Talk:Sigurd the Stout/GA1

GA Review
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Reviewer: Adam Cuerden (talk · contribs) 20:29, 22 February 2014 (UTC)

Right. A strong article on a difficult subject, dealing well with ambiguity in sources. There are a few things to clear up, but they're mainly issues of phrasing, and I can't see this not being GA within a few days. 1. Lead: "these compelling stories" - that might break the encyclopedic tone a bit, as it's a value judgement.
 * I've made it "engaging" and added a note quoting Alex Woolf, who describes the O. saga as "certainly a very good read" to make it clear that this is academic opinion rather than my own.

2. Mainland Scotland: It might help to clarify "holdings" - it's a somewhat archaic usage of the word in modern English, especially in phrases such as "The latter he held from the Kings of Scotland rather than Norway".
 * Interesting - I had not thought of this as old usage, but as it does not appear on the dab page Holding (and nor had I seen the obscure Hold (title) before I looked for a link) and I have amended the language.
 * Certainly holdings is still seen, escpecially in Britain, but I think the verb form much less so. I grew up in America before moving to Britain, so I'm somewhat aware of such things. Adam Cuerden (talk) 17:38, 23 February 2014 (UTC)

3. The Hebrides: A minor quibble, but given the Christian usage of "King of Man", perhaps "Gofraid mac Arailt, King of the Isle of Man" might be better. I'm not fixed on this.
 * I had never thought of that possible confusion! The titles of these wretched monarchs were various - I have linked him to Rulers of the Kingdom of the Isles and called him "King of the Isles" instead. He is apparently also described as king of Innse Gall i.e. the Hebrides (often including Man at that stage) so I think that's fair.

4. Death at Clontarf: "iarla Innsi Orcc" might be wise to explicitly translate.
 * Sorry - I was forgetting some readers don't speak pidgin Gaelic. Done.

5. Succession and other relatives: "Thorfinn's mother is specifically stated to be a daughter of Malcolm II." - I presume Malcolm II of Scotland? If so, please be explicit.
 * He is linked higher up so I have added a phrase indicating this.

6. Interpretations: Providing an introductory sentence to the paragraph about Kjarvalr Írakonungr would make it easier to follow. The name hasn't appeared before in this article.
 * Done

As I said, these are minor points in a very long, well-written article, and I look forwards to promoting this soon. Adam Cuerden (talk) 20:29, 22 February 2014 (UTC)


 * Thanks Adam - I hope to get to most of these issues at some point today.  Ben   Mac  Dui  14:23, 23 February 2014 (UTC)
 * All attempted per the above. Ben   Mac  Dui  15:21, 23 February 2014 (UTC)
 * Methinks that will do. Pass Adam Cuerden (talk) 17:38, 23 February 2014 (UTC)