Before I post my alternate timeline to get some feedback, I want to just say that I'm glad to be here. I tried to register in the past and my registration was turned down on account of my "looking suspicious" I believe the reason was... I'm not sure why anyone would've gotten that impression, as I've never been a member here, but I'm really happy I was able to get in, cuz I've really wanted some feedback on this for awhile.
Now I know this is probably a yawn for you guys. A lot of people have probably tried to speculate on the subject of a Norman loss at the Battle of Hastings in the past. A lot of the alternate timelines I've seen on this subject have been yawns for me too. They're either radical and way too vague as to how they turn out such radical consequences, or they don't observe the possible ripples well enough, and end up being boring... to me anyways. I'm not sure about you guys.
Anyways, my attempt at this has so far tried to take in as many factors as I can think of, but simultaneously has taken a few liberties. For example, the existence of a Breton who fights his way to the top in late 1060s Brittany named Treveur al Louarn. He is completely fictional, but the name was a common name in the Breton language at the time, and since I don't elaborate on his familial background, I don't see that it much matters.
Also, my primary interest in this is actually linguistic. I'm a linguistics major, and a fluent speaker of 8 languages, and what the English language might look like had the Normans never conquered England is a subject that has always fascinated me.
Just to make sure that I'm never accused of plagiarism: there are a few ideas in here that I got from another person's timeline. I forget her name though, and I've been unable to find it online since. Specifically most of the details about how William loses, the idea that Hildebrand of Sovana never becomes Pope Gregory VII, and the further development of a rich trading culture amongst the Norse-Gaels in the Isles. After those things though, everything is pretty much mine.
So in my next post, I'll give you guys what I have so far, and then I'll await the criticism.