tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-137136422024-03-19T03:48:28.095-05:00Unlocked WordhoardHim se yldesta andswarode; werodes wisa, wordhord onleac.
"That noblest of men answered him; the leader of the warrior band unlocked his wordhoard."Dr. Richard Scott Nokeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01348275071082514870noreply@blogger.comBlogger1390125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13713642.post-39152467394875146362013-09-04T11:03:00.003-05:002013-09-04T11:03:55.568-05:00The Ending of Shakespeare's King LearIn the latest Professor Awesome, PhD video, I explain about how the history of the legendary medieval King Leir affected the way Shakespeare's audiences experienced the ending of his play, <i>King Lear</i>.<br />
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<a href="http://blip.tv/ProfessorAwesome/the-ending-of-shakespeare-s-king-lear-6637570">http://blip.tv/ProfessorAwesome/the-ending-of-shakespeare-s-king-lear-6637570</a>Dr. Richard Scott Nokeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01348275071082514870noreply@blogger.com197tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13713642.post-83644507026602584152013-08-30T13:17:00.002-05:002013-08-30T13:17:25.681-05:00Dragon*Con 2013 Free E-Book Give-Away!Planning to attend Dragon*Con? Here's how to get a free copy of "Alfgar's Stories from <i>Beowulf</i>" (available in <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Alfgars-Stories-from-Beowulf-ebook/dp/B00B66DB6M" target="_blank">Kindle</a> or <a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/alfgars-stories-from-beowulf-edward-l-risden/1114369154?ean=2940016394176&isbn=2940016394176" target="_blank">Nook</a>), or "Old English and Samwise Gamgee's Genealogy" in <a href="http://www.amazon.com/English-Samwise-Gamgees-Genealogy-ebook/dp/B004PYDFEA/" target="_blank">Kindle</a> or <a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/old-english-and-samwise-gamgees-genealogy-richard-s-nokes/1113645560?ean=2940012673916&itm=1&usri=2940012673916" target="_blank">Nook</a>.<br />
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<a href="http://blip.tv/ProfessorAwesome/dragon-con-2013-free-book-give-away-6635758">http://blip.tv/ProfessorAwesome/dragon-con-2013-free-book-give-away-6635758</a>Dr. Richard Scott Nokeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01348275071082514870noreply@blogger.com40tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13713642.post-7762374088135924632013-08-17T11:18:00.002-05:002013-08-17T11:18:41.061-05:00Professor Awesome Presents "The Wanderer"In my alter-ego as Professor Awesome, I talk about Wyrd (fate), Boethius, and <i>Lord of the Rings</i> in "<a href="http://blip.tv/ProfessorAwesome/the-wanderer-6630616" target="_blank">The Wanderer</a>."Dr. Richard Scott Nokeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01348275071082514870noreply@blogger.com103tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13713642.post-64835511425174360712013-08-16T13:30:00.002-05:002013-08-16T13:33:45.385-05:00The Origins of English: Old EnglishThe first of the new season of Professor Awesome Presents is here!<br />
<a href="http://blip.tv/ProfessorAwesome/origins-of-english-old-english-6627742" target="_blank">Professor Awesome Presents the Origins of English: Old English</a><br />
<a href="http://blip.tv/ProfessorAwesome/origins-of-english-old-english-6627742"></a>Dr. Richard Scott Nokeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01348275071082514870noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13713642.post-72998224375081345682012-03-31T16:01:00.002-05:002012-03-31T16:08:56.632-05:00Witan Internship Available<a href="http://www.witanpublishing.com/">Witan Publishing</a> is now seeking a qualified intern for opportunities in e-publishing medieval scholarship. Some graduate education in medieval scholarship strongly preferred. Initial duties may include some copywriting, editing, and client relations. Applicants should send a cover letter and CV to inquiries@WitanPublishing.com, with the subject heading "Internship Application."Dr. Richard Scott Nokeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01348275071082514870noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13713642.post-45287740227313557442012-03-26T10:51:00.002-05:002012-03-26T10:54:56.571-05:00Lego Battle of MaldonHere's a Lego Battle of Maldon. I'd have preferred Old English narration and Modern English titles, but hey, this is a really good version.