One sometimes feels that the 7th and 8th centuries were like a prolonged western. Kenneth Clark: Civilisation 1/13 ***** The Skin Of Our Teeth, BBC 1969
Charlemagne is the first man of action to emerge from the darkness since the collapse of the Roman world. ibid.
Arthur, legendary King of the Britons: from his castle at Camelot Arthur and his knights in shining armour become the ultimate symbol of chivalry and honour, bringing enlightenment to the dark ages. Archaeologists and historians now believe his myth holds clues to Arthur’s true identity. Mystery Files: King Arthur, National Geographic 2010
The new age (saeculum) which was beginning, for its harshness and barrenness of good could well be called iron, for its baseness and abounding evil leaden, and moreover for its lack of writers (inopia scriptorum) dark (obscurum). Caesar Baronius, Annales Ecclesiastici
It has been so written, for the most part, that the times it describes are with remarkable propriety called dark ages. They are dark, as one has observed, because we are so in the dark about them. Henry David Thoreau, A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers, 1849
793 A.D.: on the island of Lindisfarne a barbaric band of heathens tore apart the local monastery ... The Viking Age had begun. The Dark Ages
The Vikings were relentless and prolific ... Their favourite target was their first: Britain. ibid.
Ivan turned his attention to conquering the rest of Britannia. ibid.
There was one kingdom in the south of the country that refused to crumble: it was ruled by a resourceful and resilient warrior king whose name was Alfred the Great. ibid.
While some sailed off to plunder new frontiers across the Atlantic others quietly settled down and were assimilated into Europe’s Christian culture. ibid.
One of the most mysterious and misunderstood periods in British history. For 200 years after the Romans left our islands in 410 AD our country was plunged into what became known as the Dark Ages. The turmoil transformed the nation. But we know almost nothing about it. The legends tell of a lawless land, warring tribes and a legendary leader – King Arthur. Alice Roberts, King Arthur’s Britain: The Truth Unearthed, BBC 2018
Evidence that up on the top of Tintagel there was not just a settlement during the Dark Ages but a seat of power. ibid.
Geoffrey of Monmouth: Arthur’s sword is a weapon of mass destruction. ibid.
This was certainly not a backwater. ibid.
It’s a story more incredible than fiction. Buried treasure forgotten for more than a thousand years discovered by an amateur metal detecting enthusiast. The find is worth millions … ‘When I first saw the Staffordshire hoard, I think there was a real sense of wonder and fear.’ Lost Gold of the Dark Ages, historian, National Geographic 2019
The largest collection of Anglo Saxon gold ever found. ibid.
The Anglo-Saxons liked to be buried with their bling. ibid.
How were they made? By hand or with a device that’s been lost to history? ibid.
That number rose to more than 4,000 pieces estimated to have come from about 700 complete objects. ibid.
It’s 400 A.D. in what will one day become Great Britain and the Romans have just left. The population that remains is joined by other peoples arriving in increasing numbers from across the sea. And in this world a mysterious artefact is created [Spong Man, 5th century]: this is made in the period once known as the Dark Ages. But in reality it is a time of glittering art and extraordinary fusions. Art that Made Us I: Lights in the Darkness, BBC 2022
The Lindisfarne Gospels, 8th century: ‘This is a real technological accomplishment to create that range of colours.’ ibid.