Talk:Asser

Miscellaneous comments

Are there any other famous people named Asser? Surely this doesn't need the "Bishop of Sherbourne" disambiguation, does it? Adam Bishop 02:59, 9 Sep 2004 (UTC)

Yeah, as Asser is just a redirect here, logically it seems like we should move it. Everyking 02:29, 26 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Rating

Since I never saw anything restricting editing to administrators, I rated this article for Project Catholicism. If this was wrong, please fix it. Also, if anyone wants to discuss this rating, please discuss here! Thanks JelloSheriffBob 04:32, 9 January 2007 (UTC)JelloSheriffBob

West Dean/Dean

Keynes and Lapidge say Alfred's estate was at Dean, Sussex; as far as I can tell this would be West Dean -- see this link. However, West Dean, West Sussex is currently a red link, so this is just a note to keep an eye on that and make sure it links to the right thing eventually. West Dean, West Sussex is linked from West Dean, which is a dab page. Mike Christie (talk) 21:36, 30 March 2007 (UTC)

I've unlinked this for now to avoid the redlink, but I think it's the right link eventually. Mike Christie (talk) 15:41, 1 April 2007 (UTC)

Cynuit/Countisbury/Cannington problem

From Keynes & Lapidge, Asser says "Cynuit", and they translate it as Countisbury. However, the Wikipedia entry for Battle of Cynuit redirects to Battle of Cannington, and modern Countisbury and modern Cannington are twenty or thirty miles apart -- the former is ten or so miles west of Minehead, on the coast, in Exmoor; the latter is north of Bridgwater, as far as I can tell. This needs to be resolved. Mike Christie (talk) 22:20, 30 March 2007 (UTC)

Countisbury and Cannington/Combwich are rather more than 30 miles apart but the latter two are close. Unfortunately there is no evidence to link Cynuit with anywhere though some early spellings of Combwich are somewhat similar. Combwich is not in a valley as might be expected but was an early port at the mouth of the river Parret (north of Bridgwater). Cynuit could also be Kenwith Castle near Bideford. The location problem is unlikely to ever be resolved but a separate page should be used for Cynuit. Adresia 09:05, 2 October 2007 (UTC)

I've moved ~ Battle of Cannington to Battle of Cynwit. Dzw49 (talk) 21:46, 21 February 2009 (UTC)

Source for "John of Asser"

Another note to say that the "John of Asser" name is not mentioned in Keynes and Lapidge so it's going to need another source. Mike Christie (talk) 22:43, 30 March 2007 (UTC)

Done from Catholic Encyclopedia online; this appears to be about a hundred years old, based on the reference to Stevenson's 1904 edition being "announced". It would be nice to get a modern reference to describe the differing historical uses of Asser's names. Mike Christie (talk) 11:33, 1 April 2007 (UTC)

Byrhtferth

Keynes and Lapidge refer to a historical miscellany by Byrhtferth that includes sections of Asser's Life; this needs to be identified with a title and fixed in the text. Mike Christie (talk) 19:05, 31 March 2007 (UTC)

Fixed; it was Historia Regum. Mike Christie (talk) 13:38, 3 April 2007 (UTC)

Infobox

I took out the 'needs infobox' tag; there's so little known about Asser that the infoboxes don't seem appropriate. Mike Christie (talk) 16:09, 1 April 2007 (UTC)

Sources

Lakers, could you give some specific places where you think sources are missing? I'm pretty sure everything in the article is sourced. I have used the style where a citation does not appear in a paragraph until the end, if everything from a given paragraph is cited from that one source. I can't find a reference here but I know I've seen that approach used to avoid cluttering every sentence with identical footnotes. Anyway, let me know what you feel is needed. Thanks. Mike Christie (talk) 11:14, 3 April 2007 (UTC)

I was talking about the intro but thats really small, so I have removed it, thanks. Lakers 17:37, 3 April 2007 (UTC)

