Morning Medieval Miscellany

Let's see how much I can get done before the supplicants come regarding their midterms:

• The medieval word(s) of the day are parchment and vellum.
• October 14th is Norman Conquest day! To celebrate, I plan to shoot an Englishman in the eye.
• I was disappointed that this story about ritual pits discovered in Bulgaria wasn't about anything gruesome.
• The MLA is doing a survey for the 2nd edition of Approaches to Teaching Beowulf.
• Drout talks about his own participation in Clash of the Gods: The Lord of the Rings. Though he's a little bit grumpy about it, it seems to me that the errors were small, and mostly those of emphasis rather than fact. Considering that it could have been a more along the lines of Monster Hunters, etc., I was pleased with it.
• A Stitch in Time is working with gold thread. Beautiful!
• Steven Till writes about A Feast for Crows.
• Karma talks about "angel knights" in Chretien de Troyes.
• The Swain discusses whether or not Kalamazoo has grown looney. If the midterms that come in later today don't wipe me out mentally, I may weigh in.
• News for Medievalists has over a dozen new articles. Don't miss it.
• Here's Kunera, a website with thousands of medieval badges and ampullae. h/t Medieval Silkwork.
• Muhlberger points us to a new translation of the Menagier of Paris, and discusses the prowess of the small of stature.
• Medieval Material Culture Blog has about a dozen new exhibits.
• Magistra et Mater discusses Louis the Pious.
• The Lost Fort has images of medieval Brunswick.
• The folks at In the Middle take offense to Chivas Regal's "Live with Chivalry" ads.
• I want to have a book launch with swordfighting too!
• The Dark Ages Recreation Company tells us how to sign up.
• If you ever want to assault a castle, all you need is a bowling ball and a bicycle wheel.
• The Heroic Age has over a dozen new posts.
• Got Medieval has your October Saints Calendar.
• Dame Eleanor Hull talks about visual memory and manuscript pages. Back in the day when I worked more regularly with manuscripts, I was deeply impressed (and envious) of scholars who could recall with accuracy the most minute details of a leaf. As for me, the other day I forgot the shelfmark of one of the two manuscripts I wrote my dissertation about!
• Archaeology in Europe has a few new medieval items.

Hooray! With only two interruptions, I finished it!