This week winding up to the Rona Salon on medieval and medieval poetry I took the liberty of looking up a good example of medieval poetry for my blog - and came across a language/literary timeline full of manuscripts - illustrated/illuminated and otherwise. It's most fascinating with all sorts of key texts from Beowulf to a sample of an original Sherlock Holmes manuscript and all the way through comprehensive examples of medieval illumination, Chaucer, the first bible in English and more.If you love old fashioned poetry, literature - or are just fascinated with how language has changed over the centuries this is a fun way to begin that quest with a bit of history and art thrown in for good measure.
Enjoy!
(Picture) Illustrated Tiger and a Knight
(Although very sadly I couldn't seem to find the Middle English? St Erkenwald anywhere - such a shame seemed like an interesting poem - with zombies -well, one zombie ;) -and I'd love to see the original)
Today (for a change) we'll end on the final stanza of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
| Where werre and wrake and wonder | ||
| Bi syþez hatz wont þerinne, | ||
| And oft boþe blysse and blunder | ||
| Ful skete hatz skyfted synne. |
(text sourced online here with translation, etc)
A.J. Ponder
A.J. Ponder's work is available through Rona Gallery, Amazon, and good Wellington bookstores