GA review

I'll start with the nitpicking. I'm thinking that a fair use image like Image:Asser book.JPG is dubious here. Illustrations are hardly essential, but for decorative purposes an illustrated Ms. is always a reasonable last resort. A minor point. The lead to the article is rather brief and could do with some expansion. I'll have a go at this. There are probably a few wikilinks missing. Hyfaidd ap Bledrig - admitted still a redlink, but presumably someone will write it eventually - caught my eye, and perhaps some others. Nitpicking aside, this seems like a good article to me. I may have more thoughts when I've had a chance to read it aloud (that would get me funny looks in my present location, so it will need to wait). Angus McLellan (Talk) 10:15, 4 April 2007 (UTC)

Thanks for the comments. Re the image: I agree, it's not a great use of that image and the fair use rationale is a little thin. However, I don't have a better alternative; the manuscript no longer exists, so I can't use an image of that. A facsimile was made of the first page in 1722, and there's a reproduction of it in Keynes & Lapidge, so I could scan that, but I don't see that qualifying as fair use. Though now I think of it I will check the credit for that to see where they got it.

I agree on Hyfaidd; I unlinked him as I don't know enough about him to even stub him convincingly, but I think you're right it should be linked. And yes, please expand the lead if you can.

One last thought on the image: how about just dropping the book cover and moving the map up to that position? The map was recently shrunk by another editor, which I thought rather a pity; it would be nice to be able to read it without having to expand the thumbnail. Mike Christie (talk) 15:24, 4 April 2007 (UTC)

Thanks Mike, I'll have a go at the lead then. And an image of the 1722 copy would be smashing. It's not merely good fair use, it would be considered {{PD-Art}} in Florida, which is what counts. All the best! Angus McLellan (Talk) 18:43, 4 April 2007 (UTC)

I added the image, and also put a little more into the lead. Let me know what you think. Mike Christie (talk) 13:04, 5 April 2007 (UTC)

I have reviewed the article and think it meets all points at WP:WIAGA. I think the article is well referenced, informative and broad enough for someone i.e. myself who has no knowledge of the subject whatsoever until now that is. My only real suggestion for improvement is that the article does appear quite verbose, in that I think some aspects of the article could be incorporated into a new article e.g. The Life of King Alfred? As this article is a biography I do think the excellent information on the manuscript (including forgery etc) might do well in a seperate article with a more concise summary on the Asser page. This however is only a suggestion. BTW I also think there could be two or maybe even three seperate paragraphs in the forgery section instead of one. Other than that good work and thanks for a good read.LordHarris 12:53, 18 April 2007 (UTC)

Thanks for the comments. I've broken up the forgery section as you suggested; that's definitely an improvement. I am not sure about the need for a separate article on the book, though; I think what is known about Asser and the book together don't amount to 32K worth of article, so I think they're OK in one. I am planning to take this to FA, though, so I will no doubt get some more opinions there. Thanks again. Mike Christie (talk) 01:57, 19 April 2007 (UTC)

Claims of forgery

An anon just posted a paragraph about the unreliability of the source. I don't mind adding more about this, but it needs to be sourced. Mike Christie (talk) 17:50, 30 April 2007 (UTC)

I expanded the bit from Smyth because there is more than one argument that he uses to prove 'Asser' is a fake; whether he can prove 'Byrthferth' is the forger is another matter. That should g in an article on him. Tony S 89.168.126.38 (talk) 14:33, 2 January 2010 (UTC)

"Asser" is NOT Hebrew for "Blessed"

Sorry, this is an error. The Hebrew word "Asser אשר" (actually pronounced "Asher" in Hebrew) is best translated as "happy, satisfied". It is related to the word "Osher אושר" which means happiness.

