tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32931062009-06-29T12:12:36.983-07:00Opinionated musing on things digital and medieval, particularly those that are Celtic, involve digital manuscripts, digital text, or otherwise strike my fancy.Lisa L. Spangenberglisa@digitalmedievalist.comBlogger155125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3293106.post-13096261473018864452009-05-09T14:37:00.000-07:002009-05-09T14:39:05.964-07:00

There aren't a lot of Irish words in English, but there are some. See for instance, slew and slogan.

Lisa L. Spangenberglisa@digitalmedievalist.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3293106.post-26359498065075936222009-04-13T15:22:00.000-07:002009-04-13T20:32:39.472-07:00

From the Seattle PI blog, quoting Amazon spokesperson Drew Herdener:This is an embarrassing and ham-fisted cataloging error for a company that prides itself on offering complete selection. It has been misreported that the issue was limited to Gay & Lesbian themed titles--in fact, it impacted 57,310 books in a number of broad categories such as Health, Mind & Body, Reproductive & Sexual Medicine,

Lisa L. Spangenberglisa@digitalmedievalist.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3293106.post-46860765632476050872009-04-12T16:17:00.000-07:002009-04-13T13:11:10.402-07:00

On Amazon.com beginning April 10, 2009, sales rankings of hundreds of books Amazon considers to be gay and lesbian began disappearing. These are not porn, most aren't even romance or erotica. These are all books that Amazon subject metadata identifies as having gay and/or lesbian interest. Mark Probst, author and publisher, broke the news here. He wrote to Amazon as a publisher, and received

Lisa L. Spangenberglisa@digitalmedievalist.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3293106.post-54192327349567989692009-03-19T20:47:00.000-07:002009-03-19T20:50:18.993-07:00

I've posted on Emain Macha here. I wish I could link to some of J. P. Mallory's research, but not any of it is available online, not even the articles from Emania.

Lisa L. Spangenberglisa@digitalmedievalist.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3293106.post-23820362229921517582009-03-17T12:32:00.000-07:002009-03-17T12:42:09.694-07:00

I've been blogging for dollars elsewhere, of late. But it occurs to me that this post on Guinness might interest some people, as might this post on Patrick, Bridget, Beer and fulacht fiadh. It is a little disconcerting to discover how very few people in the U.S. even realize that Patrick was a Brythonic speaker, that is, he was from Britain, and almost certainly spoke an ancestor language of

Lisa L. Spangenberglisa@digitalmedievalist.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3293106.post-6928962522656435402008-12-24T20:50:00.000-08:002008-12-24T20:55:00.841-08:00

26 But in the sixte moneth the aungel Gabriel was sent fro God in to a citee of Galilee, whos name was Nazareth, 27 to a maidyn, weddid to a man, whos name was Joseph, of the hous of Dauid; and the name of the maidun was Marie. 28 And the aungel entride to hir, and seide, Heil, ful of grace; the Lord be with thee; blessid be thou among wymmen. 29 And whanne sche hadde herd, sche was troublid

Lisa L. Spangenberglisa@digitalmedievalist.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3293106.post-4093106481665145232008-10-30T14:35:00.000-07:002008-10-30T15:19:15.178-07:00

It's the time of year when I start seeing incredibly daft posts about the antecedents of Halloween, particularly Samain (Samhain, for you moderns). This year, I've created an FAQ about Samain, and what it means. For those of you already in the know, here's a link to a translation by Kuno Meyer of the very odd Echtra Nera, mostly based on Eg. 1782. Echtra Nera is a tale tied closely to Samain, and

Lisa L. Spangenberglisa@digitalmedievalist.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3293106.post-52549653491562032202008-10-23T17:24:00.000-07:002008-10-23T17:25:30.598-07:00

Professor Nokes, over at Unlocked Wordhoard, has announced Happy Cotton Library Day, in celebration of those manuscripts that didn't burn in the fire of 1731, and solicited our responses regarding our favorite Cotton MS. It's a hard question, actually. There are a lot of really important, and really famous ms. in the British Library's Cotton collection. You can see a complete list here, and a

Lisa L. Spangenberglisa@digitalmedievalist.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3293106.post-57037259801217559872008-10-17T11:36:00.000-07:002008-10-17T11:38:35.515-07:00

