Donuel, unfortunately I missed the alignment of the planets because it was cloudy here. It was declared as a once-in-1000-year event and I missed it. I'll have to watch it next time. LOL

Piers, I started re-reading Beowulf in Old English a few years ago but I got sidetracked and stopped. It was a bit of a struggle remembering some of the words but I was enjoying it. I was motivated to re-read it because I saw a Beowulf movie on TV. It was a dark and gritty rendition, not a Hollywood version.

Bill D, I read everything I could find of Marion Zimmer Bradley, including the Darkover series, and the Mists of Avalon series. In the MoA series it always struck me as funny that Merlin's birth name was Kevin, because a Kevin or Kev here in Australia is usually one of the blokes you meet at the pub or a plumber or builder etc, with a big Aussie personality. Merlin? No!! So I had to suspend my disbelief every time I saw his name in the books. LOL