Member: Gwendydd

"Most of them are just so darn pretty, it's really hard not to buy them!"

Yes, they're lovely just to look at, aren't they? I have a shadow of an excuse: I illuminate scroll blanks, then pass them on to people who produce lots of awards and do the calligraphy. This way I don't have to worry about producing them for specific people 8-) Most of mine are either knotwork-related or based on the Grosse Manessische Liederhandschrift. I look at the illumination books and think "that's beautiful, but I can't do that" and go back to my usual styles. 8-)

posted by erilarlo at 2:47 pm (EST) on Jun 21, 2009

I see we share some of the same illumination books. I don't know quite why I've acquired so many other than that they tend to leap into my hands and cry "BUY ME!"

posted by erilarlo at 8:40 pm (EST) on Jun 19, 2009

Lebanon? Heck - we were neighbors when you were in HS - I live about 3 miles North of Mechanicsburg, just over the line in Clinton County.

It looks like Mary & I'll be the lone LT'ers - except there are a few professionals here too. Hard to say if they come here or go to Leeds though with the economy what it is I imagine there will be more people who end up staying on their side of the pond this year (or maybe their budgets will take the big hit next year - that's what will happen here).

posted by cemanuel at 9:02 pm (EST) on Apr 12, 2009

There aren't a lot of big pluses to living in Indiana but the surprising number of historical conferences nearby is one of them. Not just K'zoo but the Society for Late Antiquity's Conference has been either at U of Illinois or IU-Bloomington for the past several years. Unfortunately they have that in the spring too and I just can't take 2 weeks off work in consecutive months. And if I ever get off my butt and actually devote myself to self-learning Latin, Notre Dame has a Medieval Latin summer course (though I've heard opinions on it ranging from great to terrible).

The odd thing about K'zoo is it originally started out as a forum for Grad students to present papers (and a lot of grad students still do). But in May? When I was in grad school I was polishing my thesis right about then - would've been tough to take a week. Of course I was in a different major.

posted by cemanuel at 8:02 am (EST) on Apr 10, 2009

Always nice to find others interested in medieval history. I found your profile through the Medieval Europe group. Any particular book you would recommend? What's your favorite non-fiction book on medieval history? I'm always looking for new books to add to my library. Thanks.

Steven
http://steventill.com

posted by StevenTill at 5:33 pm (EST) on Jan 9, 2009

Thanks for your kind words on my library. I had not thought of your points
about the prophecies, but most of them are true -- it is certainly true that the English made derogatory remarks about Welsh faith in prophecies, and the
French made derogatory remarks about the English, and Welsh and English both
were interested in some of the same prophecies. I would add that often within English culture there were negative comments about individuals believing in prophecies or related material, including Richard II whom I have studied.
Certainly "foolish belief in prophecy" was a standard negative topos. Yet at the same time, I think there must have been a substratum of real belief in prophecy -- why would people go to the trouble of copying prophecies and commenting on them if they were not believed? Societies are not monolithic in their beliefs. Consider that Nancy Reagan was mocked for her belief in astrology, but it is certainly true that significant numbers of people do believe in it today.

posted by antiquary at 5:02 pm (EST) on Dec 9, 2008

I am making a belated response to being selected for your "interesting libraries." Your dissertation topic sounds very interesting. I regret I know less of the Welsh prophecies than I would like, though I know they are out there. I did do a bit of work on English prophecies (John of Bridlington) when I was graduate research assistant to R. A. Shoaf many years ago.

posted by antiquary at 4:16 pm (EST) on Nov 25, 2008

Thanks for the reply about the book club.

Since we're brand new...feel free to add input on the thread...depending on who is interested and where they are commuting from, maybe there is a better place to meet then Third Place Books...or maybe someone wants to carpool...or who knows?

It is also nice to know that you watch the group and saw what we were up to, it hasn't been very active so I wasn't sure how many people were paying attention.

Carol

posted by CarolO at 1:32 am (EST) on Aug 28, 2008

Hi!

I’m sending this note because you are a member of the Seattleites group.

A few of us are starting a book club and I hope that you will consider joining us.

Our first book is In the Woods by Tana French. Our first meeting will be on Thursday, October 2nd, at Third Place Books in Lake Forest Park at 7pm.

