Avalon | History Beyond Myth

French Pronunciation of Abalone

NOTE: The plural form "abalones" in French sounds exactly as the singular form "abalone", as final "/s/" sound is silent in French phonology.

England's Kings were French

The Normand Kings of England did not speak English, until King John "Lackland", the first king of England since the Norman Conquest who could speak English ^{1Reference: John Lackland - Encyclopaedia
Britannica}.

In fact, King Richard not only was a mighty warrior, and a crusader King, but also inherited his mother's fine taste for music, and even composed songs, one of which has survived on to our days. In this section, you can hear "Ja Nus Hons Pris", written by Richard in old French while being kept captive by the Holy Roman Emperor returning from the 3^rd crusade.

abalone shell — Abalone shell's mother-of-pearl

The Value of Abalones

The species Haliotis tuberculata is a type of abalone, also called ormer, sea-ear, or European Abalone. It is an edible marine gastropod mollusc, that has an ear-shaped shell perforated with holes and occurs near the Channel Islands ^{2Reference: Collins Dictionary}.

Abalones have been considered a luxury product since antiquity, both for their iridescent mother-of-pearl surface ^{3Reference: Investigative Conservation of Anglo-Saxon
finds from Bloodmoore Hill, Carlton Colville, Suffolk p.10, lines 13-14
- historicengland.org.uk} used in luxurious jewelry, as well as for their meat-like flesh, still used in the finest gastronomy ^{4Reference: Truffles of the Sea -
abalonebretagne.com}.

Considered a quintessential delicacy in the Channel Island of Guernsey, the European Abalones (also called ormers), have been traditionally collected on the island for centuries ^{5Reference: Guernsey Ormers -
tasteatlas.com}.

Medieval Frankrish jewelry with abalone — Frankrish brooch with mother-of-pearl (c.650 AC) -The Met Museum, NY

Medieval Jewelry

Since antiquity and into the early middle ages, abalones were highly valued for their mother-of-pearl surface, and used to hand-craft luxurious jewelry.

The picture of this section shows a brooch dated mid-600's, from the Frankrish Kingdom, which in the early middle ages was today's northern France area around Paris. It is made of gold, mother-of-pearl, garnet, and different types of coloured glass ^{6Reference: Medieval Art, Frankrish Disk Brooch
- The Met Museum, NY}.

Abalones, the Sea Truffles

This type of abalone native to the British Isles is a forgotten delicacy. The name ormer comes from the French oreille de mer. The French prize them highly and also call them 'truffles of the sea' ^{7Reference: In search of Britain's forgotten seafood
delicacy - deliciousmagazine.co.uk} ^{8Reference: L'ormeau, la Truffe des Mers -
passionsante.be}.

The video in this section shows Michelin two starred French Chef Daniel Boulud preparing and cooking abalones as one of his top dishes at one of his restaurants in New York City.

Strategic Location

As shown on the interactive map of this section, the Isle of Guernsey is strategically situated in the English Channel, half-way between Brittany and southern Wales.

On the satellite version of the map, one can appreciate the shallow waters of the seabed sorrounding the island, which are packed with sharp rocks that step far into the ocean, creating an unvaluable natural defence, making it fairly difficult to access the island by sea.

coastline of the isle of Guernsey — Guernsey seascape

Mists of Guernsey

Its geographic position favours intense mists around its coastline, together with the shallow waters of the seabed sorrounding the island, which are packed with sharp rocks that step far into the ocean, forming an unvaluable natural defence, and making access to the island by boat fairly difficult to visitors that are unfamiliar to the island, and unaware of its perills.
Land is only accessible through very few points where, by sorting a deathly laberynth of cutting rocks and shallow waters, a small boat can eventually reach the shore on a few narrow beaches.