#medieval lit

[sunshinemoonrx]

Old Welsh lit: Dave punched Steve. This incurred a fine of twelve cattle and a nine-inch rod of silver and is known as one of the Three Mildly Annoying Blows of the Isle of Britain

Old Irish lit: Dave punched Steve so that the top of his skull came out of his chin, and gore flooded the house, and he drove his fists down the street performing his battle-feats so that the corpses were so numerous there was no room for them to fall down. It was like “the fox among the hens” and “the oncoming tide” and “that time Emily had eight drinks when we all know she should stop at six”

Old English lit: Dave, the hard man, the fierce man, the fist-man, gave Steve such a blow the like has not been seen since the feud between the Hylfings and the Wends. Thus it is rightly said that violence only begets more violence, unless of course it is particularly sicknasty. Amen.

#medieval lit #old english #medieval irish #medieval welsh #táin #beowulf #mabinogi

[transelot]

Gawain at all times

#this overlaps with legends AND hnoc #arthuriana #gawain #arthurian legend #medieval literature #medieval lit #hnoc

[malorydaily]

Resources for Malory Daily

12-day countdown before we start reading Le Morte D'Arthur together! Ahead of the read-a-long, I've put together a folder of resources that include the texts that will be used, including editions of both Caxton and Winchester versions.

General folder of resources.

Straight to the texts.

Additionally, I've broken down secondary literature by theme - if you happen to have suggestions for other reading or have a pdf you would like me to upload to the drive, let me know!

A non-exhaustive list of reading themes included:

Death

Disability

Gender and Sexuality

Space and Geography

Material Culture

Community and Context

Text and Malory

The Grail

War & Opposition

Politics

I expect to add more folders and pdfs to this collection as I continue the process of going through my university hard drive, so check back in for more. Let me know as well if for any reason one of the links is broken.

#malorydaily #arthuriana #arthurian literature #le morte d'arthur #medieval lit #resources #thomas malory #medieval literature #15th century

[tchaikovskyed]

if i hypothetically started a malory daily substack where we read all of the l'morte d'arthur with a companion tumblr where I wrote down thoughts and discussed criticism would this meet with public approval and or enthusiasm

#arthuriana #arthurian mythology #thomas malory #medieval lit #medieval #medievalism #ka.txt

[blackcrowing]

Book Review of Ireland's Immortals: A History of the Gods of Irish Myth by Mark Williams

While I genuinely enjoyed reading this book, given that it is absolutely packed FULL of information regarding the early written works of Medieval Ireland, I personally struggled with the overly 'anti-nativist' interpretations of absolutely everything.

I think if you study enough mythology you will come to have a healthy appreciation for the 'grey' areas in life, and when it comes to interpreting the meanings and understandings behind the Irish literature regarding their pagan past I find the 'grey' exceedingly nessicary. As Williams himself points out the learned men of Ireland consisted of both literary monks, firm members of the church, and the filid, a type of political/historical secular learned men who were something of a hangover from the druid class of pre-Christian times. He also points out that the Irish as a peoples held great skepticism for 'untrue stories' and intellectually gives space for the Christian learned to work their pagan past into the new world order as a way to elevate themselves into a position of being 'special' even in their pagan past.

But with all of this noted I found Williams' analysis frustrating in regards to when he chooses to pursue 'nativist' thinking vs 'non-nativist'. Williams' seemed, to me, to have a tendency to excuse any potentally original concepts found in Irish writings, or at least shared IE traits, off as metaphors for biblical tales or political powers, failing to even entertain the idea in most cases that (as with many oral stories) it could be both. The writers could have easily taken the existing pagan stories and weaved subtle changes into them to accommodate them to a modern audience without throwing the baby out with the bathwater. We have modern retellings of fabels all the time and generally they are still recognizable as the original story regardless of modern adjustments to reflect the current time. On the flip side he also seems to take what appear to be clear later additions, like the physical deformities associated with the Formorians, and simple write it off as being missing from earlier texts because the author was ignorant of them or wished to avoid them.