<br /><br /><iframe src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/Zuxv5I0dH6w" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" width="420"></iframe><br /><br />Thanks to Elizabeth Carnell for pointing this out over at the MyFace/SpaceBook.Dr. Richard Scott Nokeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01348275071082514870noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13713642.post-59406861264327613032012-03-23T08:18:00.002-05:002012-03-23T08:27:01.997-05:00Stephen Fry and Ian McKellen Battle the Forces of MordorI have long feared that a certain unnamed pizza place famous among medievalists (one that I frequent in early May of every year *hint*hint*) would lose its identity to a copyright lawsuit, and this appears to be what almost happened to <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hampshire-17433036">a pub called "The Hobbit."</a><br /><br />Fortunately, Stephen Fry and Ian McKellen (the latter playing Gandolf in the LotR films and the upcoming film adaptations of <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0903624/"><span style="font-style: italic;">The Hobbit</span></a>) have agreed to pay the copyright license fee so the pub can keep its name.Dr. Richard Scott Nokeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01348275071082514870noreply@blogger.com21tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13713642.post-81989362039540393882012-03-05T08:44:00.006-06:002012-03-05T08:53:06.559-06:00Intensive Old English OnlineI've been asked many times if I'll ever teach an online Old English course, and the answer I always have to give is "Dunno. I'm not in charge of the schedule."<br /><br />But here's your chance! The Swain is teaching one this summer. Here are the details:<br /><br /><pre style="background-color:transparent;padding-left:3px;padding-top:5px"><blockquote><pre style="background-color:transparent;padding-left:3px;padding-top:5px">English 3390/5390: Intensive Old English<br />Summer 2012<br />Dr. Larry J. Swain<br />Bemidji State University <br /><br /><br />Textbooks: Reading Old English: An Introduction<br />by Robert Hasenfratz and Thomas Jambeck <br />A History of Old English Literature by Michael Alexander <br />Recommended:<br />The Anglo-Saxons James Campbell <br /></pre></blockquote></pre>Dr. Richard Scott Nokeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01348275071082514870noreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13713642.post-11598565848305430222012-02-10T08:27:00.001-06:002012-02-10T08:28:29.212-06:00Fark Alert<a href="http://www.fark.com/comments/6922161/Theme-TV-shows-in-Dark-Ages">Fark</a> has a photoshop contest on the theme of "TV Shows in the Dark Ages." Enjoy.Dr. Richard Scott Nokeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01348275071082514870noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13713642.post-60233187456954833672012-01-27T08:39:00.002-06:002012-01-27T08:50:29.491-06:00Medieval Make-A-WishIs it wrong that I'm insanely jealous of <a href="http://www.seacoastonline.com/articles/20120127-NEWS-201270332">this boy's Make-A-Wish</a>? Sure, he's got desmoid fibromatosis, but he's also got his own castle, flanked by folks from the <a href="http://nhrenfaire.wordpress.com/">New Hampshire Renaissance Faire</a> and the <a href="http://www.rainasmind.com/neville/index.shtml">Neville Companye</a>. Check out the photo gallery to see just how cool it is.<br /><br />Has anyone else noticed just how many medieval reenactors are involved in Scouting as well? I'm curious as to why that is. My gut impulse is to say they are drawn to the places where Scouting values coincide with chivalric values ("A Scout is trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean, and reverent.").Dr. Richard Scott Nokeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01348275071082514870noreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13713642.post-72714806291139487332011-12-07T08:10:00.002-06:002011-12-07T09:29:25.599-06:00Medieval Cuisine and AgricultureIn the article "<a href="http://waldo.jaquith.org/blog/2011/12/impractical-cheeseburger/">On the Impracticality of a Cheeseburger</a>," Waldo Jaquith writes:<br /><br /><br /><blockquote><br /><br /><p>Further reflection revealed that it’s quite impractical—nearly impossible—to make a cheeseburger from scratch. Tomatoes are in season in the late summer. Lettuce is in season in spring and fall. Large mammals are slaughtered in early winter. The process of making such a burger would take nearly a year, and would inherently involve omitting some core cheeseburger ingredients. It would be wildly expensive—requiring a trio of cows—and demand many acres of land. There’s just no sense in it.