#Norwegian and Icelandic have an interesting history as related languages but that’s not important to this discussion

[the-busy-ghost]

If you don't mind answering, what are some things that you really, really wish you'd see more of in depictions of medieval Scotland/Early Modern Scotland?

I absolutely don’t mind answering, thank you for asking! 

I’m told there are some better quality novels than there are tv shows and films, so there are some aspects that have been done in good novels (though I’m not so familiar with them). There are so many things though that could be done on screen:

- Chiefly I spend a lot of my time wishing that there was more attention paid to the actual geographical make-up of Scotland and its regional variety, e.t.c beyond just splitting everything into Highland/Lowland, or just portraying everyone as being part of a Clan in the Highland sense, or just sticking everyone in Edinburgh as if that was the only place where anything happened. Orkney was very different to Galloway, and the Borders were very different to the Western Isles, and Ross was different to Aberdeenshire. 

Now if this was true for the sixteenth century, it is even MORE true for the eleventh, twelfth, and thirteenth centuries. Between the early Middle Ages and the end of the thirteenth century, Scotland was settled by a lot of different cultures- so in the twelfth century for example, much of the country (the traditional heartland of ‘Scotia’ north of the Forth) may have spoken Gaelic but Lothian had been settled by speakers of Old English some centuries ago and their language became Scots in time, and spread north of the Forth into Fife, Angus, Aberdeenshire and elsewhere so that by the sixteenth century it was much more widely spoken and the language of government. The south-west, especially the area around the Clyde and Glasgow was a British kingdom for a long time, speaking a language not dissimilar to Old Welsh- this kingdom had (sort of) disappeared by the mid-twelfth century but the language took a while to completely disappear. Up in Orkney, Shetland, and Caithness, rather like in Iceland and the Faroes, Norse settlers had taken over and Norse culture has still left traces there today. From the fourteenth century, Scots began to take over in the Northern Isles but there was still a very clear Norse background in the sixteenth century. Meanwhile in the Western Isles, the Norse newcomers did not manage to erase Gaelic so completely as they did in the Northern Isles, but they did leave their mark on the Hebrides, to the extent that the inhabitants in the Western Isles in the in the twelfth century were descendants of both cultures- they are sometimes called Gall-Ghàidheil in Gaelic, meaning ‘foreigner Gael’. Then over the course of the twelfth century more new immigrants moved in. The ranks of the nobility were swelled by Norman, Breton, and other French settlers- unlike England, there was no ‘Norman Conquest’, and the process was more gradual, but although the French language never had the same power in Scotland as it did in thirteenth century England, these settlers left their mark on the feudal system and other aspects of Scottish society, and in turn they too were affected by the cultures they encountered in Scotland. Other smaller pockets of immigration existed- immigrants from Flanders and the Netherlands, for example, were instrumental to developing Scottish towns and improving agriculture. In the east coast burghs of Fife and Lothian you can still see some architectural elements that may have been the result of trade with the Dutch- crow-stepped gables and red pantiles for example. 

Although most of these cultures have altered and changed by the sixteenth century, the fact remains that the cultural backdrop to fourteenth or fifteenth century Scotland was a real mix- Gaelic, English, French, Norse, Flemish, British- and, perhaps, whatever it was that the elusive Picts left behind beyond their wonderful stone monuments. I have perhaps oversimplified things here but the point is that mediaeval and early modern Scotland was not a cultural monolith- something which both Scottish and foreign film-makers would do well to remember. 

There are also changes to these regions across the years- Orkney going from being a Norwegian/Danish territory to becoming part of the Scottish kingdom, or the borders which had some of the best farmland and richest abbeys in the country in the thirteenth century becoming a very militarised and rather lawless zone after the Wars of Independence. I think it would be really interesting to see that portrayed on screen.  

- Ok so that was the fundamental thing, apologies for the rant. But to go with that, more understanding of the landscape and architecture. In all fairness most tv shows and films involving Scotland, no matter how bad they are, at least have some lovely panning shots of the Highlands but there’s more to the country than Glencoe- you could really work with views like the sun on the sea from the Carrick coast or the beautiful if ruinous religious architecture- like the abbeys of Melrose or Arbroath or somewhere like Elgin Cathedral or Rosslyn Chapel or Inchmahome Priory. 

