Blogum scribo
 King Æthelberht (Ethelbert), Rochester Cathedral. © Christopher Monk 2016 Blessed ones, Dr Monk has been busy scribing away for Rochester Cathedral. He has re-written a piece, Origins and Beginnings, which in its original guise appeared on this website back in 2016, and to accompany this he has also produced a new edition, a line-by-line rendering, and a full translation of Æthelberht's Code, the oldest set of laws in England, dating to the year 600. If you would like to avail yourself of these, admittedly half decent, pieces of scholarship, just follow the links below. Oh, and there's a video of him reading some of the clauses from the law-code. It was produced in 2014. I remember it well, because they didn't ask me to read it! May you all be blessed, The Medieval Monk
0 Comments
Blessed ones! Dr Monk has been busy creating a short video for Rochester Cathedral on my YouTube channel. I know, I'm a generous soul. The video relates to eighteenth-century scholar Elizabeth Elstob (1683-1758) and her interaction with Textus Roffensis, arguably the most important collection of early medieval English laws in existence (in your twenty-first century, that is). Elstob was a pioneering scholar of Old English (Anglo-Saxon) during the reign of Queen Anne (r. 1702-14), whom I once met. It's a long story, for another time. Anyhow, as well as publishing editions and translations of major Old English texts, she is celebrated for writing the first Old English grammar to use modern English, rather than the expected Latin, thus making the study of Old English works far more accessible, particularly to other women of the time. In the short video below, Dr Monk takes a look at the 'Saxon Characters' she left behind on one of the pages of Textus Roffensis, produced by a very industrious monk-scribe at Rochester's Cathedral Priory, around 1123. If you wish, and I can recommend it, you can also watch the video as part of a more detailed piece about Elstob on Rochester Cathedral's website, written by Lindsay Llewellyn-MacDuff, Bishop's Chaplain at the cathedral. May you all be blessed! Blessed ones, Here's an update on the Song of the Wildlands Project in which the other Monk has been involved, as the writer of the Old English words for the choral sections of the record. Crime Records has released an official lyric video of the dramatic Dragon Fire. You can sing along with Beowulf and also the Wildland Warriors choir as they belt out the Old English bewailing of the flames. If you can work out the meaning of what the Wildland Warriors are singing, let me know in the comments, and I will offer you an extra prayer.  Blessed ones, You will find below my YouTube interview with historical novelist Patricia Bracewell. We not only talk about her motivations for writing her 'Emma of Normandy trilogy' and the difficulties of writing a story from patchy history records, but we dive into the problematic world of eleventh-century names for a twenty-first-century readership. How do you pronounce Ælfgifu? How do you spell the king's name: is Ethelred right? What allowances does Patricia make for her audience? You can let me know what you think of the interview here or on my YouTube channel, to which I know you are just itching to subscribe. May you be blessed! The Medieval Monk, fresh from the eleventh century, meets prog-rock legend Clive Nolan to talk about Nolan's spectacular new album, Song of the Wildlands. Bringing together the earthiness of medieval instrumentation, the big "noise" of symphonic rock, and the awesome sound of choralists singing in Old English (Anglo-Saxon), Clive has created a musical landscape worthy of the great, early medieval poem. Listen in as they talk about the inspiration for the album, the impact of the 1000-year old language on the music, and how Clive overcame Lockdown to record his 200-strong choir of international singing warriors. And there are snippets of the music too! |