<br /><br />A cheeseburger cannot exist outside of a highly developed, post-agrarian society. It requires a complex interaction between a handful of vendors—in all likelihood, a couple of dozen—and the ability to ship ingredients vast distances while keeping them fresh. The cheeseburger couldn’t have existed until nearly a century ago as, indeed, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_hamburger_in_the_United_States">it did not</a>. </p></blockquote><br />So often when we think that such-and-such a food was not around in the European Middle Ages, it's because the ingredients are New World. For example, you'll sometimes hear that medieval people thought tomatoes were poisonous, which is preposterous because medieval (European) people didn't think about tomatoes <strong>at all</strong>, having never seen them (here's Melissa Snell's <a href="http://historymedren.about.com/od/dailylifesociety/a/bod_tomatoes.htm">accurate account of tomatoes in Europe</a>). Medieval people didn't have potatoes, peanuts, squash, green beans, turkeys, chili peppers, corn, chocolate, etc.<br /><br />What Jaquith's article made me wonder, though, was what modern dishes we eat that could not have existed in the Middle Ages not because of distance between new world and old, but because the harvest times of the various ingredients were so different that one could not practically make them. Since vegetables were often pickled to preserve them, I'm imagining certain kinds of salads that we take for granted today might be impossible without wilted or pickled ingredients.<br /><br />I've worked on a farm in my youth, but it was with modern planting, harvesting, and so many of the plants were New World that I really have no idea about medieval agriculture -- but I'm sure many out there do. What modern dishes were impossible or impractical in the Middle Ages?Dr. Richard Scott Nokeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01348275071082514870noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13713642.post-6472647535627230452011-12-06T08:41:00.001-06:002011-12-06T08:43:10.451-06:00Medieval Times, ChicagoOccasionally I'll have people ask me what it is like attending one of the "Medieval Times" dinner theaters. This review of the <a href="http://www.chicagonow.com/arkielad/2011/12/medieval-times-a-review-of-a-magical-evening/">Medieval Times in Schaumburg</a> (near Chicago) gives a pretty good sense of what it's like.Dr. Richard Scott Nokeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01348275071082514870noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13713642.post-31761932293138290272011-11-29T13:06:00.008-06:002011-12-01T08:45:35.257-06:00Benjamin and the Printing PressRecently I've been exchanging e-mails with an 8th-grader named Benjamin, who asked my help on his school project:<br /><br /><blockquote>I am working on a National History Day project about the Gutenberg Printing Press’s effects on economics, education, and religion. National History Day is an annual competition with this year’s theme being “Revolution, Reaction and Reform in History.” The participants have a choice of different ways of representing their topic; I have chosen to create a website. In general, I am looking for responses that link back to the overall theme of “Revolution, Reaction and Reform in History.”<br /></blockquote><br /><br />He then went on to ask various questions, some of which I can answer quite easily, but some of which many others out there in the blog-o-sphere have a great deal more expertise, so I thought I would post his questions, my responses, and invite others to add more in the comments section. Benjamin, there are many Professors Awesome out there, and I'm hoping many of them will chime in to make your website great!<br /><br /><strong>Economic<br /><br />1. What were the key economic advancements caused by the printing press?<br />2. Did the Gutenberg printing press put scribes/monks out of work, the same way the industrial revolution later did to other trades. Was this the beginning of<br />machine taking over man, so to speak?<br />3. For the following three questions, I am especially looking at the role of the<br />Author. Specifically, what were the jobs/ businesses…<br />a) lost due to the printing press? How did this affect the world?<br />b) created by the printing press? How did this affect the world?<br />c) enhanced by the printing press? How did this affect the<br />world?<br />4. How did the rise of newspapers affect Europe? </strong><br /><br />It's hard to really put a finger on the key economic advancements caused by the printing press -- obviously, there were so many, and an uncountable number of those created indirectly by rising literacy and education.