Don't get me wrong, I think this book is an must have addition to a personal library of anyone seriously interested in the Irish literary tradition, Williams provides a absolute mountain of research history and provides an invaluable introduction to the stories, history and themes around early Irish writtings. I just believe that his personal views on the subjects can be troubling and one should be aware of what they're getting and adjust their expectations accordingly.

#book #books #book review #review #Ireland's Immortals #Mark Williams #early irish literature #mediveal #medieval lit #medieval irish literature #blackcrowing

[earthytzipi]

I refuse to let the white supremacists have arthuriana and medieval aesthetics. I am Jewish and queer and autistic and I Refuse To Let You Have It. I will wear the pretty dresses and have long hair and elaborate braids and I will be wearing a Star of David and keeping tznius and kashrut the whole time bitches. Be Mad

#arthuriana #antisemitism #medieval #medieval core #medieval lit #king arthur #vent #jewish #jumblr #jewish middle ages

[crazy-walls]

i just saw in your tags that you have a fave medieval blorbo? not to be nosy but like if you ever feel like talking about him i'd definitely love to read it! (yes i could look him up myself, but where's the fun in that?)

i haven't talked about my boy ortnit in far too long so i absolutely love that you asked and am more than happy to use this opportunity, thank you!!

setting the scene: it's the mystical time that all medieval middle and northern european heroes live in (sometimes at the same time, sometimes a generation or maybe five apart, but like, quite a while ago even for the 1200s onward). here in lampart - italy for us modern peasants - near lake garda there's the coolest, toughest, strongest, richest ...hero... to be. his name is ortnit. [or otnit, medieval authors don't really care about spelling.]

you see, he's the young king of lampart but he's not fully there yet to having the perfect kingdom, because obviously he needs to have a queen to rule said kingdom with. after much consideration, his uncle is like "well, there's this utterly beautiful, virtous (for a savage heathen) princess* somewhere in the middle east but you must not - and i repeat - not go after her because her heathen father machorel will kill you if you take away his daughter. as in, literally chop off your head. because he wants to marry her himself when his wife is dead." [i'd say this is a setup on the uncle's part but medieval characters Just Are Like That.]

obviously, because he's the coolest and strongest king and a complete dumbass, ortnit has to go and get said daughter to marry him. his mother, of course, is anything but thrilled. and you see, ortnit is quite the mama's boy, but no matter how much she pleads with him not to go he is dead set on it, and if he's already on the way anyway he might as well turn that into some kind of crusade. so his mother gives him A Ring and sends him off on a little adventure (=aventiure) first, saying that The Ring will guide him - and it does. The Ring takes him to the dwarf alberich who promises to give him the best armor, the very best sword and also be his Helper. this is kind of a Whole Job in medieval epic poems. oh, also, the dwarf is actually ortnit's biological dad who raped his mother - but that's cool; and gracious as he is, ortnit forgives his mother for her "infidelity" to who he always thought was his actual father. #menwritingwomen or something.

ortnit gets his cool armor and even cooler sword and sails off with his knights towards what is later labeled syria. on the journey his knights think he's insane because dwarf-daddy alberich is invisible to anyone but the wearer of The Ring and ortnit is talking to thin air him. anyway, they reach syria and dwarf-daddy plays invisible matchmaker by insulting and threatening machorel. [this could actually be a setup. jury's still out on that ~800 years later.]

long(ish) aventiure short: there's a siege on the castle, then a big battle, meanwhile invisible dwarf-daddy convinces the princess to come with him and marry ortnit to save her father. blackmailing with a beloved family member's death, such a strong basis for a healthy marriage. she also gets christianed on the run because duh. can't marry some random fucking heathen.

right after that dwarf-daddy has to save the day again and fight machorel because ortnit basically faints on his horse. they make it back to the ship unharmed and sail back to italy. machorel is Not Happy. and he has A Plan: as a ""conciliation gift"" he sends a hunter with two huge eggs to lampart; they'll into a magical "toad" and "elephant".

