> Nick
>
> > > If memory's correct, the original was called "Landwaster" and
was
> > > owned by the Earl of the Orkneys.
> >
>
> Apparently there are quite a few Raven Banners:
> <http://www.nava.org/articles/raven_banner.htm> lists 6 of them.
> (Nick, you'll like this article, if only because it's on the North
> American Vexillological Association web site.)
>
I mentioned on the list that I was re-reading Rosemary
Sutcliffe's "The Shield Ring" (about a last 'tribe' of saxon and
norse holding out against the normans in the hills of england's lake
country). Anyways I was amused, after all this recent talk about the
raven banner here, to read the story there too! It is told in
passing about how a certain Jarl had such a banner. After years of
succesful but bloody battles he answered the call to help defend the
viking kingdoms in Ireland against an Irish attack. So many people
died carrying the banner that day that finally he took it and wrapped
it around his chest (so he could still fight). A thrown spear took
him in the chest, killing him and releasing his life blood all over
the banner. As the banner had been made for him, this released all
the magic from the banner, and the battle turned into one of the
largest defeats the vikings had ever seen.
I thought that ending added an interesting extra edge to an already
double edged treasure!
--Bryan