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Medieval Monday #3

Only some songbirds seem to be able to glimpse at the world beyond the cage

#nevermore webtoon #nevermore webcomic #annabel lee nevermore #annabel lee whitlock #medieval monday #medieval nevermore au #crack's art

For #ManuscriptMonday / #MedievalMonday: a cute little mole in a 13th c. English bestiary! British Library Harley MS 3244 fol 49v (England, c. 1236-1250)

#animals in art #european art #Manuscript Monday #Medieval Monday #mole #bestiary #English art #medieval art #13th century art #medieval manuscripts #illuminated manuscripts #British Library #illustration

Our bell ringer seems very serious. I wonder what she’s ringing the bells for. Any guesses? A hybrid creature with a wimple and bells

Add MS 42130 f.43r

Source: The British Library.

#medieval #manuscript #illuminated manuscript #Medieval Monday #the mediaeval monk #viktor athelstan

No Elves

Anyone who’s played Dungeons and Dragons can see the similarities between it and Lord of the Rings. It’s no secret Gygax was heavily influenced by the series. It’s especially obvious in his choice of races for D&D. Before LotR, elves were Santa’s helpers and orcs and halflings weren’t a thing. Now, they’re ubiquitous in almost every fantasy setting. Elves are nigh-immortal archers with a penchant for magic and dwarves are axe-wielding, grudge-bearing badasses. That was Tolkien. D&D is also frequently set in a pseudo-Medieval world, populated by the usual elves, orcs, etc. But what if you wanted a Medieval setting with races that were more, well, Medieval. Here’s a handful of races/heritages/bloodlines (whatever you prefer) that come straight out of the Middle Ages, ready for your fantasy world.

Panotti were a group of people with huge ears. Not like elf huge, like elephant huge. They hang down from the sides of their head like floppy sheets. They could use them like a cloak, wrapping their body to protect from the cold.

Blemmyae were easily distinguished by their lack of head. Their facial features are all on their chest. Traditionally, they were said to be cannibals but I would cut this out if they were to be a suitable player race. Maybe they encourage this rumor though, to make their warriors seem more terrifying.

Cynocephali, literally meaning “dog-head,” were a group of otherwise normal people, save for having the head of a dog, or sometimes, a jackal. The combination of human and animal, especially wolves/dogs is common through human legend. That, along with the therianthropic gods of Ancient Egypt may have inspired belief in this group. Their pictures look friendly to me. I’d lean into the dog-like personality, making them good companions and loyal friends.

Monopods, sometimes called skiapods, are one-footed humanoids who got around by hopping. In the heat of the day, they would lay on their backs and hold their foot overhead, giving them shade from the sun. They go around barefoot, leading me to believe they have very tough soles. They also strike me as shorter than the average human, but that may be overlap from C.S. Lewis’ dufflepuds. Either way, I think monopods could be a fun replacement for halflings in a Medieval fantasy setting.

Those few are just scratching the surface. There’s so much traditional, mythical, and pre-Tolkien material, one could easily populate an entire fictional world. I might expand on them in the future for a more Medieval-style setting of my own creation. I think it would be cool to flesh them out, providing detailed race options that replace the standard: dwarf, halfling, etc…

#medieval monday #dnd #d&d #dungeons and dragons #worldbuilding #dm #dungeon master #fantasy #middle ages #fiction #nerd #nerdy #ttrpg #rpg #tabletop

It's #MedievalMonday! So let's talk about Old English. I, er, know shockingly little about it. People assume since my degree was called "Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Celtic" that I'll be able to proclaim on all manner of things Anglo-Saxon, but while I had a brief dalliance with Norse I'm a Celticist through and through and my Old English knowledge is pathetic as a result. I ... actually haven't ever read Beowulf? So yeah, I'm a fraud, I admit it.

I have no excuse really. I've read Rosemary Sutcliff's retelling, and I've also read a fair bit of lit crit relating to Old English texts -- there's so little literary commentary out there for Irish material that I ended up doing a lot of comparative reading just to figure out what the methodologies were for tackling medieval texts through a lens of queer theory. Which basically means I only know about the gay parts of Old English lit, lmao. #onbrand ⁣

Middle English, now, that I can do slightly more of...⁣

The open book in the foreground is a 1908 edition of Sweet's Anglo-Saxon Reader, with annotations by three different users -- one of whom was my grandmother, although I recognise her doodle style and I'm pretty sure she wasn't hugely focused on the topic at hand, haha. ⁣

(cross-posted from Instagram)

#medieval monday #booklr #books #old english #Anglo-Saxon #asnac #beowulf #medieval

Medieval Monday #4