A lot of the fens were drained but some are still there. There is talk of letting some of the water back in, it is quite expensive keeping it at bay. As you may guess this is causing quite a lot of local debate.

Haha. Oh, I’ll beat there is – debate I mean. I read recently that Amsterdam is also thinking of restoring some of the canals that were filled in during the last century with hot debates ensuing both for and against. Apparently the homes on canals are going for higher prices now.

And I found this.

Online Etymology Dictionary – Cite This Source – Share This
hell

O.E. hel, helle “nether world, abode of the dead, infernal regions,” from P.Gmc. *khaljo (cf. O.Fris. helle, O.N. hel, Ger. Hölle, Goth. halja “hell”) “the underworld,” lit. “concealed place,” from PIE *kel- “to cover, conceal, save” (see cell). The Eng. word may be in part from O.N. Hel (from P.Gmc. *khalija “one who covers up or hides something”), in Norse mythology Loki’s daughter, who rules over the evil dead in Niflheim, the lowest of all worlds (nifl “mist”), a death aspect of the three-fold goddess. Transfer of a pagan concept and word to a Christian idiom, used in the K.J.V. for O.T. Heb. Sheol, N.T. Gk. Hades, Gehenna. Used figuratively for “any bad experience” since at least 1374. As an expression of disgust, etc., first recorded 1678. Hell-bent is from 1835. Hell-raiser is from 1914 (to raise hell is from 1896); hellacious is 1930s college slang. Expression Hell in a handbasket is c.1941, perhaps a revision of earlier heaven in a handbasket (c.1913), with a sense of “easy passage” to whichever destination. Expression hell of a _____ is attested from 1776. Hell or high water is apparently a variation of between the devil and the deep blue sea. To wish someone would go to hell is in Shakespeare (1596). Snowball’s chance in hell “no chance” is from 1931; till hell freezes over “never” is from 1919. To ride hell for leather is from 1889, originally with reference to riding on horseback. Hell on wheels is from 1843.

I wonder what the OED would say?

A lot of the fens were drained but some are still there. There is talk of letting some of the water back in, it is quite expensive keeping it at bay. As you may guess this is causing quite a lot of local debate.

And I agree entirely about mayhap!

Best wishes
Carol

with regard to language and swear words (or words or any type for that matter) the language we use today is so far removed from that of 11th century England, that I came to the conclusion that it has to be a matter of trying to convey a flavour of the period. I am not into ’tis, and ’twas etc, but that is largely a matter of taste. People of the time certainly knew what hell was, and so…it was my judgement that ‘hell’ was acceptable. Not everyone will agree.

Oh I agree on not using ’tis and ’twas. I hate those words. But my supreme loathing is reserved for mayhap. ;) I don’t know why but that word gets under my skin. I was just curious if you knew when the word hell began to be used as it is now. Of if it always has been.

I can understand Wulf wanting to fit in and feeling he must obey every little decree. That makes sense.

I’m glad to hear that the fens are still there. I had thought I’d read somewhere that a lot of them were drained in the 18th and 19th centuries.