<br /><br />The printing press didn't exactly put monks or scribes out of work. Monks support their calling in a lot of different ways, so it isn't like the printing press put them out of business. In fact, even today at the <a href="http://christdesert.org/Seeking_God/Scriptoria/index.html">Benedictine Abbey of Christ in the Desert</a> some monks still continue as scribes, though in a new technological medium. Also, you have to remember that the printing press is essentially only useful for mass production -- just think of all the things you handwrite every single day. I think it's more fair to say that the printing press transformed the job of the scribe.<br /><br /><br />Nor would I say that the printing press heralded the beginning of machine taking over for man -- far from it! In order to get something into print, we have to intervene in any number of ways, from editing, to setting type, etc. So, fewer people were needed to produce more books, right? But instead of that leading to fewer people working on producing books, this simply made books more affordable and drove up the demand for books. Don't believe me? Just think of all the people today whose main job it is to produce print texts today. According to the <a href="http://www.ala.org/ala/professionalresources/libfactsheets/alalibraryfactsheet02.cfm">American Library Association</a>, there are over 340,000 paid librarians and staffers in America alone. The <a href="http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos320.htm">Bureau of Labor Statistics</a> tells us there there are more than a quarter of a million writers and editors in America alone. So, just in America alone, we have well over half a million people whose sole job is to produce and maintain texts -- once we add in the myriad other jobs (publishing, distributing, manufacturing presses, maintaining presses, etc), I'm pretty confident that the number in the US alone would run over a million. That means that across the world, MILLIONS of people find their primary occupation in producing and maintaining texts. The printing press didn't really put scribes out of work; it created a huge market for mass-produced texts.<br /><br /><br /><strong>Educational<br />1. Were there any key educational reforms by the printing press? I know that literacy rates sky rocketed, but what were the effects of that? Also, how did the printing press effect educational institutes, such as Universities?<br />2. Would you say the printing press was a/the major cause to the starting of the Renaissance? Why or why not? If not, what was its relationship to the Renaissance?<br />3. Was there a concept of intellectual property/ copyright before the printing press and how did it change?<br />4. How did the education of the lower class affect post-medieval life?<br />5. Where there any negative educational responses or reforms? If so, what were they?</strong><br /><br />Way back at the end of the 9th Century, King Alfred the Great pushed an ambitious universal literacy project, but even that project was only intended to foster universal literacy in aristocratic men. The printing press made books so affordable that literacy could expand out through the culture. Some of the ideas we take for granted (such as democracy) rely on a broad number of literate people.<br /><br />Others might disagree with this, but I would suggest that the immediate effect of the printing press on universities was smaller than we might think. Universities continued for a long time to be centers of religious training, and so already had the financial backing of the Church to provide libraries. Some of the biggest costs of a university education (land, support for instructors, time off from money-making enterprises by students) weren't really affected by the printing press, so a university education continued to be the purview of the clergy and the upper class (or at least the upper-middle) until the 20th century. The idea that a university education should be available to everyone regardless of social class is a pretty recent one. That being said, like secondary education (high school), mass university education is only really possible because of the printing press.<br /><br />When the Renaissance begins, and what it means, is really at the center of your question. A lot of medieval scholars (myself included) reject the term "Renaissance" since it means "re-birth," and seems to suggest that the intellectual life of Europe in the Middle Ages was dead. As I like to point out to my students, in the Middle Ages philosophy was a spectator sport, and a lot of the stifling uniformity of the Roman Empire disappeared allowing for greater innovation. Guys like me call the period after the Middle Ages the "Early Modern" period. Some people mark the beginning of the Italian Early Modern period as starting with the 14th century, before the printing press, but I really think the printing press is both the pinnacle of medieval technology, and the end of it. Certainly early modern literature begins with the printing press, because certain new genres (such as the novel) really only come into vogue because of the press.