- Costuming! Again this fits into the regional thing a bit, but it’s also more general. It’s a quibble I have with almost any medieval media but especially when it comes to Scotland people get really lazy with the costuming and just slap some shortbread tin stuff together rather than putting any thought into it. 

- More traditional music! A surprising number of ballads and songs that are still popular among folk singers today are thought to have their roots in early modern if not mediaeval Scotland. And again the musical heritage of Scotland is varied depending on the culture it comes from. 

- More properly developed female characters. Even though half the historical films made about Scotland are about Mary Queen of Scots, there are almost no good depictions of historical Scotswomen- and that’s NOT because there aren’t any interesting women in Scottish history before the modern period! There are lots of fascinating women’s stories from mediaeval and early modern Scotland, and although we are often frustrated by a lack of sources, we know they were there. More importantly, even if every woman was not a Certified Bad-Ass, as a whole women in Scottish history are not invisible and we can often see them in the records, whether operating in domestic, business, religious, or political contexts. Oddly, in their quest to show how Uniquely Misogynistic and Evil the Scottish nobility were to Mary Queen of Scots or Margaret Tudor or whoever, film-makers often end up ignoring women’s stories and therefore perpetuating the sexist view of history they claim to hate. (Though, yes mediaeval and early modern Scotland WAS misogynistic- but show me a country that wasn’t. Also it was misogynistic in a slightly different way to some other countries). I could list off dozens of interesting Scotswomen who lived before 1603- even though we sometimes can’t tell that much about their inner lives from the surviving sources, it’s obvious they were of some importance. And again it fits back into the cultural variety thing, because that was not limited to Lowland, Scots-speaking noblewomen. 

- More art and literature and architecture and education and music and EVERYTHING. Scotland lost a LOT during the Reformation and due to Anglo-Scottish warfare (that’s what happens when the main centre of your kingdom is near to a border). But we know that, though it was sometimes an out of the way place, Scotland could be just as heavily tied into European cultural trends as any other northern country. And there are some beautiful surviving cultural artefacts that hint at a more vibrant past- both produced in Scotland (in the Gaelic and Scots-speaking environments) and imported from abroad. 

- Equally on that note, more focus on its connections to countries other than England.  Scotland had three universities by 1500, and yet many Scottish students still went to study abroad, especially in France, but also in England, the Low Countries, Italy, and elsewhere. An Italian humanist taught at the Abbey of Kinloss away up in Moray in the sixteenth century, and Scottish thinkers were in touch with other great minds of the day. Scots also fought abroad (see mercenaries in Sweden, or James IV’s support given to his uncle the king of Denmark, or the Garde Écossaise), and traded heavily across the North Sea (there were multiple Scots merchant colonies on the continent, not least at Veere). Scotland’s relations with Norway, Denmark, the Low Countries, the Papacy, Ireland (both as part of the kingdom of England and with individual Irish families), and other countries could be almost as important as its relationships with France and England. The eternal triangle of Scotland, England, and France, was not actually always the story- there were occasions when England and France played very little role in Scotland’s foreign affairs, let alone its domestic history.

- In particular an acknowledgement of the high quality of Scots poetry in the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries wouldn’t go amiss. 

- This is one which applies to all mediaeval media- but a more varied and interesting depiction of mediaeval religion would be good. In Scotland, this was also linked to the way people saw their own history- any sixteenth century Scot would have known some of the native saints, and anyone half-educated might have heard the names of David I and St Margaret and Columba, and known where the great abbeys in the kingdom came from. 

- Actually a basic knowledge of Scottish history and legends beyond a few famous names. For example family was important in noble society- just because the stereotypical The Clans Are Gathering model is massively inaccurate, doesn’t mean that noble families in Scotland didn’t care about ancestry and kinship. But it would be great if tv shows and movies could actually think about how to portray that- and it really shows how little some of these scriptwriters know about their characters when they’re supposedly obsessed with the honour of the clan but the only piece of their country’s history they know is the name William Wallace. If you’re portraying the Douglases- even the earls of Angus who weren’t directly descended from him- the legacy of Sir James Douglas would have been a source of some pride. For actual ‘clans’, you could be dealing with some of the clans in the west of Scotland who, like some families in Ireland, claimed descent from Niall of the Nine Hostages. Some family histories got warped along the way- the Stewarts, for example, seem to have forgotten that they were descended from a Breton named Flaald by the fifteenth century and instead latched onto a story involving a character named Fleance (the one who later appears in Macbeth). As for legends- you could have a lot of fun with the different kinds of fairy belief that existed in Scotland, from the Borders (where it inspired ballads like Tam Lin) to the Highlands, or you could bring up legendary figures that are shared with other countries like King Arthur or Fionn Mac Cumhaill or Robin Hood or Hector of Troy. Sometimes the legends even cross over into real life- Thomas the Rhymer, hero of ballads and fairytales, seems to have been based on a real person who lived in the reign of Alexander III; while stories about William Wallace and Robert Bruce often became folk tales in the tradition of other greenwood outlaws like Robin Hood. 

