Brother Cynewulf

Local monk who is late to vespers far too often

[brothercynewulf]

‘Tis a cold and rained day for this month of midsummer. Ah, perhaps ‘tis better than mine tonsured scalp cooking in the sun!

[resismedievalmenagerie]

Certified Good Boys spotted in this Bestiary from ~1175. According to the Latin, "Nothing is smarter than dogs, for they have more senses than other animals, for they alone recognize their own names; they love their masters."

[bowelfly]

Sister Dot trades jokes with one of the shrew brothers

[bowelfly]

Brother Cedric

[valdevia]

Brother Alfons could never sit still during morning prayer.

A little monastic jerboa for @bowelfly!

[bowelfly]

Brother Mort the herbalist

(those are supposed to be herbs in his pockets i was just real lazy about drawing them so they ended up weird)

[bowelfly]

a peaceful brother for most of the year but an absolute terror during the annual abbey snowball fights

[bowelfly]

[bowelfly]

someone get this brother a pot of tea

[bowelfly]

ponder the chestnut

[tiffbaxter]

Carved in Stone: The Debate

I was thrilled to be one of the many illustrators contributing to @stoutstoatpress's 'Carved in Stone.' In this piece are monks from the Ionian & Roman traditions debating the calculation of Easter.

I'll be sharing more over the coming days!

[angel-derangement]

monks must have had crazy drama. all horny and bald and unwashed all together. pretty little friars

[fiollaigean]

brother what

[fiollaigean]

everyone meet my good friend Brother What, the tiny 13th century monk who lives in my phone and helps me with spelling. he's a little confused but he's got the spirit.

[fiollaigean]

it's him!!

brought to life by the incredible @loserwithanartacc

[elodieunderglass]

Brother What has a wonderful steady calligraphic hand that he uses exclusively for drawing judgementally squiggly lines under words

[mediaeval-muse]

I figured I'd use some of my actual expertise to highlight some manuscripts from the place/era of medieval literary studies that I actually have a degree in...

First up, my personal favorite:

The Junius Manuscript

The Junius Manuscript is a 10th century collection of Old English Biblical poetry (poems that are based on Bible stories and tell the stories with their own little quirks). The codex contains illustrations for about 1/3 of the available spaces, so it looks to be unfunished. Even so, I personally find the art charming.

This page, for example, depicts the Fall of Satan and the Rebel Angels. The top register depicts Satan in glory, gathering his loyal followers about him. The middle register depicts the conflict in heaven. The bottom shows the rebel angels falling and Satan being bound by chains in Hell (which itself is depicted as a beast - a hellmouth).

I also love the drawing of Noah's ark because it looks like a longship:

Here are some more scenes from Genesis:

If you want to read translations of the poems in this manuscript, you can find them here:

I didn't write about any of these poems for my dissertation, but I do remember writing a seminar paper about the term used to describe Isaac (eþelstæf) in the Genesis poem.

[sporesgalaxy]

i shouldnt be at the club i should be at a monastery. illuminating texts and shit

[hellohellomoshimoshi]

@unethicallypleistocene

[brotherhumphrey]

sitting in the scriptorium doomscrolling (looking through some ancient scrolls) (they're not very good)

[brothercynewulf]

I be'eth at the convent I be'eth at the monastery I be'eth at the combination double monastery

[mediaeval-muse]

How big is Goliath? Depends on the manuscript...