See our thread called Book Clubs? on the Seattleites group or you can reply to me if you want more info.

Thanks - Carol

posted by CarolO at 12:51 am (EST) on Aug 28, 2008

Thank you so much! When you are looking at a user's library, click on the rolodex card and the user's input is there, including the review and start/end dates. That's cool. Thanks for helping me out with this! I'm challenging my students to read 400+ pages a quarter and I was hoping to use LT to keep track of them (set up a group and everything for it). I think this will work splendidly.

posted by brokensnowpea at 2:00 pm (EST) on Jul 30, 2008

I am grateful to you for the Grad Students thread on personal wikis. It will make a big difference in my preparing for prelims and organizing dissertation research.

posted by alarob at 10:32 pm (EST) on Jan 21, 2008

Wow, thanks for the great advice!

I am not studying anywhere at the moment, I graduated from Randolph-Macon Woman's college in '06 as a double major in History and Classics, and I have applied to the University of Texas for their Medieval Studies PhD. I'm not sure how that is going to play out at this point, regardless of whether I am accepted, because they seem to focus rather more on Old English than anything Celtic. So, I'm kind of up in the air right now, having spent the last two years 'taking a break' and working, getting life experience and learning new things.

I'm so, so ready to go back to school.

I started middle Welsh with an incomplete book written by Gareth Morgan (of the University of Texas) just before he died -- its available for free online -- and I randomly stumbled across it one day while looking for resources. It seems to be pretty basic, with not a lot in the way of grammatical explanation or a dictionary of any kind, so I was looking for something a bit more in depth. I had hit on Evans just before leaving my first comment, so that will definitely be my next step.

So, do you think it might be better to learn Modern Welsh first, rather than start with Middle? I have some experience with Welsh, mostly from a Celtic Mythology class I took at Oxford one semester while I was studying in England, but the majority of my Celtic language experience is in Scottish gaelic, which is, admittedly, a whole different kettle of fish. I do have a modern Welsh book, if you think that would be the best place to start.

Its great to actually come across people that are interested in the same things you are -- I've had a hard time finding any kind of program or any professors that would really mesh with my academic interests.

What kind of prophecies are you looking at, and in which manuscripts, if you don't mind my asking?

posted by aluinnsearlait at 11:22 am (EST) on Jan 18, 2008

Hi there,

I noticed that you were doing your graduate work on medieval Welsh manuscripts and wondered two things:

1) can you recommend a good middle Welsh grammar?

2) where are you doing your post-graduate work? I want to get into the same field, but I know next to nothing about who teaches where, or even which institutions might cater to those of us who are interested in the Celtic side of things.

Any info you have would be super helpful, and in the meantime, I will have great fun perusing your library.

thanks!

posted by aluinnsearlait at 4:55 pm (EST) on Jan 14, 2008

Kenyon, eh? Small ol' world, innit? I'm excited about your new group, and it's cool that we're all knitters too so far!

posted by scaifea at 6:01 pm (EST) on Jan 1, 2008

I teach 9th, 10th and 11th grade English in Maine. The school is set up in such a way that I teach my 9th and 10th graders Classical Mythology and the 11th graders American literature. I'll be teaching The Oedipus Cycle for the first time ever in three weeks, a bit nervous about that, and I'm entering the transcendental era with my juniors. The transcendentalists happen to be, collectively, my favorite group of writers to explore and study. When I go back to grad school I plan on pursuing some study on them, specifically the social networking and community ideas and bring them into a modern, plausible context. We'll see!

And you're absolutely right, I do think of The Hobbit every time he wears the set. :) Knitting memories one stitch at a time! That's why I can't knit for people I don't like or don't know, too much goes into the knitting.

posted by brokensnowpea at 8:38 pm (EST) on Dec 31, 2007

Your boyfriend reads to you while you knit, too? That's awesome. My fiance and I got through all of The Hobbit that way. I was knitting his scarf and hat set while he read to me. It was magic. I'll post to the group, soon. I'm preparing to return to Maine after my 10-day vacation to Florida. I should have more time to compose a message in a few hours when I've done some laundry and packed stuff up. Thanks for commenting my profile! I look forward to future conversations!

posted by brokensnowpea at 8:14 pm (EST) on Dec 31, 2007