I think it’s pretty evident that my main issues with depictions of mediaeval and early modern Scotland on tv and film are largely because it’s so utterly unlike anything I see in the historical record. I’d love to list specific details and characters I’d like to see portrayed on screen, but before we even get to that point, the whole Generic Portrait of Scotland needs to change, because it doesn’t currently feel very realistic or interesting. All I really want is for the same level of research to be done with regard to Scotland as is done for England or France or any other country- England is often portrayed inaccurately, but there’s still at least 200% more effort put in than for Scotland.

On that note though, James I’s career (or at least the early fifteenth century as a whole) has been ripe for a television adaptation for years. Also I’m personally fascinated by ordinary rural life, patterns of agriculture and landholding, e.t.c. so even just an ordinary story set in an early sixteenth century fermtoun would be cool. But I don’t really think these stories would make any sense to people if Scotland was just portrayed the way it usually is - a generic country with no culture beyond a few scraps of tartan and alcohol and Anglophobia.

Thank you for the opportunity to rant, and apologies for the screed! I couldn’t express my enthusiasm very concisely I’m afraid. I genuinely don’t mind if there’s some inaccuracies to portrayals of Scotland, but now all portrayals are exactly the same and almost wholly inaccurate so it gets frustrating.

[ohnohetaliasues]

Greenland OC review

//mmm- Yes hello I am here to submit my friend’s oc because she’s really shy cinnamon roll. ;u;  If you have time, please take a look at her oc and critique it for her! Thank you!!!!

@mochimoochie

Why hello there! Of course I’ll look through this. I'd be happy to give my critique. Let’s jump right in, and tell your friend I say hello!

First Player

Country Information:

Official Country Name: Greenland

Capitol: Nuuk

Languages: Greenlandic (West and East dialects (specifically Kalaallisut and Tunumiisut), Danish, Eskimo–Aleut, Inuktun, English

Government: Constitutional Monarchy. Current leaders are Kim Kielsen (Prime Minister) and Margethe II of Denmark (Monarch)

Good, you’ve done your research. 

Human Information:

Name: Arvid Falk

Meaning: “Arvid”, from the old norse name Arvior, eagle tree. “Falk”, From Old Norse Falker, falcon.

Okay, good name.

Gender: Male

Birthday: He used to celebrate the day the island was discovered as his birthday, but in more recent years just celebrates around December 14th as his birthday, in a week-long celebration.

 Why that date specifically? I honestly think the date his island was discovered is a better idea.

About Them:

Personality: Arvid is known for being adventurous and welcoming, first and foremost. He loves meeting people and exploring new places. He’s extremely well versed in movement on snow and ice, and loves to climb mountains and, if the weather is warm enough (which is rarely is, so he’s usually doing this when he’s in other countries) dive in water to see what’s underneath. He’s intensely brave and almost too eager to speak his mind. However, when there’s no one around, he’s known to get extremely lonely extremely quickly. He gets jumpy and timid alone, even when he’s exploring, so he far prefers to be with at least two other people. He also has a strong belief in the supernatural, believing himself to have magical powers (he does not.) The culture and traditions of his people are very important to him, as well as the life of his island’s wildlife. He hates having to disturb it if he doesn’t have to.

I like this, he’s quirky and unique, but Greenland is sort of isolated, so I don’t think loneliness would be a big issue.

Hobbies: Arvid is most often found in the mountains, or in a small hunting party. Occasionally, he’ll be found trying to get passage on a ship to visit other countries just to explore and experience them. He’s fascinated with literature and enjoys spending any time he can reading, though a lot of his time has to be dedicated to working.

