‘Tehee! quod she, and clapte the wyndow to’ (from Chaucer’s Miller’s Tale)
Here are some links to my favourite funny and quirky medieval things on the internet!(Inspired by a twitter conversation with @LucyAllenFWR and @MedievalPhDemon)
**Please do comment or tweet me @lauravarnam to share any I’ve missed!**
Old English
The Lego Battle of Maldon on youtube (one of the finest stop motion Lego videos ever made)
‘Grendel, Grendel, Grendel’ on youtube (1981 animated film of John Gardner’s Grendel, Peter Ustinov is the voice of the dragon!)
Dirtbag Beowulf #hwaetever
Myths Retold: Beowulf (‘Hey I heard you have monsters / well actually just one monster / that’s not many monsters’)
‘How to tell if you’re in an Old English poem‘ from The Toast (‘It is unclear whether you are in need of a lord or the Lord’)
‘The Cat in the Hwaet’, the Old English Seuss from The Toast
‘Beocat’ by Henry Beard (‘Brave Beocat, brood kit of Ecgthmeow, / Hearth-pet of Hrothgar)
‘Beowulf Reduced’ by Michael Alexander (‘There once was a hero called Scyld…’)
Beowulf in 100 tweets (by Elaine Treharne)
Middle English
Bill Bailey’s Chaucer Pubbe Gagge on youtube (‘Three felawes wenten into a pubben…’)
‘Sir Gawain and the Green Knight’ from The Toast (‘Mmm that sounds like a Gawain problem, not a Lady Bertilak problem’)
Manuscripts and Miscellaneous
Lolcats of the Middle Ages from the BL Manuscripts Blog
Knights vs Snails from the BL Manuscripts Blog
’22 Medieval Satans who are just having a really bad day’ (Buzzfeed)
The Toast’s Two Medieval Monks: Two medieval monks invent writing, two medieval monks invent medieval art
‘Medieval Manuscript Helpdesk’ on youtube (‘Have you tried opening it?’)
Create your own historic tale, Bayeux Tapestry style! Add beasts, buildings, and brave warriors! (Thanks to @aethelflaed for this one)
Dr Laura Varnam 