While in Venice I went to an exhibit at the Fondazione Giorgio Cini on the isla San Giorgio Maggiore called ‘Mindful Hands’ which offered up a real feast of medieval manuscripts. If that’s not your thing you may yawn, but those who enjoy these beauties may swoon over the album here. A beautiful day, a…
Category: medieval
Happy Saint Olaf Day
The viking saint, as liable to kill you as bless you; he wrought the miracle of the dice. One of my dissertation chapters (the longest one) was about him. Oh, those wacky medieval saints! [from The Broken Dice, and Other Tales of Mathematical Chance by Ivar Ekeland]
Back from Leeds
I am back and will be catching up with more London posts, but in the meantime you can see a bunch of photos from Leeds here. Thanks to Another Damned Medievalist for making me be more social than I was inclined to be without prodding; great to finally meet Dorothy Kim (yes, living an hour…
#WhanThatAprille16: Riddle 20
Jumping into spring: it’s the time when folk long to go on pilgrimages and in addition to seeking the blissful holy martyr, medievalists like to share their love of language with the world. Thanks to Chaucer Doth Tweet, the event this year is called #WhanThatAprille16 so check out the hashtag for more audio delights. Here’s…
On Medievalism and ‘Realism’
I’m going to be brief because I don’t watch the television show that prompted this post, yet I’m irritated by the notions behind a certain author’s constant defensive claims about ‘realism’ as the excuse to fill a narrative with frequent rapes of women (although seemingly the show runners are more interested in how the rapes…
Finland: Churches
Helka, Antti and Eila took me out for my last full day in the north so we could see some lovely sights. There are a couple of interesting churches in Kemi, one very modern but based on the old medieval style and the other with remnants of its medieval forebears. A little more history on…
Profiled at Eden Baylee’s Blog & News
I am profiled over at Eden Baylee’s blog today. Drop by and say hello to find out what lurks inside my mind lately. I suppose it’s the usual sort of thing, but Eden has some interesting questions that I have not had in an interview before, so maybe you will learn a few new things…
History Witch: Anglo-Saxon Death
I think the impulse that defines an academic nature is that one responds to difficult moments by turning to the past to see how others have coped with similar times. So still reeling from unexpected grief, I turn to history as I contemplate the ways we deal with the inevitability of parting from those we…
Jam, Jute and Journalism
Hello from sunny Dundee, land of jute, jam and journalism: well, it is at the moment. Sort of. Oodles to catch up on, so I will avoid rehashing the harrowing journey and just give you a couple of news items. It wasn’t that harrowing after all. I am beyond grateful for the help from Maura…
Six Sentence Sunday: The Price
Six Sentence Sunday has rolled around again: if all has gone well, I am in Dundee. After the long day of travel, I suspect I may still be in bed. Let’s hope! In the midst of packing and tying up loose ends, I was also writing (well, when am I not?). One of the things…