Physical Attributes:

Description: (Images) Arvid was, at one point, far paler than his native peoples, due to the large number of Norwegians and Danes in his nation. However, he is back to matching them in skin tone. His dark hair and eyes have been a constant from the beginning, making him the odd one out among his brothers. He has a thick layer of a mixture of fat and muscle on his torso, both to help him insulate against the cold and to generally be able to work. He keeps his hair tied back most of the time to keep it from bothering him while he’s working or travelling.

Good! I’m loving your representation. 

Height: He stands about 168cm, or 5’5’’

Weight: 165lbs

Outfit: Most often, Arvid is seen wearing a blue shirt with a blue coat over it, with a pair of earmuffs that match his scarf, both a light brown. He wears a pair of goggles on his forehead, though they will sometimes be over his eyes when the snow is heavy. Occasionally, he will add a dark green cloak to this outfit. The coat and cloak were dyed in far more recent years.

It goes with his country name. 

Family and Foreign Relationships:

Iceland, older brother. Emil and Arvid don’t get along at all, for the reason of Erik The Red, and the various events in history they share. It’s really petty at this point, and Arvid is trying to mend fences. Denmark, older brother. Mathias and Arvid get along very well, despite the two having difficulty in the past. They’re often two peas in a pod when one is in the other’s country. Sweden, older brother. Berwald and Arvid don’t interact often, but they know of each other and seem to care about the other. Finland, older brother. Tino and Arvid share a relationship very similar to the one Greenland has with Sweden, but their care for each other is much clearer. Norway, older brother. Lukas and Arvid hardly interact at all. It’s hard to tell what their relationship is. It is positive, however. That much is known. America, friend. Alfred and Arvid have been friends since the end of WWII, when Denmark’s Nazi capture led to America gaining control of the country. (Roleplay only: Love Interest) Canada, friend. Matthew and Arvid get along fairly well, sometimes more than people would expect. This may partially be from them being somewhat related from the time when Canada was Vinland.

Good! You’re keeping the OC related to countries it has actual relations with. I’ve found many Ocs that don’t do this.

Brief History:

Greenland was discovered some time in the 11th Century by an Icelandic man named Erik The Red, who was exiled for murder. Arvid appeared on the beaches after the man left back to Iceland to find people to help him found the country. He looked around, seeing his empty home, and almost too quickly ran off to explore. He did find his natives and lived with them for some time.

I’d mention Leif Erikson, who played a role in Greenland’s history.

Months later, he heard people arrive. He went back to the beach and watched people start to build. Norway and Denmark saw him, and after a short conversation, the two taught him about being a country over a span of years. Denmark took him as a part of his country for a few centuries. Note that Iceland was present during this this time.

Many, many years later, during World War II, Denmark was captured by Germany and cut off from Greenland, leading to Mathias handing over control of the confused country to America. Alfred and Arvid meeting on the battlefield when Arvid had the younger country on the other end of an arrow. He didn’t believe him until he was shown the signed contract.

A few decades later, Arvid went to Mathias to ask for his freedom. While a group of his people spoke to Danish parliament, he and Mathias argued about him being able to take care of himself. Mathias ended up having to allow his country’s parliament’s choice pass, giving Greenland home rule. Arvid and Mathias remained in agreement that Denmark would take care of all military endeavors… At least until 2008 when Greenlandic citizens voted for their complete independence, though the country still heavily relies on Denmark for their economy.

Okay, this is good, but more extensive research is in order. Like I said, Leif Erikson is a part of Greenlandic history.

Extra:

Arvid has four dogs. The oldest is a Greenland Dog named Agner. There’s also his Canadian Eskimo (who’s a puppy) named Bo, the Labrador Husky named Helgi, and the Alaskan Malamute named Lykke. They work as his sled dogs and are with him when he’s off exploring his country. Bo is still too young to pull the sled, he sits on it with Arvid. Arvid has the nickname “Aputsiaq” from his people, which translates from Greenlandic to “Snowflake.”

I do wonder why, but okay.

Arvid mostly prefers to speak in either Danish, English, or Kalaallisut depending on who’s with him.

Okay, all in all, this is a good OC. He needs some touching up in the spots I commented on, and some deeper explanation for some things, but this looks great so far! Keep up the good work!

~Kat 

[kazzarma-blog]

Offtopic: possible spoilers/teaser for future “Vinland Saga”manga chapters? Year 1019 in North/East European history

Basically, in the recent chapters of Vinland Saga the main characters have set up on a trip to Miklagarðr (Constantinople) to sell some narhval horns to the Greeks in order to raise money for their expedition to Vinland. 

