1 / Lets talk today about Roman Archeology in Britain, Legends and Fantasy. For this #thread we need to go back to 1928, when Mortimer Wheeler, one of the most important archaeologists in the history of archeology, excavated the amphitheater in Caroline. >> @nickfshort 
2 / >> Wheeler then excavated the remains of a Roman camp, established to secure the iron quarries of the 3rd century AD, which was succeeded by a temple to the god Nodens, god of sea, health & dogs, built there in the 4th century AD. >>
* Nodens Temple & a dog figurine.
* Nodens Temple & a dog figurine.
3 / >> The mosaic floor of the tmeple was exposed, adorned with dolphins, fish and also sea monsters. Over 300 rings were found & about 8,000 coins, indicating the importance of the site. the site was abandoned
in the 5th century AD. >>
* The mosaic floor in the temple.
in the 5th century AD. >>
* The mosaic floor in the temple.
4 / >> The most interesting find on the site is the lead board with the inscription: "For the god Nodens. Silvianus has lost a ring and has donated one half [its worth] to Nodens. Among those named Senicianus permit no good health until it is returned to the temple of Nodens". >>
5 / >> Silvanus was so angry about the theft that he cursed the thief, all this brings us to a gold ring found in 1785, in a field about 150 km east of Lidney Park. Wheeler was familiar with the folklore of the ring, & when he found the lead board he suspected a connection. >>
6 / >> To assist him, Wheeler hired a professor, an ancient English language expert named John Ronald Reuel Tolkien & invited him to the excavation. Tolkien deciphered the inscription and wrote the appendix on Lord Nodens in Wheeler's excavation report. >>
7 / >> Now when you put it all together, all of a sudden the story makes sense. Take a stolen, mystical, cursed gold ring, place the whole story in the green country of southern Britain, and it suddenly starts to sound very, very familiar. >>
8 / >> To complete the story it is important to know we that the lead board with the curse was deciphered by Tolkien, so the theory that this whole story is the inspiration for The Hobbit that led to The Lord of the Rings does not sound unfounded at all.
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