If the Museum Was on Fire (and Other Important Questions): Letters from the History Nook

Hello and happy Wednesday!

Next month, I’ll be heading back into one of my favourite museums to work for a day, and while telling my friends about some of the objects there, I remembered a conversation.

Myself and two colleagues were casually chatting on a quiet Sunday afternoon. The topic of “If you could only save one object from the museum, what would it be?” came up. I won’t deny, I cheated and picked 2 objects, but in my defence, they are next to each other in the gallery. I chose the Benty Grange helmet, which is my all time favourite Anglo-Saxon helmet, and an Anglo-Saxon sword which was found near tot he ancestral home of the paternal side of my family. I love that sword, and often worked with a replica of it when I worked in costume.

I can see it now, the museum is burning down because someone offended an ancient deity who decided to enact revenge… and there’s me, running out of the door, fragments of a helmet in my backpack and a sword in my hand.

Other questions I’ve considered are “What is my favourite object?” “What object would I want to add to a display?” and “Why is that in there?” Maybe I'll answer those in another letter.

This Week in the History Nook

This week I’ve been adding some resources to the History Nook website including a fully colour coded timeline of British History. I’m very proud of this one, and it is available for you to download for free in the resources section.

History Nook Resources

We also celebrated the birthday of one of our members in the History Nook server with a blog post about the bo-hiya, a Japanese weapon that has quickly become one of my favourites.

This Week in my Life

At the weekend I visited Glasgow for the first time with a group of friends. It was a tiring day, but I enjoyed being able to spend time with the people I love. I love exploring new places, and I’ll definitely be going back to Glasgow with my housemate at some point to take a lot of photos!

Leo’s Corner

When Signa told me about this “save one object” conversation, I didn’t even pretend to play by the rules. My answer? An unassuming little Roman bronze inkwell I once saw in a display case—small enough to slip into a pocket, old enough to hold centuries of whispers.

But here’s the truth, dear reader: I’d probably be right behind her in this hypothetical burning museum, my arms full of whatever I could carry without toppling over. She’d have the helmet and sword, I’d have the inkwell and a suspiciously large number of scrolls… and Index, of course, would be perched on top of the loot like a furry figurehead.

It’s not the monetary value of these things—it’s the connection. The way certain objects feel alive when you stand in front of them, like they recognise you somehow. And in that moment, yes, you’d risk a bit of divine wrath (or a very stern curator) to keep them safe.

That’s all for this week,

Signa & Leo

🐾 A Footnote from Index: 🐾

If there’s a museum fire, I will be carried out first. After that, I’m willing to supervise the heist from a safe, elevated position. Also, someone needs to bring snacks