Well, it’s quite a detour of course and it’s, I dunno, probably somewhat a “cheesy” move, or how to put it, on author’s part,after arcs about war and thralldom, when main character finally is free and reaches his home, to make him go on a journey in opposite direction than that of Vinland where he’s to go to fulfill his dream, just to sell some stuff,  but I actually liked this turn of events, and I believe it’s really justified to make the characters travel there.

Actually, it would almost be a crime not to make characters make travel there, as there was so much stuff going in those parts of the world in the time period covered by manga events, it really would be weird not to use it, and I hope you won’t find this post too long and boring to read it and see why is it so. Well, we can already see main characters having themselves caught in the middle of war in the Baltic Sea

However, as for what is going to happen on their journey next (of course if they will not find money in result of Baltic Sea war events and will continue their journey), I guess we can guess which historical events are the characters going to get involved into and what the characters are going to encounter, since we’ve seen quite a few hints already.  For example, to reach Miklagarðr from Iceland they could theoretically take two routes: one is to go south and then go through Gibraltar (somewhat like Bjǫrn Járnsíða did) and after that going past Italy to reach Miklagarðr from the West. Though obviously the characters went East right away and went to the Baltic Sea, which indicates that they will likely be taking (of course if they will still be going to Constantinople) the historical trade rout “from the Varangians to the Greeks” which did actually connect Scandinavia with (Eastern) Roman Empire. Actually, as you can see on the manga page below the route the characters were planning to take has already been shown, and it has  “from the Varangians to the Greeks” route as its part, where they would go from Baltic Sea along the Dnieper river (though, theoretically the still can take Dniester) South across Garðaríki to the Black Sea and from there to Grikkland. 

And it’s actually quite interesting, since taking such route they will most likely visit Kænugarðr (or Kijev) along their way. The city was an important point on the trading route and (not surprisingly) an important center (if not capital, though hardly such term is 100% applicable) of Kievan Rus' (or Garðaríki) which was an East Slavic state although ruled by the rulers of the Rurik dynasty which was of Norse origin (named after its founder, who’s mentioned in Slavic sources as Rurik, but, of course if you’ve even simply watched my Dark Souls etymology videos I guess it would be quite obvious that the origin of the name is Germanic, composed of elements *hrōþiz - for loud, or rather famed, in this case, and *rīks - king, ruler, an element we’ve seen in quite a few Dark Souls names).

And it happens so that the years of the manga events (1019 in the recent chapters, possibly 1020 by the time characters would reach Kænugarðr, provided they ever will, of course) match the first years of the reign of a person known to Norse peoples as konung Jarizleifr (also I believe he was called “the Lame” for indeed it seems he used to limp)  as high ruler of Kijev (the stuff I read about when working on an old Cossack cosplay video, which wasn’t even related to the cosplay in the end =/).  Bascially about 50% of the name “Jarizleifr“ has no real meaning in Old Norse, since it’s just an adaptation of a Slavic name Yaroslav (from Proto-Slavic *jarъ- “furious/fierce” and *slava - “fame/glory”), with “lav” part of “slav” element broken separately and taken as “leif” or “leifr” which is Old Norse for “inhertior/heir” and of course can be seen in the name of Leifr Eiríksson who is both a historical character and one of the major characters in the manga.  But, anyway, returning to the historical events which will possibly be covered in manga - the ruler of Kænugarðr in the years the manga events cover was prince Yaroslav the Wise, who himself was a descendant of Rurik and whose wife (whom he married in... 1019) was Princess Ingegerd of Sweden, daughter of king Olaf of Sweden.