I have edited the article accordingly. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.80.68.90 (talk) 06:21, 22 January 2009 (UTC)

I went back to the original source I used for this, Keynes and Lapidge's edition of Asser's Life. Here's what they say: "In his treatise on the meaning of Hebrew names, St Jerome explains that the name "Asser" means "blessed" or "blessedness". There is evidence that Jerome's treatise was studied with care in ninth-century Wales, and it is therefore perhaps significant that the meaning of the Hebrew name Asser corresponds exactly to that of the Welsh name Gwyn (Old Welsh Guinn). A learned Welshman named Gwyn who had some familiarity with Jerome's treatise might well have adopted the name Asser in religion, at the time he was tonsured." So the connection is that Gwyn means what Jerome said Asser means, not that it means what Asser actually means. Perhaps also Asser meant something slightly different back then; the meanings of words do change. Anyway, I'll change the text back to something with a little more detail to make it clear that it's Jerome who is responsible for the definition mentioned. Mike Christie (talk) 11:34, 22 January 2009 (UTC)

Okay! Since I wrote my earlier comment ("Asser" is NOT Hebrew for "Blessed"), I did an extensive on-line search. It appears that Osher-Asher indeed means "happiness", with "blessed" being a secondary meaning. Christian translations of Genesis - and we are dealing with the Christian world here - seem to use both meanings of the word. I stand, if not corrected, better-informed. Thanks! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.80.68.90 (talk) 14:12, 22 January 2009 (UTC)

Could the name Asser be from the Viking name "Assar" (one who answers), we all know that the area of St Davids was raided many times during this period, so there must have been some cultural exchanges. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Sgdavies (talk • contribs) 10:20, 23 April 2015 (UTC)

Comments on Smyth

I've left a note with the editor who added this material about Smyth's book, asking for sources. If none are forthcoming I'll move the material here till sources can be found. Mike Christie (talk) 12:52, 15 May 2010 (UTC)

Latin title of the work

Are we sure about that? The Latin Library has de rebus gesti Aelfredi. — LlywelynII 13:25, 13 February 2013 (UTC)

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Dream?

Nothing about Alfred the Great's dream of a united England? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.71.16.173 (talk) 20:40, 7 March 2020 (UTC)

The article is about Asser, not Alfred, but if you have a source that talks about Alfred's goals in discussing Asser's Life, that would be useful. Mike Christie (talk - contribs - library) 11:30, 8 March 2020 (UTC)

Samuel Lewis reference

Dudley Miles and Mike Christie - I am disappointed in your reversions. By rejecting any mention of the statement in Lewis's's monumental work based on local research, you are denying "modern scholars" the opportunity to investigate whether the statement could have any substance. As you wish. Tony Holkham (Talk) 08:53, 20 April 2020 (UTC)

I think you are unfair on modern scholars if you assume that they will not have already have investigated the substance in Lewis's statement. It would have been repeated if they found any evidence to support it. It is in any case Wikipedia's function to provide a summary of the best of scholarship for the general public, not to report doubtful claims for investigation by experts, who probably only read Wikipedia on subjects outside their specialist area. Dudley Miles (talk) 09:21, 20 April 2020 (UTC)

I agree with Dudley on both points. Mike Christie (talk - contribs - library) 10:24, 20 April 2020 (UTC)

I don't agree, on several points/assumptions, but will leave it there. Thank you both for responding. Tony Holkham (Talk) 11:30, 20 April 2020 (UTC)

WP:URFA/2020

The part about his name is largely unsourced. Same for the map showing places he visited (File:Asser map.png). A455bcd9 (talk) 15:36, 3 December 2022 (UTC)

The original citation for the bit about his name got detached when the paragraph was split; I've re-added it. I suspect the same citation will work for the map but will check later. Mike Christie (talk - contribs - library) 15:54, 3 December 2022 (UTC)

Thanks! A455bcd9 (talk) 15:57, 3 December 2022 (UTC)

The placenames are now cited to Keynes & Lapidge; the Welsh kingdoms are cited to a map in Abels. Mike Christie (talk - contribs - library) 17:57, 3 December 2022 (UTC)

Thanks, I've just added these sources to File:Asser map.png on Commons as well. A455bcd9 (talk) 17:59, 3 December 2022 (UTC)