Cocleae, lytle sneglas. @snegel - Tumblr Blog

Some wacky illustrations for a short dissertation I wrote for my Masters, exploring the relationship between medieval illuminations, marginalia, and online ads.

Markers on cartridge paper.

#OP I want to read it #marginalia

cuties-in-codices

neptune with his entourage

miniature from a copy of evrart de conty's livre des échecs amoureux, illuminated by robinet testard. the manuscript was produced in cognac (france), c. 1496-98

source: Paris, BnF, Français 143, fol. 130v

finnlongman

You know, I've seen manuscript abbreviations that looked like text-speak, but hand-drawing emojis to stand in for the word ceann (head) in a passage about Cú Chulainn being beheaded is taking that all to a new level

(The line from another manuscript: "Is ann sin d'éirgedar datha aille iongantacha do cheann Choingculoinn")

Manuscript is RIA 23 H 10, Oidheadh Con Culainn, written in 1808.

finnlongman

BREAKING NEWS HE DID IT AGAIN

"a cheann do bheith ar an ngad" but obviously when talking about heads on sticks we should just draw a ☹️ instead

finnlongman

He just keeps doing it. Every time somebody gets beheaded in this text, the word "ceann" gets replaced with 😐 And a lot of people get beheaded in this text (thanks Conall), so this happens a lot.

"Do bhain an 😐 de" He struck the head from him

finnlongman

#can he just not be arsed to write beheaded or is there some kind of taboo around the word

He actually does write the word beheaded (/behead/beheading) multiple times, haha (including multiple times in that first photo). It's the word head he avoids, though not always (he writes it out in the second line of the last picture). This is the only manuscript of the 50+ I've consulted that does this, and it's from 1808, so I don't think there can be any cultural reasons to avoid it. I think he's just entertaining himself, to be quite honest.

This is, after all, the same scribe who gave us this joyous beast:

Which I think is a horse. But I mostly think that because this word is the name of one of Cú Chulainn's horses, not because it actually looks too much like one. It's very cute.

efemmera-archive

Manuscript illumination depicting a lesbian couple kissing and a gay male couple embracing from the Moralized Bible of Vienna (1220s).

This illustration is one of the only explicit depictions of female homosexuality known from the medieval era.

hideback

Book of Hours of Isabelle de Lalaing, Cambray, 15th Century

suchajocundcompany

and to you, my honored mutuals, i bequeath my most treasured possession:

this screenshot of the word “anime” in a late 12th-century bestiary

suchajocundcompany

never fear, honored mutuals! any who missed out on the apportioning of my treasured anime screenshot shall be awarded:

this bird from a different medieval bestiary who calls you gay!

shredsandpatches

I would like to add another gift to the pile for all of you:

english-history-trip

Sometimes you gotta keep it simple:

talesfromtheenchantedforest

incredible Kay roast, including all of Nigel Bryant's footnotes for all of the relevant topical references:

Kay cried, provokingly [to Perceval]: "Where are your companions, sir? How long have you been in these parts? Ah, you've been off with the Lombards! Slaying the slug, eh? [25] How brave of you! Did you kill that dread, horned beast with a spear or a club? The lords and knights will be thrilled that you've come! When they hear you've arrived they'll be delighted to have your company! But if you've come to the tourney to compete, Sir Audigier, [26] your horse has had it! The mastiffs are waiting for him to die - they'll keep him for when they're observing Lent: he's nothing but skin and bone! And what's happened to your helm? Looks like the hens have been at it with their beaks for the last two years! What devils possessed you to take leave of your land? Ah, I know! You want to avenge Forré — no, Morholt, that's it! [27] Well, you'll have the chance before nightfall, if you're so inclined." --- [25] The Lombards were traditionally accused of cowardice, and "slaying the slug" was a proverbially derisory act. [26] The hero of La Chanson d'Audigier, a scatalogical parody of a chanson de geste [27] "To avenge Forré" was an expression implying a delusional mission, and may have been a reference to a pagan king killed by Roland; "to avenge Morholt" refers specifically to Tristan's killing of Morholt when he demanded tribute from King Marc.

— Gerbert's Perceval continuation, trans. Nigel Bryant

english-history-trip

#!!!

margisnailia

when a hog steals your pants and you have to hunt it down with an ax

book of hours, use of st. omer, c. 1318-25

the british library, ms 36684, f. 31r

english-history-trip

#many such cases

beaft

Top ten medieval animal illustrations in manuscripts

(vibrating intensely with barely repressed excitement) yeah sure that sounds like something i could do

FIRST PRIZE GOES TO:

(from a french book of hours, c. 1400s)

sad mandolin-playing cat with its vulva out. i love this cat so much. i have a picture of it on my wall and one time i thought about it while i was high and it made me laugh so hard that i nearly threw up. sad mandolin-playing cat with its vulva out is my favourite medieval animal; there is no contest, nothing comes close.

SECOND PRIZE:

(from the gorleston psalter, east anglia, angland, c. 1310-24)

i'm a really big fan of weapon-wielding rabbits in medieval art. it was hard to pick just one, but i eventually chose this guy: a gleeful rabbit getting ready to whang the king's head off with a big axe (king's expression suggests forlorn resignation).

drolleries of murderous rabbits crop up a lot in 13th and 14th-century manuscripts - sometimes jousting, sometimes overseeing executions, sometimes riding into battle on the backs of other animals - and it's generally thought to be a form of carnivalesque comic subversion, upending the stereotype of the rabbit as a meek, docile prey animal. there's a fun article about rabbits in medieval art here, if you want to see some more examples.

THIRD PRIZE:

from Der naturen bloeme, the netherlands, c. 1350)

i think this is supposed to be a mussell, but God, just look at him. he's perfect. ideal body, peak performance, no notes.

as for the remaining 7:

4. crows holding a Very Important Meeting

5. old (mer)man yaoi. well actually i don't know what's going on here but it seems intimate

6. forg

7. distressed lion receiving a manicure

8. a brave attempt at an elephant

9. happy little bat :3

10. the oldest cat you have ever seen

i hope you enjoy these beafts as much as i do!!

discardingimages

rabbit hood

Gorleston Psalter, England c. 1310-1324

BL, Add 49622, fol. 202v

discardingimages

snailchicken

book of hours, Bruges ca. 1500

Baltimore, Walters Art Museum, Ms. W.427, fol. 57r

discardingimages

useful creature

book of hours, Flanders c. 1300-1310

Baltimore, Walters Art Museum, W.37, fol. 187v

salemwitchtrials-deactivated202

buying a second hand book & being able to see underlined quotes from the previous owner is so cool. you found that line life changing? moving? earth shattering? … being able to see what has caught someone else’s eye when you may not even have noticed it is truly something