Material: Watercolour on paper and photographic print
I am fascinated by the ways that culture evolves, and seeing the Vikings of the 7th to 13th centuries dominate... Read More
I am fascinated by the ways that culture evolves, and seeing the Vikings of the 7th to 13th centuries dominate northern Europe, spreading their democratising political ethos via conquest has been one of the great discoveries of my life. When William xthe Conqueror invaded England he capped off hundreds of years of stagnation of the Roman and Saxon polities, yet institutions that we see as key to global democracy today began in that crucible of domination and overreach. My poem acknowledges this reality without condoning conquest, by showing how ideas of rule fade and disappear in the face of individual achievement.