Free (DRM-free PDF) Danske middelalderborge [Danish Castles Architecture/Archaeology]

[ATDrake]

Danske middelalderborge (Danish medieval castles) by Rikke Agnete Olsen (Danish Wikipedia) is her lavishly-illustrated Danish-language historical architecture/archaeology accessibly-written survey of Exactly What It Says In The Title, done in a coffee table book sort of style with plenty of historical backgrounder and general how-they-lived sort of info (including a medieval pancake recipe!), free courtesy of Aarhus University Press.

This is their featured Danish-language Free Book of the Month selection for May. The full blurb for this says that a particular bookcrafting association chose this for one of their Year's Best selections for 2011, and it is a very nice book indeed, with plenty of beautiful colour photographs and black & white line diagrams including a nifty illustrated glossary of castle construction terms, which even non-Danish Gentle Readers who have an interest in the subject matter will be able to appreciate, and perhaps plan some sight-seeing travel trips around.

Currently free throughout the month of May directly @ the university's dedicated promo page (DRM-free PDF available worldwide), and you can view more details on the regular catalogue page.

NB: this is nearly 40 MB for the download, so you might prefer not to do it on a mobile device if you've got dataplan/space limits.

And this has been the (late!) selected 3rd (non-repeat) free ebook thread of the day.

It had some stiff competition from the other archaeological survey that's the English-language BOTM from Aarhus University Press, especially since that was sited in Norway which is my actual favourite Scandinavian nation and statistically, more people can probably actually read that, but I figure that even with the language barrier which may or may not be resolvable via Google Translate, this one is actually more accessible and potentially enjoyable to most Gentle Readers worldwide and easier to learn nifty stuff from, and I just really like the illustrated glossary, so bonus points.

(For another nifty illustrated glossary of castle construction terms which is vaguely related, some LEGO® enthusiast folks have put together one that depicts various parts of castle construction using LEGO® bricks. Alas, they never got past the letter G, but what they have so far is very cute and fun indeed, if you want to go have a look: A-B, C-G)

Enjoy!

Beskrivelse på dansk
Siden dette værk udkom første gang i begyndelsen af 1980'erne, er interessen for middelalderen vokset, og her kommer borgene ind i billedet.

De var rammen om kongers og stormænds hverdag, fra dem blev riget regeret og administreret, og fra dem blev freden sikret i landet. Borgene var også store gårde og langt op i tiden i vid udstrækning selvforsynende med mange af dagligdagens fornødenheder.

Hver eneste borg var en verden i sig selv med mange sociale lag, den var et spejl af det samfund, den hørte til i. Derfor er det i høj grad gennem borgene og livet på dem, at man kan lære middelalderens samfund at kende både i krig og i fred.

Langt de fleste af Danmarks middelalderborge er nu forsvundet; enten er de ombygget til ukendelighed gennem århundrederne, eller også ligger de hen som mere eller mindre synlige ruiner eller voldsteder i landskabet.

Danske Middelalderborge er den eneste samlede oversigt over de anlæg, man kender fra det middelalderlige Danmark. Her berettes om, hvem der byggede borgene, hvornår de gjorde det, og hvorfor det skete. Gennem de seneste årtier er flere steder blevet undersøgt, enkelte nye anlæg er blevet fundet, og gamle udgravninger er blevet genåbnet, så man har fået ny viden på flere områder.

Det er alt sammen inddraget i denne stærkt reviderede, tredje udgave. Ny viden såvel som nye tider er baggrunden for et helt nyt layout med understregning af vigtige problemstillinger og henvisning til væsentlig litteratur, så man nemt kan komme videre ind i de forskellige emner, der drages frem i bogen.

[GtrsRGr8]

Originally Posted by ATDrake

<snip>
It had some stiff competition from the other archaeological survey that's the English-language BOTM from Aarhus University Press, especially since that was sited in Norway which is my actual favourite Scandinavian nation and statistically, more people can probably actually read that, but I figure that even with the language barrier which may or may not be resolvable via Google Translate, this one is actually more accessible and potentially enjoyable to most Gentle Readers worldwide and easier to learn nifty stuff from, and I just really like the illustrated glossary, so bonus points.
<snip>

Thanks for keeping us apprised of the AUS freebies.

