From S. D. Chalk
Shoeburyness, Essex
Having read Fred Pearce’s mention of the volcanic eruption of Mount Changbai
(“Lure of the Rings”, 14 December, p 38) which darkened the skies and plunged
the world in a wintry gloom, and noting the precise dating of the event to the
year 1032, I turned to a translation of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles. An
extract from The Laud Chronicle reads:
“1032. In this year wildfire appeared such as no man remembered: it did
damage everywhere, and in many places besides. “
One definition of wildfire is “lightning without thunder”. This would be
consistent with some abnormal atmospheric condition occurring in Anglo-Saxon
England at that time.
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