<br /><br /><br /><strong>Religious<br />1. How much did the Printing press affect the spread/start (of) the Reformation?<br />2. How badly was the church hurt/ changed by the Reformation?<br />3. Did the printing press have any other effects on Christianity? Did it change any other religions, or the concept of religion?<br /></strong><br /><br />Although there were proto-Reformation forces around long before the printing press (such as the <a href="http://www.exlibris.org/nonconform/engdis/lollards.html">Lollards</a>), it is hard for me to see how they could have had more than temporary success without the printing press. For example, the Lollard Bible was banned in 1407, but banning a book that has to be copied by hand is way easier than banning one that can be mass produced. As for how badly the Church was hurt, that's a touchy question. For example, the <a href="http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12700b.htm">Catholic Encyclopedia</a> says "Incalculable harm was thereby wrought from the religious standpoint," whereas Reformation Day is a religious holiday among many protestants, who obviously think it is a great thing. My own opinion* is that the Reformation is just another expression of tensions that have existed in the Church since Peter and Paul feuded, and as such both Roman Catholic and Protestant Christians are blessed by it since <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Proverbs+27%3A17&version=NIV">iron sharpens iron</a>.<br /><br />We're getting away from the issue of the printing press a bit, though. Naturally, the printing press has had other effects. The Bible is the bestselling book in history (this may be one of the reason the <em>New York Times</em> bestseller list does not include religious bookstores; otherwise, the number one book would never change). Recently, the Roman Catholic Church mades some <a href="http://www.romanmissalchanges.com/">changes in the Roman Missal </a>-- detailed changes in wording that are only possible after the invention of the printing press.<br /><br /><br /><strong>General<br />1. What was the standard of medieval literature (prior to the Gutenberg printing press) in terms of length, quality, content, and messages conveyed and how did that change with the Gutenberg printing press?<br />2. I learned through my studies that the Black Death killed off so many people, that the remaining people had to come up with innovative ways of doing tasks like bookmaking, hence the printing press. Were there any other ways that the Black Death influenced the printing press?<br />3. I also learned that during the Black Death the Pope advocated self-flagellation that spread chaos and disease. The Pope later recanted his support for this, thus causing people to doubt the power of the Christian church, which helped to fuel the Reformation. Where there any other connections between the Black Death and the printing press?<br />4. Where there any disadvantages of a scribe/monk for making books other than the speed and cost of their writing?<br />5. Do you know of any other people knowledgeable about my topic who I could interview? Could I have their contact information?<br />6. Do you have any other materials (websites, book titles, databases, videos, photos, recordings, etc.) that you can recommend to me? In the website I am making on my printing press project I am hoping to incorporate the digital materials for all of the previously mentioned. </strong><br /><br />I've heard this argument before about the Black Death leading to the printing press, but I'm not sure what to make of it. Because so many monks died, the argument goes, there were fewer scribes, driving up the cost of books and leading to inventions such as the press. I'm skeptical of that argument, since the death of so many non-monks also would mean that there would be less <em>demand</em> for books as well. Of course, the Black Death did not kill people off evenly (it isn't like the Angel of Death lined everyone in Europe up and went "live, live, die, live, live, die, live, live, die..." like some morbid game of duck-duck-goose), so if I saw some research showing that a greater number of monks had died, I might buy it. Right now I'm not knowledgeable enough to say anything more than that I'm skeptical of these claims.