More books

 - 3,5°c ☁️ 🌬️

Cold and freezy! 

What else?! 

It's my day off, but I got up at 5:30, had a coffee and went outside to throw some salt on the side walks. That's not exactly my dream start to the day, but it wasn't too cold and the snow from yesterday afternoon hasn't really stayed, at least not on the streets. However, I have to warm up now and will need at least two or three more cups of coffee to get fit. 

❝As long as but 100 of us remain alive, never will we be brought under English rule. It is in truth not for glory ... 

but for freedom - for that alone which no honest man gives up but with life itself.❞

Last night I browsed a bit through the historical facts.. 

William Wallace and the battle of River Forth. De Brus. King Edward. Edward II. David II. The Stewart kings. Mary. The Jacobites. Reformation. About alliances with France and the Dutchs.. But that was just a refresher of facts that I already knew and had already stored in my memory. 

I want to take another approach to learn more about Scotland. The Irish and Vikings influence. 

Celtic culture before Christian influence. And I want to learn more about the cities and their history.. 

Edinburgh and its university. 

The University of Glasgow, founded in 1451, even before Columbus descovered America! 

I want to read legends and fairy tales, about giants, elves and goblins.

I want to know what I will be looking for on my trip this summer..

I was at the bookstore today and picked up a copy of Scottish fairy tales.. I already own a few collections of fairy tales from different countries and I'm looking forward to starting reading them.

Fact is, I hardly know any legends from English-speaking countries. 

That said, I remember a legend about the basalt columns on the coasts of Ireland. I suspect it's called the Giant's Causeway and is in the north of Ireland. I may have heard of a giant who was in love with a Scottish girl (a giant Scottish girl??) and his attempts to get to her ended in him throwing a huge rock out of frustration that landed in the middle of the sea and is now known as the Isle of Man? I'm not sure though! 

In any case, I think that literary works provide an interesting insight into the culture of a country.

Sir Walter Scott is a very good introduction. Ivanhoe was a required high school reading in France, but I don't know any of his other works. I know he wrote historical novels as well as poetry, but he obviously also had a broad knowledge of witchcraft. 

I'm highly intrigued, but I doubt that I'm able to read the book in original language. I might look for a translated version. Scott is also taking me back to Edinburgh, which will definitely be a stop on my journey.