Morning Medieval Miscellany

Larry Swain has finished writing his dissertation! In related news, pigs have been seen winging overhead and the temperature in Hell has dropped to 32 degrees! Seriously, congratulations to The Swain, a favorite of many in the blog-o-net-o-sphere-o-thingie. In addition to my congratulations to The Swain, I also would like to congratulate all of you who posted all this interesting stuff medievalist stuff:

• Heavenfield has a post on King Oswald's patronesses, with beautiful images of stained glass.
• Henchminion went to the International Sword and Martial Arts Convention. I didn't even know such a group existed.
• Jennifer Lynn Jordan has a recipe for Shrewsbury Cakes, along with a little narrative that follows. Oddly, the recipe calls for no shrews.
• The Heroic Age has an update with like a bazillion CfPs. Well, OK, more like fifteen, but that's still a lot.
• Heroic Dreams discusses samurai swords and medieval Japan.
• Over at In the Middle, it's raining Dinshaw, from Karl Steel's post on queer theory and farting, to JJ Cohen's memory of meeting her. Mary Kate Hurley also gets in on the action.
• Also over at ItM, they've got details on a symposium on "Touching the Past," and JJ Cohen's latest edited collection, Cultural Diversity in the British Middle Ages is now in print. In related news, I agreed yesterday to edit a companion piece to Global Perspectives on Medieval English Literature, Language, and Culture, after telling all my friends, "if I ever agree to do another edited collection, kill me in my sleep." I eagerly await being put out of my future misery.
• Dr. Virago has more images of castles -- quite lovely.
• The Medieval Historical Fiction Novel of the Week is Elizabeth Chadwick's The Winter Mantle. I went around looking to see if that's her real name, since it sounds to me like the character in a Jane Austen novel, and found out that there are two Elizabeth Chadwicks -- one American and one English. I still don't know the difference between the two, but here's the English one talking abour the Middle Ages.
• Miss Medieval is making Ballyhagan shoes, an Irish slipper.
• Even if you don't understand Italian, listen to this video of Benigni reciting Inferno I at Miglior Acque. It was so beautiful, I now forgive him for Pinocchio.
• Indirections has a post on eccentric bodies.
• Chris Abram over at Old Norse News comments on John Stanley Martin's article, "The teaching of Old Icelandic at the University of Melbourne 1944-2007" -- the subject of which you can probably figure out without my help. Unfortunately, that program is no more.

That's it for now. Check back later in the day -- I'm planning another post.