Medieval Living

Steven Till was one of my very first contacts as I entered the world of blogging. I appreciated his assistance and comments regarding my blog, and still frequent his blog. A few days ago, I had a comment by a young lady who caused me to consider what other bits of information I should be including here. So yesterday, I posted a brief note about some articles written about applied Medievalism and in particular, teenage girls becoming Medieval nerds. Of the teenage girl nerds whom I know, and especially those with a Medievalist bent, I have noticed that they are avid readers, devouring any and all stories with a Medieval and/or fantasy theme. They can’t seem to get enough of it. Well, I thought it appropriate to point out Mr. Till’s writings – he has a few of his short stories posted on his blog - “The Ravens Beneath the Ash”, “The Sea-Ghost”, and “Exeter Burning”. Whether teenage girl nerd or not, I would suggest you visit Steven’s blog and enjoy these three wonderful stories. Thank you, Steven, for some wonderful writing.

Dr. Richard Nokes was one of my the first blogs I posted into my blogroll – I enjoy his writings and musing on Medieval history, and he has honored me by adding my blog to his blogroll as well. Thank you. Back in 2008, Dr. Nokes wrote an article entitled “Applied Medievalism and Me”. It was in response to another author’s article, “Applied Medievalism” by Jeff Sypeck. I enjoyed reading both of these articles, but what really caught my attention was a third author’s response . . . “Why Teenage Girls Become Medieval Nerds: A Very Long Exposition”, found on The Naked Philologist’s blog. Being a high school teacher and also a member of the Society for Creative Anarchonism, I have the opportunity to observe teenage girls . . . and yes, there are actually quite a few who could be classified as Medieval Nerds. Anyone who visits “roll playing” sites on the web will quickly note the significant number of girls playing Medieval fantasy rolls. (Yes, you need to filter out the guys who are pretending to be girls playing Medieval fantasy rolls – the web is the web!)

So . . . teenage girls . . . if you find yourself being a bit of a Medieval nerd, you will find an ally in The Naked Philologist – whom I believe would categorize herself as Medieval nerd (just maybe a little older?) At any rate, for those teenage girls (and for the parents of teenage girls), take a look at all three of these articles – I am sure you will find them enlightening, amusing, entertaining, and, if you find yourself falling into the Medieval nerd category, very supportive.

I’d like to report that Medieval Game Night was such a huge success that I need to rush out to the workshop and make a dozen more Morris boards to use the following week . . . but . . . that’s not the case. As with any new endeavor, the results do not always match the hopes and expectations. Unfortuantely, Thursday night’s attendance was zero. The chess club had a nice turn-out . . . I think there were about 10 people at last count. But my little corner of the world was rather lonely. Meh – I wasn’t really expecting throngs of people and news reporters and police officers directing traffic. Any number of things could have prevented people from attending.
So . . . next week, we will try again. A little more effort on my part to advertise the event . . . and maybe a few more weeks of no one showing . . . but in due time, there will be some one interested and . . . and that’s all I am really hoping for at this point . . . to bring one other person into an awareness of some of the activities of people in the Medieval era. Then in another week or two or three, another person might find some interest . . .and so on. Patience, damn it, patience!!! Oh . . . as always, Starbucks makes a good cup of joe, so the night was not a total waste. And Barnes and Noble always has a few good books to read – found one on chainmail jewelry which was nicely done!

While searching for more Medieval circa 14th Century tid bits, I came upon a very delightful site, advertising Sir Justyn of . . . Australia! It seems that Sir Justyn travels about Australia putting on demonstrations and performances on life in 14th Century England. Hmmm – just one more example of the international level of interest in Medieval times. Sir Justyn makes his way to a variety of Medieval festivals, children’s gatherings, and even a birthday party or two! The site has some nice information on 14th Century England, and there is a forum and kid’s page were people can post questions and comments. By all means, pay Sir Justyn a visit!!!

You’ve heard the saying: “Been there, Done that, Got the tshirt”? If you been around and done enough things in life, you start to understand that statement. However, there’s a very nice blog regarding travel around Great Britain, aptly named, “Been There – Done That“. Very interesting articles and a plethora of photographs of places, buildings of interest and so on. Being interested in ye olde English structures, I thoroughly enjoy this particular site. Take a few moments and visit the blog. In addition, they have a wonderful forum with numerous photos and opportunities to ask questions. I think its worth the time for anyone interested in travels about Great Britain.