Compiled by ALANA BENNETT
The Ceræ committee in Western Australia is busily preparing for the CMEMS/PMRG Conference to be held later this week so today’s (decidedly less formal) post is especially for those who need something amusing to distract themselves from unfinished papers, towers of marking or impending due dates…
Got Medieval
Amusing marginal illustrations, commentary on (poor) representations of the Middle Ages, almost Pratchettian footnotes (is that even a word? Let’s make that a word…), what more is there to want? This is your go-to blog for medieval humour and bizarre marginal art – you might even learn something while you’re at it!
Here’s a post about the monkey apocalypse and a marvellously snarky review of the 2007 Beowulf film to get you started.
Geoffrey Chaucer Hath a Blog
Written in Middle English, this blog is a must for medievalists. It is laugh-out-loud funny as well as educational, with links to useful resources about Chaucer and Middle English. Take, for example, this post, which begins with Chaucer and Richard III going spelunking and somehow morphs into a poem about Star Wars… Or this post in which Chaucer is distracted from writing the Canterbury Tales by his son’s ‘Exboxe CCCLX’.
For extra amusement, Chaucer also has a twitter account.
Discarding Images
A collection of amusing and often perplexing pictures and marginal illustrations. Marvel at this snail stag, gawk at the many-armed Fortuna in a stripey candy-pink kirtle of doom, be amazed by this cat playing a hurdy gurdy! Look! …a hedgehog in a tree! Regularly updated and perfect for ‘on-topic’ procrastination. Have a look at the Tumblr page and the Facebook page.
Hark! A vagrant
A webcomic by Kate Beaton, often with historical or literary content. Not always medieval but always funny. Did you know that Elizabeth I is secretly part-albatross? Or just how hard it is to make a medieval film? Or wondered about courtly love? See also this glorious piece on Macbeth.
Made of Ƿ
A new addition to my list of favourite medievalist blogs. This blog covers a variety of topics, from commentaries on misuses of the word ‘medieval’ to reviews of medievalist movies, scholarly resources and the author’s continual search for a patron. Among the best posts, in my opinion, are the memes. For example, Beowulf: You’re Doing It Wrong (complete with notes on the Old English).