The Benedictine monastery of Reichenau was founded in 724, and by the Carolingian era, was one of the most important scriptoria in Europe, with particularly strong ties to Ireland.Baden State Library in Karlsruhe has released high-quality digital images of 224 fragments (some small pieces, other several folios) from the Reichenau library. The site is here. Notice that "fragment" is used very

Lisa L. Spangenberglisa@digitalmedievalist.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3293106.post-65309809765194152582008-09-03T08:28:00.000-07:002008-09-03T08:36:37.019-07:00

Carl S. Pyrdum of Got Medieval has created Quondam et Futurus, a new Arthurian Wiki. His invitation in part reads:My goal for the site is to create an encyclopedia of Arthurian knowledge accessible enough for the lay, non-academic audience (fanboyspeople included) and detailed enough to be useful for academics, too, a place where you can read about Malory's changes to the story of Pelleas and

Lisa L. Spangenberglisa@digitalmedievalist.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3293106.post-10067580237501832822008-08-19T09:11:00.000-07:002008-09-01T20:23:33.760-07:00

In honor of Professor Nokes' birthday, and given his interest in weasel blogging, I present the following: According to medieval bestiaries, with help from Pliny the Elder and Isidore of Seville, "the weasel conceives through the mouth and gives birth through the ear"—Isidore, after describing this genetic miracle, says it is false, but that didn't stop John Davies from using it in a sonnet.John

Lisa L. Spangenberglisa@digitalmedievalist.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3293106.post-65330048474883745812008-08-18T20:24:00.000-07:002008-08-19T17:49:34.190-07:00

I note that the "muddled" site has this to say for itself: In response to a prior restraint order requested by a university close to government, this blog will be shut down. The owners and contributors will do their utmost to resist this form of censorship.Thank you for reading, and for the emails of support.In other words "The lurkers support me in email."Yeah. Right. And I was expecting

Lisa L. Spangenberglisa@digitalmedievalist.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3293106.post-9244640488136774412008-08-14T21:14:00.000-07:002008-08-16T19:40:01.502-07:00

You know, I'm the first to admit that about 85% of In the Middle sails right over my head— and it's not because I'm uninterested, or completely uninformed about medieval studies and theory. I suspect my estrangement is partly because I'm very literal and philologically minded; partly it's a difference in our approach to texts. I am, however, positive about two things.Whether or not I can follow

Lisa L. Spangenberglisa@digitalmedievalist.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3293106.post-46813433504817898752008-08-03T19:08:00.000-07:002008-08-03T19:14:15.085-07:00

“I want you to paint your catapult! I want you to name your catapult! I want you to love your catapult!” instructed John Wineburg, director of the Medieval Survivor Tournament at Adventureland Day Camp.

Lisa L. Spangenberglisa@digitalmedievalist.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3293106.post-88993026774044974022008-07-23T17:49:00.000-07:002008-07-23T23:02:02.502-07:00

She turned about her milk-white steed, And took True Thomas up behind, And aye wheneer her bridle rang, The steed flew swifter than the wind. "Thomas the Rhymer A" Child 37 The horse she rode on was dapple gray, And in her hand she held bells nine; I thought I heard this fair lady say These fair siller bells they should a' be mine. "Thomas the Rhymer B" Child 37 In the first branch or tale

Lisa L. Spangenberglisa@digitalmedievalist.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3293106.post-34187886417455526392008-07-22T17:57:00.000-07:002008-07-22T18:11:27.420-07:00

The Codex Sinaiticus is one of the most important mss. we have, and the oldest extant New Testament. The fourth century (c. 350) Greek ms. is over 1600 years old and contains the complete Bible in Greek, including the oldest complete copy of the New Testament. The other central "complete" ms. bible is Codex Vaticanus, which varies in several ways from this carefully corrected ms. The Codex

Lisa L. Spangenberglisa@digitalmedievalist.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3293106.post-757660821317828762008-07-12T08:38:00.000-07:002008-07-12T08:41:23.818-07:00

The 2009 Medieval Congress at Kalamazoo call for papers is out. The 2009 Congress dates are May 7 through the 10th. The Web page is here.