I downloaded this one. As you mention, it is an English-language book. Afer downloading it, I thought, at first, that I had made a mistake. The cover and the next page or two were in Norwegian or Dutch or something. As I kept going, though, it turned into English. I don't know if it is necessary or not, but I did click first on the "EN" on the webpage that you gave the URL for.

[ATDrake]

Sorry, did you mean to reply to the thread for the other book, which is the actual English-language selection?

Danske middelalderborge is very definitely in Danish, and if you use the top navbar for the link in this thread to switch to "In English", then it redirects you to the English BOTM month page and you get the download for that instead, and miss the Danish BOTM entirely.

ETA: I will note for anyone who's interested in something better than resorting to Google Translate, that there is an English-language translation of this available, Danish Medieval Castles, as both an e-book and a hardcover, but it is decidedly not free. They do have a Buy 2 Get 1 Free deal on both e-books and paper books, and if you get a paperbook, they throw in the e-book copy free as well.

[GtrsRGr8]

Originally Posted by ATDrake

Sorry, did you mean to reply to the thread for the other book, which is the actual English-language selection?

Danske middelalderborge is very definitely in Danish, and if you use the top navbar for the link in this thread to switch to "In English", then it redirects you to the English BOTM month page and you get the download for that instead, and miss the Danish BOTM entirely.

ETA: I will note for anyone who's interested in something better than resorting to Google Translate, that there is an English-language translation of this available, Danish Medieval Castles, as both an e-book and a hardcover, but it is decidedly not free. They do have a Buy 2 Get 1 Free deal on both e-books and paper books, and if you get a paperbook, they throw in the e-book copy free as well.

UPDATE: Reviewing your post immediately above, I see that you say that an English-language Danske middelalderborge is not available free. Kaupang in Skiringssal is available free in English; I've obtained it. What still has me perplexed is the fact that the titles change when you click on English, in one instance, and click on Danish, in another instance. But, I suppose that that is unimportant as far as I'm concerned--I got the English-language freebie, and that's all that matters.


Here's what's happening, using my computer, browser, settings, etc.

When I click on the link "the university's dedicated promo page" on your first AUS post today on this thread, "Free (DRM-free PDF) Danske middelalderborge [Danish Castles Architecture/Archaeology]," I am taken to a webpage in Danish for the book Danske middelalderborge (so it says next to the thumbnail of the cover, located about a third of the way down the page, on the left). When I click on "in English" (not "EN" as I erroneously said in my first reply), located at the top of the page, I get a page in English, but for the book Kaupang in Skiringssal (so it says next to the thumbnail of the cover, located about a third of the way down the page, on the left).

When I click on the link "the university's dedicated promo page" on your next AUS post today on this thread, "Free (DRM-free PDF) Kaupang in Skiringssal [Viking Archaeological Excavation Survey]," kind of the opposite occurs. I am taken to a webpage in English for the book Kaupang in Skiringssal (so it says next to the thumbnail of the cover, located about a third of the way down the page, on the left). When I click on "in Danish," located at the top of the page, I get a page in Danish, but for the book Danske middelalderborge (so it says next to the thumbnail of the cover, located about a third of the way down the page, on the left).

The practical result is that I can download, free, Kaupang in Skiringssal in English, and I have done that successfully. Of that I am certain. I cannot find Danske middelalderborge, free, in English, so I have not been able to download it.

There may be something simple that I am just not understanding or am forgetting. I do apologize if that is the case. I have repeated the above steps several times with the same result, though, so as to eliminate error on my part that I could have caught, but didn't because of failing to take that step.

[svenlind]

I will also thank you for pointing out the AUS freebies.

I don't mind that they are in Danish

[ATDrake]

Just a reminder that this will probably be the last day to pick up the freebie if you haven't already.