And Yaroslav’s way to power as ruler of Kijev was marked by a struggle for power against his brother Sviatopolk  and foreign invasions (like of Poles under Bolesław I Chrobry (the Brave) who supported Yaroslav’s rival Sviatopolk) in 1018, with Yaroslav finally winning the throne against his brother in... 1019.   Although Yaroslav’s victory was only followed by a conflict against own nephew Bryachislav, whom he fought and defeated in 1020. And these historical events are actually covered in Norse sagas (well, more correctly in þættir - sort of “short sagas”) namely the story of Eymundr, which tells of a Norse konung Eymundr who, not willing to fight against king St. Olaf II Haraldsson of Norway (as Olaf began joining Norðvegr under his own rule) and hearing the news of power struggle among brother-princes in Garðaríki following the death of konung Valdemarr (prince Vladimir), leaves his homeland together with his friend jarl Ragnarr and their men (whom include not only Norwegians but also Icelanders) to offer their services as mercenaries to Jarizleifr or whoever will treat them better.  Well, since it’s a Norse story, it’s somewhat hard to say how much does it exaggerate things when it tells about greedy local ruler who can’t handle anything by himself without his wise Norse wife and is several times saved by mercenary Norsemen who aid him in war against his relatives and give him wise counsel, whom he however tries to trick in times of peace when he thinks he doesn’t need them already. And eventually (although after defeating one of the “three brothers” - Burizleifr, whose name is likely derived from the name of the Polish Duke Bolesław who supported and gave army to the actual brother Sviatopolk) Eymundr and Ragnrarr leave Jarizleif to serve “third brother” Vartilafr (likely rather nephew Bryachislav whose name likely has the very same origin as such names as Wrocisław or Vratislav in other Slavic languages) and when the two armies confront each other Eymundr manages to negotiate peace between “brothers” with Ingegerd, Jarizleif’s wife. And subsequently Eymundr got lands for himself becoming a “guardian” of the local state and it’s also said that together with Ingegerd they used to solve all the serious problems in Garðaríki . So, returning to manga, Garðaríki wouldn’t really be that much of a foreign place to the heroes of Vinland Saga (well foreign, but with lots of their kinsmen involved, and I believe the inhabitants of Kijev were called “Danes” in some Western European sources at that age, apparently because the ruling dynasty there was of Norse origin), and there was really lot of interesting stuff going on historically (and described in þættir) involving Norsemen (and particularly Icelanders) in the very same years the manga covers, and that only in that one spot of the route which the heroes, it seems, are going to take.   And I guess it would be strange if it’s not going to be covered in the manga. So, escaping the power struggle for throne of Denmark and power struggle within the Jomsvikings, the characters might arrive to Garðaríki to get involved in power struggle there, and who knows, maybe it will be the pacifist  Þorfinnr Karlsefni of the manga who will negotiate peace between rival parties of Garðaríki  conflict in 1019/1020 ?  Another dimension is that Garðaríki had already adopted Christianity, but from Byzantine Empire, and although Leifr is Christian also, he’s rather a Western Christian, while the events of manga take place just some decades before the East–West Schism (which only finalized the process that had been going on for some time already), so it’s interesting if it’s going to be covered as well.  But anyway, it’s only one point of the possible route, and after Kænugarðr there are Dnieper thresholds to the south with Turkic nomadic peoples ambushing the traders and so on and so forth, all the way to Miklagarðr where Roman emperors had Varangian guard and, for example, one could find some Norse Runic writings on marble parapets mentioning some Norseman Halfdan....

So the historical period is quite exciting offering lots of opportunities to make some very interesting stories, even before finally “sending” the main characters to Vinland and I’m really looking forward to see if my guesses were right or not

[homeschoolbase]

Speaking as someone who grew up in a homeschooling family, I'm very grateful that I did.

Speaking as someone who grew up in a homeschooling family, I'm very grateful that I did.

Someone referred me to this subreddit a few days ago, and I've been lurking here since. It's been very interesting reading all of the experiences on here, albeit many of them are more from the vantage point of the parent rather than the student. It is still very obvious that many of you are deeply invested in your children's futures, and that's something that makes me very happy. My siblings and I were all homeschooled, all eight of us actually.

We grew up in an area with a lot of other homeschoolers as well, and overall there was a strong current of self sufficiency, heritage, and simplicity that ran through our entire community. We didn't grow up with a TV or internet or a lot of modern accessories, but I think that even if we did, they would have likely remained untouched anyway, there was always a lot of ways we could entertain ourselves or pursue our interests.

Now that we're grown up, our parents are now grandparents, and we all have our own families to take care of. Homeschooling is a big part of who I am today in terms of knowledge, skills, and character. I want to extend the same sort of gift to all of my children as well, and so far, I have. My parents were motivated to homeschool us because they were disillusioned with the educational system back then and mainstream society in general.

It wasn't really particular religious, but we were raised to value our heritage, have self awareness, have self control, and behave morally. The overall method they used I'd say was largely a hybrid between classical education and unschooling. It wasn't very rigid at all, each of us advanced at our own pace. You could describe it as focusing on building a strong foundation for each child when they're young, but then after that, let them immerse themselves in what they're passionate about.