<br /><br /><br /><p><br />One thing I'd like to point out abou the length and content issues of the printing press is that (as I previously mentioned) it opened up the possibility of affordable pleasure reading. Novels, for example, don't really exist before the printing press**, because who has the money for such a thing? Long texts tended to have their roots in oral recitation, but the rise of the printing press led to a fall in oral poetry (and I suspect also poetry in general). You can probably name dozens of living novelists off the top of your head, but how many living composers of epic poetry can you name? Every time an epic poem or saga suddenly appears on the bestseller lists, it is a new translation of a pre-modern poem, not an original composition.</p><br /><p>Oh yes, and about the disadvantages to being a scribe -- as someone who has copied medieval manuscripts, I can tell you that it really makes your hand ache. I've done all sorts of hard farm work and come back from the job bloodied and bruised, and that doesn't happen when you're a scribe, but my hand locks up in a claw position after a few days of writing, and it hurts like the dickens. I doubt this led to the rise of the printing press, but since you asked about the disadvantages, I thought I'd throw that in there.</p><br /><p>As for other people and websites, I'd like to throw that out to the blog-o-sphere. Many of my colleagues out there are much more knowledgeable than I am on one element of this or another, so I invite them in the comments below to suggest their own books, articles, and websites that might help you with your project.</p><br /><p>Good luck!</p><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">*Full disclosure: I'm a non-denomination Christian who is currently a member of a PCA Presbyterian church.</span><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">** Some will argue that this-or-that early text is the first novel, but I don't really see anything pre-printing press that I think counts, and even if someone could find an example or two, these would be oddities.</span>Dr. Richard Scott Nokeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01348275071082514870noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13713642.post-46398109461639796732011-10-31T09:05:00.003-05:002011-10-31T09:07:12.226-05:00Early Medieval Historian NeededAny early medieval historians interested in giving a submission to Witan Publishing a look-see? If so, don't comment below -- e-mail me at <a href="mailto:rsnokes@WitanPublishing.com">rsnokes@WitanPublishing.com</a> .Dr. Richard Scott Nokeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01348275071082514870noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13713642.post-39601036806184158272011-10-28T13:44:00.002-05:002011-10-28T13:50:07.589-05:00Team BisclavretIn honor of Halloween, I present to you the story of <a href="http://www.english.ufl.edu/exemplaria/marie/bisclavret.pdf">Bisclavret</a>, a werewolf tale by Marie de France from the 12th Century. While others are on Team Edward or Team Jacob, as a medievalist I'm on Team Bisclavret.Dr. Richard Scott Nokeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01348275071082514870noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13713642.post-23867375329010029122011-10-24T09:24:00.002-05:002011-10-24T09:35:47.015-05:00A Very Viking HalloweenFeel like terrorizing northern Europe this Halloween? Feel like settling strange new lands to the west? I know I do!<br /><br />The copy on this website selling Viking Halloween costumes sounds like it was plucked from a middle school paper on the Vikings, and liberally sprinkled with the word "fierce."<br /><br />For example:<br /><blockquote>They used Longboats which allowed them to cross open seas or sail up shallow rivers to expand their conquests. Known to be highly skilled sailors the Vikings used Longboats which had both sails and oars.</blockquote><br />Uh huh. OK, aside from the redundancy and the terrible rhetoric, how is this supposed to make me want to buy a viking costume? It isn't like any of them come with sails and oars.<br /><br />Maybe I'm supposed to think, "Hmmmm, I want to go as a seafaring barbarian for Halloween this year, but I cannot choose between one who prefers oars or one who prefers sails. Wait! Look at that! The vikings used both? You had me at 'longboats!'"<br /><br />So, just remember, if you're not certain who to be for Halloween, "Dress up and be Cnut the Great who was possibly the greatest Viking King who has been nicknamed the Emperor of the North."Dr. Richard Scott Nokeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01348275071082514870noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13713642.post-63693085418911022412011-09-19T08:07:00.002-05:002011-09-19T08:25:28.556-05:00Talk Like an Early-Modern Sea-Going Outlaw DayToday is <a href="http://www.talklikeapirate.com/piratehome.html">International Talk Like a Pirate Day</a>.* It got me thinking about why there's no "International Talk Like a Knight Day" or some similar equivalent.