Introducing… A NewÆlfgif-who?
Hello wonderful subscribers,
This is an update to let you know about some of the brand new features and exciting developments launched today at Ælfgif-who?.
Beautiful new illustrations
All of Ælfgif-who?’s posts will now be adorned with beautiful medieval-style illustrations by artist Pollie Scott (facebook.com/medievaltrees, twitter: @medievaltrees). Check out her amazing portraits now on all previous posts, and watch out for future posts, which will also be illustrated.
Also, watch this space for Ælfgif-who? merchandise!
Become a Supporter
I have introduced an *optional* paid subscription of just £4 a month or £40 a year for the Ælfgif-who? newsletter, to help me keep it up and running.
What will change if I don’t pay for a subscription?
Absolutely nothing! You will still receive a free newsletter once every two weeks on a Monday as usual, and you will have full access to the back-catalogue of past newsletters.
So why would I choose to move to paid subscription?
If you move to a paid subscription, you will be helping a disabled PhD student (me!) to continue to provide accessible, insightful and thoroughly-researched articles about history to a wide audience. If the warm fuzzy feeling of supporting history writing isn’t enough, you will also receive access to an extra exclusive newsletter every month on a different historical theme relating to early medieval English women. This won’t be a biography like usual, but a related topic such as:
Women and the Bayeux Tapestry
Women in Old English literature
Women and the ‘Golden Age of Northumbria’
Queens and coronations
…And many more exciting topics!
You will also receive access to exclusive Q&A events and comment threads where you can ask questions about the newsletter and suggest future topics! If you like Ælfgif-who? and want to see more, please consider becoming a supporter by moving to a paid subscription. You can also buy a gift subscription for a friend. If you choose to remain on the free subscription plan your support in reading, commenting on and sharing the newsletter is still very much appreciated!
More reading recommendations
I have added recommendations for further reading on each newsletter, which include a mix of freely available online articles and affordable books. I am also excited to announce that I have become an Affiliate for the wonderful Bookshop.org, an online bookstore that financially supports independent bookshops in the UK. That means if you buy a book from a Bookshop.org link in this newsletter, a 10% commission will go to running Ælfgif-who? and a matching 10% will go to independent bookshops (UK only)! I will only ever suggest books that I know are trustworthy, well-written and worth recommending, and all affiliate links will be clearly marked.
Curating an ‘At Length’ for Substack
Subscribe to Substack’s own newsletter to read tomorrow’s edition of ‘At Length’ that I am incredibly grateful to have been asked to curate. My edition of ‘At Length’ recommends Substack posts that I found incredibly interesting and high-quality, on the topic of Hidden Histories.
Subscriber milestones
There are now over 1708 of you (and counting)! I’m so grateful for every single one of you.
Florence from Ælfgif-who?