as we all know, elephants do not hatch from eggs. unfortunately for ortnit, our italian king does not know that. he WILL find out, though. eventually. when the eggs have hatched and two huge dragons are terrorising lampart and eating everything and everyone in their way. and since he's the coolest, toughest, strongest, richest king and responsible for this disaster he is the one who has to slay those dragons. so he dons his armor and heads straight for - you guessed it - dwarf-daddy. alberich, however, is Not Happy either, refuses to help ortnit once more [again, this might be a setup]. he advises him to Not, Under Any And All Circumstances, Fall Asleep. ortnit pouts, throws The Ring at alberich's feet and rides off to find the dragon(s).

the dragon** is rather good at hide-and-seek, though, so ortnit rides and rides and rides. and gets tired. and decides to just have a small rest. and promptly falls asleep.

apparently, dragons also have a sixth sense for sleeping kings. the dragon creeps close, sees that delicious meal-in-a-can and - without even waking ortnit up - carries him to his offspring who SLURP HIM RIGHT OUT OF HIS ARMOR. [-> "sougen in durch daz werc" - "saugen ihn aus der rüstung" - the armor actually stays fully intact which is important since ortnit's tale is later followed by wolfdietrich who slays the dragons, gets the armor and marries ortnit's widow]

the end.

no, really. that's how ortnit dies. slurped out of his armor by dragons the SECOND his mother and biological father can't/refuse to help him. so there he is, this young, strong, pretty, heroic dumbass fratboy of a king who can't get shit done on his own. he has like half a braincell. he is literally Doomed By The Narrative. and i'm utterly obsessed with his ineptitude and death.

*please note that the syrian princess doesn't even have a name in the first versions of this epic poem so i'm not using one, sorry girl. she's later called sidrat tho.

**suddenly it's only one dragon who has two baby dragons, there are a few theories about how the offspring being conceived by those first two dragons is a parallel to the incestuous obsession machorel has with his daughter

#medieval #13th century #again thank you!! put in a read more because this got WAY out of hand i just haven't had a good chance to talk about him for like 4 years #you can see several typical medieval motifs that absolutely inspired tolkien who did quite a lot of research on medieval sagas #i have some more medieval blorbos but ortnit is my number 1 #and like. ortnit was still a pretty well-circulated &-known tale in the 1800 and the first half of the 20. century. only that ALL retelling #of his story paint him as this heroic young capable king who just gets unlucky by *mumbling* ~*somehow* getting eating by a dragon whoopsie #they also leave out all the super sexist & weird stuff and frame him as a Good ChristianTM #ortnit my beloved #he's such an idiot and i'm obsessed. like. he's a terrible character. but he's also SO FUN. #anyway this was medieval literature with k #or should i call it aventiure with k perhaps #medieval lit #personal #i guess #did i just spend the past 45ish minutes on this? perhaps. #ortnit

[abracazabka]

John Milton: this is my work "Paradise Lost" where I elucidate the Fall of man and the relationship between God and Satan. I do this to show that faith takes much effort, and to show that we as humans--

Me: woag Satan is so slay

John Milton: please no not again

#lit #classic lit #medieval lit #british lit #paradise lost #john milton

[morgana-apologist]

I moved into an apartment so that my collection of beowulfs would finally have a home <3

#the first thing i said after unpacking all of these was damn is that it i thought i had more #also only one of these is a duplicate translation and i do have 2 possibly 3 more translations in anthologies that are elsewhere #if anyone had additional beowulf translations that you recommend please let me know! #beowulf #medieval literature #medieval lit #grendel #literature #ghost posts

[beheadinggame]

Gonna take a moment at this ripe hour of 4 am to shout out my boy Bisclavret who is about to discover his wife has stolen his clothes, thus condemning him to be trapped in the form of a wolf.  But don’t worry! What happens next will shock you

#bisclavret #medieval lit #marie de france #i love her work but goddamn i Cannot Read French so translations it is

[sunshinemoonrx]

Medieval literature and poetry is an incredible journey of like [reads Beowulf] oh that's where Tolkien got all that [reads a synopsis of the Finn cycle] of that's where Tolkien got all that [hears two sentences about the song of Roland] oh that's where Tolkien

#lotr #medieval lit

[performing-medievalist-nostalgia]

L'morte translated by Keith Baines is WILD nonsense I love it, Sir Balin just draws this lady's strap I mean girdle sword and is like "Mine Now" and she says it is cursed but he keeps it anyway and it's not even a big plot point lmao

#le morte d'arthur #le morte #arthuriana #keith baines #medieval lit #illuminations tag

[malorydaily]

Welcome to Malory Daily!

