling, and this is “ Lovely, lovely stuff. The kind of writing I aspire to!”
The moon drifted clear of a long bank of cloud, and the cool slippery light hung for a moment on the crest of the high ground, and then spilled down the gentle bush-grown slope to the river. Between the darkness under the banks the water which had been leaden gray woke into moving ripple-patterns, and a crinkled skin of silver light marked where the paved ford carried across the road from Corinium to Aquae Sulis. Somewhere among the matted islands of rushes and water crowfoot, a moorhen cucked and was still. On the high ground in the loop of the river nothing moved at all, save the little wind that ran shivering through the hawthorn bushes.
Source: Just a Lyric in a Children’s Rhyme: A long bank of cloud
Book cover of The Flowers of Adonis, historical fiction by Rosemary Sutcliff about Ancient Greek hero Alkibiades| New 2014 edition by Endeavour Press
Original book cover of The Flowers of Adonis (about Alkibiades, or Alcibiades) by Rosemary Sutcliff
Nine Roman legions in historical novels and children’s literature of Rosemary Sutcliff
Several legions feature or are referred to in Rosemary Sutcliff’s historical novels. A legion (legio) is identified by a number, but the number may not be unique – in Britain for there were, for a time, two II Legions.
The Roman Army had two main parts: the legions and the auxiliary units (auxilia). About thirty legions were spread over time around the provinces of the Roman Empire. Some legions were lost, others disbanded. They were created as needed, recruited from Roman citizens across the Empire. The legions were regular heavy infantry units, with a contingent of 120 horsemen who worked as messengers and scouts. Auxilias involved non-citizens, and were both infantry and cavalry.
II (2) Legion: Eagle’s Egg, Frontier Wolf, Outcast, Song for a Dark Queen, Sword at Sunset, The Eagle of the Ninth, The Silver Branch
VI (6) Legion: A Circlet of Oak Leaves, Frontier Wolf, Sword at Sunset, The Eagle of the Ninth
VII (7) Legion: The Silver Branch
IX (9) Legion: Eagle’s Egg, Song for a Dark Queen, Sword at Sunset, The Eagle of the Ninth, The Silver Branch
X (10) Legion: The Silver Branch
XIV (14) Legion: Eagle’s Egg, Song for a Dark Queen
XX (20) Legion: Eagle’s Egg, Frontier Wolf, Outcast, Song for a Dark Queen, Sword at Sunset
XXII (22) Legion: Outcast
XXX (30) Legion: The Silver Branch
- Source: Sutcliff Wiki
ROSEMARY SUTCLIFF (1920-92) 