<br /><br />Our sense of what it means to "Talk Like a Pirate" comes from Robert Newton's performance of Long John Silver in <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0043067/">Disney's 1950 version of <em>Treasure Island</em></a>. You can get a sense of it from these clips:<br /><br /><object width="560" height="315"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/MTSEfUyEsu8?version=3&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/MTSEfUyEsu8?version=3&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="560" height="315" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object><br /><br />So, in the popular imagination, what do people in the Middle Ages talk like? Having attended enough SCA events and Ren Faires, I'm thinking it's supposed to be some approximation of Early Modern courtly speech, but is there some common origin like "pirate" talk that can be traced back to some Errol Flynn movie or something? Has anyone out there done any research on this?<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-size:78%;">*Or, "Arrr, it be International Talk Like a Pirate Day."</span>Dr. Richard Scott Nokeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01348275071082514870noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13713642.post-52230244436516544192011-09-14T08:46:00.002-05:002011-09-14T08:54:03.039-05:00“Ovide moralisé” Translation GrantAt first I thought $210k was an absurd amount for a <a href="http://baylorlariat.com/2011/09/14/8516/">translation of an obscure<span style="font-size:85%;">*</span> medieval text</a>, but then when I realized it was 72,000 lines of poetry (!) I thought, daaaaang! That's about 25 times longer than the longest thing I've ever translated (<em>Beowulf</em>), and no doubt will be challenging as heck -- at least I had the benefit of a century of other people translating those pesky hapax legomena in <em>Beowulf</em> to help me out.<br /><br />So, congratulations to Dr. Sarah-Jane Murray! I'm looking forward to reading that paperback when it comes out.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-size:78%;">*To be fair, it may be obscure <em>because</em> it hasn't been translated.</span>Dr. Richard Scott Nokeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01348275071082514870noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13713642.post-56440080206279888842011-09-13T08:58:00.001-05:002011-09-13T08:58:29.546-05:00New Edition of BeowulfHere's the new edition of <em>Beowulf</em> I'd like to see.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.cracked.com/photoplasty_105_23-situations-about-to-go-horribly-awry_p23/#18">http://www.cracked.com/photoplasty_105_23-situations-about-to-go-horribly-awry_p23/#18</a>Dr. Richard Scott Nokeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01348275071082514870noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13713642.post-21184800342251677072011-07-08T20:19:00.002-05:002011-07-08T20:22:49.078-05:00Snorri the MuppetYou'll have to get to the end of <a href="http://www.cracked.com/article_19283_7-ancient-forms-mysticism-that-are-recent-inventions_p2.html">this Cracked article </a>for the medieval pay-off, but my favorite line:<br /><blockquote>Pretty much everything we know about Scandinavian paganism comes from the Eddas, two books compiled in the 13th century by a guy with the hilarious, Muppet-like name of Snorri Sturluson.</blockquote>Dr. Richard Scott Nokeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01348275071082514870noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13713642.post-20675670552088987802011-05-31T23:28:00.002-05:002011-05-31T23:34:30.874-05:00Farai Chansoneta Nueva<iframe src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/D5ASRy4_rXA" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="349" width="560"></iframe><br /><br />A translation and original verse can be found <a href="http://www.trobar.org/troubadours/coms_de_peiteu/guilhen_de_peiteu_08.php">here</a>. The opening:<br /><br /><i>I shall write a new little song<br />before it turns windy, cold and rainy:<br />let my mistress assay and test me<br />so she'll learn in which fashion I love her;<br />and certainly, come hell and high water,<br />she won't free me from her snares.</i>Dr. Richard Scott Nokeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01348275071082514870noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13713642.post-87737600612755920682011-05-27T01:08:00.002-05:002011-05-27T01:12:31.313-05:00Cracked on Medieval Sieges<a href="http://www.cracked.com/blog/the-6-craziest-sieges-in-history/">The 6 Craziest Sieges in History</a> over at cracked starts out with a take on a medieval siege that sounds like the way people talk at Biblo's Saturday night at the Congress after the third pitcher of beer has been emptied. My favorite line:<br /><blockquote>So after two months of watching the tower get taller and the people inside it get fatter, the Vikings came up with a very Viking plan: fill the river with dead bodies so they could attack from every side.