Lisa L. Spangenberglisa@digitalmedievalist.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3293106.post-14924485590137746592008-07-05T18:05:00.001-07:002008-07-05T21:51:31.827-07:00

I created a group on Ning, a social networking site, as an outreach mechanism for other medievalists interested in outreach and pop culture, and, well, anyone with an interest in the connections between medieval studies and popular culture. Here's the official blurb: We are interested in things medieval. We welcome all interested in medieval cultures, history, languages, arts and a scholarly

Lisa L. Spangenberglisa@digitalmedievalist.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3293106.post-59457397942118919812008-05-29T23:18:00.000-07:002008-07-12T16:34:07.149-07:00

Charlotte Allen has written an exceedingly silly article about this year's Kalamazoo International Conference. Scott Nokes has a list of the various responses here. I want to draw attention to some aspects of the article that I think haven't really received as much attention at they ought.Allen asserts that "One session was entirely devoted to medieval blogs, including a paper comparing the works

Lisa L. Spangenberglisa@digitalmedievalist.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3293106.post-25002552379931919262008-05-11T19:36:00.000-07:002008-05-11T20:48:07.935-07:00

I'm going to be doing a link-post to others who are blogging Kalamazoo, and maybe add some general impressions of my own, in a bit. I've uploaded my paper on medieval fairies, and speech and silence in Sir Orfeo, Thomas of Erceldoune, and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight "'They are fairies; he that speaks to them shall die': Speech and Silence in Medieval Fairy Narratives" here. Mostly I'm smug

Lisa L. Spangenberglisa@digitalmedievalist.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3293106.post-42677205741287941952008-05-10T12:26:00.000-07:002008-05-10T21:41:18.555-07:00

I've decided to live-blog a blogging session at the 2008 Medieval Congress at Kalamazoo. I'm not a transcriber, so I'm not in any way doing the presenters the kind of justice their thoughtful papers deserve. The session was organized by Elisabeth Carnell, Western Michigan Univ., and Shana Worthen, University of Arkansas–Little Rock, with Elizabeth Carnell presiding. These are the papers that

Lisa L. Spangenberglisa@digitalmedievalist.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3293106.post-30691115710339823492007-12-24T17:24:00.000-08:002007-12-24T17:55:53.718-08:00

The angel Gabriel from heaven came, his wings as drifted snow, his eyes as flame; "All hail," said he, "thou lowly maiden Mary, most highly favored lady," Gloria! "For know a blessed Mother thou shalt be, all generations laud and honor thee, thy Son shall be Emmanuel, by seers foretold, most highly favored lady," Gloria! Merry Christmas.

Lisa L. Spangenberglisa@digitalmedievalist.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3293106.post-32057052784842005272007-11-10T20:38:00.000-08:002007-11-10T20:51:02.558-08:00

Requiem aeternam dona eis, Domine: et lux perpetua luceat eis. Carol, the beloved wife of Richard A. Lanham, died November 5, 2007 of a brain hemorrhage at age 71. Her husband of fifty years was at her side when she died. Carol was born in Englewood, NJ on January 18, 1936, the daughter of Irma P. and David W. Dana. She was educated at Marblehead High School, Marblehead, Massachusetts; and at

Lisa L. Spangenberglisa@digitalmedievalist.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3293106.post-82733823472259198302007-10-21T13:32:00.000-07:002008-04-14T19:06:02.959-07:00

This is the third in a series of posts about fairies as other. I promised, in my first post, to concentrate on fairies as other, particularly in the context of sex and death, because, as MacAllister Stone notes "other is all about sex and death." Last time I looked at the tragic death of Bridget Cleary, burned because her husband Michael thought Bridget was the victim of a fairy abduction. This

Lisa L. Spangenberglisa@digitalmedievalist.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3293106.post-6974013016752572352007-10-13T18:14:00.000-07:002009-01-22T20:19:04.333-08:00

Are you a witch?Are you a fairy?Are you the wife Of Michael Cleary?—Children's rhyme from Southern Tipperary, IrelandI promised in my first post on fairies as other to look at a fairy intrusion in nineteenth century Ireland, specifically, the fairy burning of Bridget Cleary.In March of 1895 Bridget Boland Cleary was a trained seamstress, with a good eye for fashion, who owned her own Singer

Lisa L. Spangenberglisa@digitalmedievalist.com1