We each were taught the 6 Rs, in no particular order, each are considered vital, like an organ of the body:

Reading: Pretty self explanatory, we were each taught how to read, starting at 3-4 years of age and building up on that. Fortunately each of us quickly gained a strong passion for reading. We all were ahead of our grade level quite quickly.

wRiting: This doesn't need much explanation either. We each had to learn how to write. A lot of it was penmanship, spelling, grammar, etc. It didn't have to be perfect, but the goal was to be competent. A lot of it was intertwined with reading.

aRithmetic: You have to know how to add, subtract, multiply, and divide, don't you? This also extended to other basic concepts in math that are useful in everyday life. Personally, I love math, and I quickly got pushed ahead to more complex topics such as Algebra, Calculus, Game theory etc.

Roots: Our family, particularly on mother's side, has a very extensive and vivid oral and material history. My maternal ancestors have kept tons of documents, photographs, artwork, journals, etc. over the centuries. My parents considered passing on our family's heritage to be very important.

Rhetoric: My dad loved to teach us this topic, The Art of Discourse. Logical fallacies, critical thinking, persuasion, and cognitive biases were among the many things we were taught to recognize and use from as early an age as possible. Socratic dialogues were a big part of this, I loved this topic just like my father does.

masteRy: This, "R" would be the most nebulous. Think of it as the self awareness and self control I mentioned earlier. We were taught to cultivate compassion, restraint, industriousness, and humility. My parents didn't have a lot of rules, rather they focused on helping us build up our moral compass so we wouldn't need rules to act ethically.

Despite how it might sound, the way we were taught was far from rigorous or demanding. We each advanced in each of the "Rs" at our own pace, as long as we were making a genuine effort to advance. This worked out very well, mom had an amazing talent for motivating children to want to succeed. It wasn't one of the 6 Rs, but we all naturally were multilingual children just by sheer exposure. In our household, Swedish, Icelandic, Norwegian, German, and Danish were thrown around as easily as English as a part of honoring our Northwestern European heritage.

After we became competent in each of those areas, we could fully immerse ourselves in whatever interested us. My parents kept tons of books in our house on a wide variety of topics to choose from. I'm talking a lot of books, ranging from things like linguistics, literature, biographies, mathematics, history, sociology, philosophy, physics, astronomy, geology, chemistry, medicine, psychology, neurology, engineering, you name it there was likely a book that was at least tangentially related to it. Both of my parents were avid readers who loved to collect all sorts of tomes, the majority of them weren't even in English.

I mentioned this a bit before, but I loved mathematics as a child. So by the time I was beginning to hit puberty I was delving into things like dynamical systems, topology, game theory, statistics, and harmonic analysis. I probably wouldn't have had the opportunity to advance at the pace I wanted to if I was in public school. However, I also really liked studying linguistics, biology, history, spirituality, and philosophy. Although really, I liked to read anything I could get my hands on. My siblings had their own interests as well and they got to dive as deeply as they wanted to as well.

One passion I clearly got from my father was his love of ancient languages and literature. He was absolutely enthralled by ancient languages and their poetry, especially Indian epics like the Mahabharata. I quickly gained an interest in Sanskrit among other things quite early as well. Later on, I'd begin to study Avestan, Pali, Aramaic, Biblical Hebrew, Latin, Old Norse, etc. later on. I would continue to dabble in tons of languages over the course of my life. I'd consider it one of my hobbies that I try to spend some time everyday on.

The languages I mentioned earlier are the ones I'd be roughly on the level of a native speaker in, mainly because I began picking them up at a really young age. Fast forward 25 years later, and I'm pretty good when it comes to Romance languages, not quite as fluent as a native, but I can keep up very well. My Balto-Slavic languages are also pretty good if the conversation isn't too intense. My Semitic languages could be a lot better, it helped that I had a good foundation in Biblical Hebrew and Aramaic, but in terms of speaking them naturally, I'm only so-so.

I think that this entire homeschooling experience is what really helped me to become successful later in life, moreso than if I was educated in the public school system. I could talk about this kind of thing all day, I mainly just wanted to share my experiences. I hope that it strikes a chord with some of you, or, if you're new to the topic of homeschooling, perhaps it will even inspire you. I'd be happy to answer any questions that you have as well. Keep up the good work you guys.