</blockquote>Dr. Richard Scott Nokeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01348275071082514870noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13713642.post-44510728283580991372011-05-13T18:01:00.003-05:002011-05-13T18:17:52.580-05:00K'zoo FridayWe were really, really busy at the <a href="http://www.wmich.edu/medieval/congress/">Medieval Congress</a> at Kalamazoo today. We had a lot of people who were just curious, a lot who wanted us to save their journals (which we will), and a lot who had monographs to pitch.<br /><br />So, let me take this time to honor an early adopter of <a href="http://www.witanpublishing.com/">Witan Publishing</a>, <a href="http://theruminate.blogspot.com/">Larry Swain</a>. Larry's book should be out in June (pending editing stuff), so he's on the cutting edge of academic publishing. He's got a really fine edition of Aelfric's Letter to Sigeweard we can't wait to make available.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRCZkrV8aUodbedWlZRdCf1UmBOVFBfLkicPyCEWgybLMGZmHcPThu537Q96eQZ8D4uw7j1DV40DGEBlpLiEsZDVtYo42qWDABVN2hbbM7jSY-vAW3NZB2gWAE_1n0AFbPfLcEEg/s1600/LarrySwainKzoo.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 299px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRCZkrV8aUodbedWlZRdCf1UmBOVFBfLkicPyCEWgybLMGZmHcPThu537Q96eQZ8D4uw7j1DV40DGEBlpLiEsZDVtYo42qWDABVN2hbbM7jSY-vAW3NZB2gWAE_1n0AFbPfLcEEg/s400/LarrySwainKzoo.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5606341271636044610" border="0" /></a> <div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Larry with the sign promoting his book. More promotions to come online!</span><br /></div>Dr. Richard Scott Nokeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01348275071082514870noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13713642.post-14164703930593983512011-05-12T09:32:00.000-05:002011-05-13T15:35:05.899-05:00Patricia Bracewell, "Royal Hostage"We're doing brisk traffic here at the <a href="http://www.witanpublishing.com/">Witan Publishing</a> book at Kalamazoo, and one of the nice things about being set in a central location is that I'm getting to meet everyone I know.<br /><br />In addition to seeing old friends, I'm meeting new. I just met historical fiction author Patricia Bracewell, who is currently working on a book entitled <span style="font-style: italic;">Royal Hostage</span> about Emma of Normandy.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYORBIAQupurN8QNRUEcnFmgHevveP0seXW44toHRYSEYLUu82ATxuuSVPr_9oPrZmDE71Jp0a9AE4pjJ-O_OxhnIHzwBOBc-Oa42kx2RuniTdn0t1tPSYPRWiJCenOAqA0XwSAQ/s1600/PBracewell.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYORBIAQupurN8QNRUEcnFmgHevveP0seXW44toHRYSEYLUu82ATxuuSVPr_9oPrZmDE71Jp0a9AE4pjJ-O_OxhnIHzwBOBc-Oa42kx2RuniTdn0t1tPSYPRWiJCenOAqA0XwSAQ/s400/PBracewell.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5605839104490894530" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:85%;">Patricia Bracewell and me ... and some poor woman accidentally photobombing us.</span><br /></div>Dr. Richard Scott Nokeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01348275071082514870noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13713642.post-18299482512294781352011-05-11T16:28:00.000-05:002011-05-13T15:35:06.360-05:00Grrrr ... Amazon!Amazon.com now has a new policy that you can't post books for free -- which really stinks because we intended to offer our sample book for free starting this week.<br /><br />So, in the meantime, you can still buy "Old English and Samwise Gamgee's Genealogy" on both <a href="http://www.amazon.com/English-Samwise-Gamgees-Genealogy-ebook/dp/B004PYDFEA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2&s=books&qid=1305149627&sr=8-1">Amazon</a> and <a href="http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Old-English-and-Samwise-Gamgees-Genealogy/Richard-S-Nokes/e/2940012673916/?itm=4&USRI=nokes">Barnes & Noble</a>, but it'll cost you a dollar. We're now going to try a work-around to allow the slightly more tech-savvy to download it for free on our website, but that's not quite available yet.<br /><br />If you don't want to pay and don't want to wait, just come by our booth -- we'd be delighted to show it to you for <span style="font-weight: bold;">free</span>, without Amazon or B&N getting their cut.Dr. Richard Scott Nokeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01348275071082514870noreply@blogger.com3