STARTING SEPTEMBER 3RD 2023.

Following in the footsteps of many other daily Substack editions, this is the companion Tumblr blog which will collect and collate resources, discussion, and thoughts on Le Morte D'Arthur.

This is a daunting project, as Le Morte D'Arthur is 21 books long, although each chapter is very short, but it's such a complex text that there will be a lot to discuss, and I hope to include an accompanying semi-academic post with each chapter on an interesting topic, ranging from critics interpretations, text/myth variations, character studies, an examination of the themes, and general analysis.

Use the tag #malorydaily for posts, discussions, thoughts, fan art of Thomas Malory, Gawain & Lancelot kissing, etc,

The Substack

September 2023 timeline.

Full timeline.

[NEW!] Gdrive of resources

Hosted by @tchaikovskyed. Feel free to send me any suggestions on how things could be improved or what you'd like to see more of.

#arthuriana #arthurian mythology #arthurian legend #medieval #arthurian literature #medieval literature #thomas malory #medievalism #king arthur #le morte d'arthur #medieval lit #malorydaily

[leohtttbriar]

To receive the poem from this other direction is to acquire the familiar outlines unfamiliarly, to reconceive their foreignness and difference. Morgan, named "þe goddes," directs an emissary to the Arthurian court to trigger a drama whose intended destination is Guenevere, the secular queen who is the desired audience or reader of its effects. A player, Gawain, is drawn into Morgan's game, under the apparent patronage of the "heuenquene," the Blessed Virgin. In the course of his journey, Gawain's supplication to this Christian goddess for a safe residence in which to perform Christian religious rites, a plaint invoking the personal name of this sacred mistress, Mary (736-39, 754), seems to occasion the appearance of the castle where an aggressively secular courtly mistress (the nameless Lady) resides--the scene for the performance of amatory rites. [...] The end limit of her play is signaled by the Virgin's rescue of "hir knyʒt" from "[g]ret perile." Finally, when the feminine subscript is read to him, Gawain in self-defensive fury attributes all responsibility and power to women, in what is commonly cited as his "antifeminist diatribe," a tirade witnessing the belief that women dominate and shape the destinies of men. [...]

This familiar-unfamiliar story transmits the registers of the feminine text, whose key players are curiously elusive, enigmatic women. Plans initiated by one woman are directed at another, performed by a third, and modulated by the actions of a fourth: read in this fashion, the romance is the theater of its feminine figures, a field in which forces of tension and filiation circulate within a feminine relay. Each woman, moreover, even the most shadowy (the Blessed Virgin and Guenevere, who exist principally as names and attenuated presences), is intricately elaborated in multiple identifications with every other woman, so that a sense of the limits of individual identity is never accomplished, troubled always by the repeated crossing over of division among the women. The result is the emergence of a feminine example in the text of identity as plural, heterogenous, and provisional, elusively reforming elsewhere just as it might seem most fixedly locatable.

"Feminine Knots and the Other: Sir Gawain and the Green Knight," Geraldine Heng

#thinking also now about how the story of the trojan war is like this distant drama between women #eris and aphrodite and helen and athena and penelope and andromache #medieval lit #literary analysis #sir gawain and the green knight #god also imagine the sapphic tension between morgan and guenevere or EVEN better morgan and the virgin mary

[justoceanmyth]

New bellweather question to ask myself about my actions: “Would Alisoun Wife of Bath be proud of me?”

#medieval lit #she invented the word girlboss #absolute icon #...minus the domestic violence part

[boxofdicks]

#thesis work #poll #marie de france #medieval lit #middle english