I like this cheeky interpretation of the first few lines of Chaucer’s General Prologue. In all its geeky futuristic imagery and mispronunciation of the Middle English, it’s completely charming in its simplicity and brings an easy smile. And it is ultimately a tribute to Chaucer’s lines and remarkable that they still speak to people 600 …
August 22, 2009 – 10:28 am
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By David Morton
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Posted in Chaucer, Films, In the Modern Age, Middle English, Uncategorized
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Tagged animation, Canterbury Tales, Chaucer, General Prologue, In the Middle, Medievalism, middle ages, movies
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As is so often the case, a recent New Yorker cartoon took a medieval story to heart and added a 21st century twist to great comic effect. In this case, Rapunzel* has let down her hair, as the fairy tale goes, but she has inadvertently foiled the prince’s attempt to climb her prison tower using …
July 5, 2009 – 5:50 pm
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By David Morton
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Posted in Chaucer, History, Inspiration, Medievalism
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Tagged All In The Family, Archie Bunker, Brothers Grimm, Canterbury Tales, Chaucer's Triumph, Edith Bunker, Garry O'Connor, Geoffrey Chaucer, Medievalism, middle ages, Middle English, New Yorker, Phillipa Roet, Rapunzel, Wife of Bath
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Food is one of my favourite topics, and if I weren’t obsessing here about the Middle Ages, I’d probably be blogging about my food obsessions. Food is not really a concern in my novel (at least not at the moment), but I’ve done a little bit of reading on the topic as research.
Not a great …
April 15, 2009 – 6:35 am
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By David Morton
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Posted in Food, History, Medievalism
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Tagged ale, bread, fasts, feasts, fish, Forme of Cury, Henry III, Le Viandier, meat, medieval, medieval kitchen, middle ages, potage, stew, sumptuary laws
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My two posts on the Top Ten Films of the Middle Ages List (part one and part two), along with a recent addition to the list, continue to be three of the most viewed pages on this blog. Visitors wander in directly from Google, having searched for movies relating to the Middle Ages. And the …
April 4, 2009 – 12:49 pm
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By David Morton
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Posted in Films, Medievalism
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Tagged Barry Unsworth, film, Four Knights, medieval, middle ages, Morality Play, Morality plays, movies, Paul Bettany, Paul McGuigan, The Reckoning, Willem Dafoe
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Whan that Aprill with its shoures sote
The droghte of Marche hath perced to the rote,
And bathed every veyne is swich licour,
Of which vertu engendred is the flour;
Whan Zephirus eek with his swete breeth
Inspired hath in every holt and heeth
The tendre croppes, and the yonge sonne
Hath in the Ram his halfe …
April 1, 2009 – 6:30 am
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By David Morton
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Posted in Chaucer, Inspiration, Language, Middle English, Poetry, Writing
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Tagged Canterbury Tales, Chaucer, General Prologue, Geoffrey Chaucer, inspiration, Language, Last Waltz, Michael McClure, middle ages, Midle English, Spring, Writing
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“Literature is a toil and a snare, a curse that bites deep.”
Or so said D.H. Lawrence. Which gives me some comfort, because I seem to be doing all I can to avoid my writing, this morning. I’ve spent the last couple of hours brewing a Shitake Beef Stew that will be consumed tonight. I’ve cleaned …
March 24, 2009 – 8:00 am
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By David Morton
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Posted in History, Inspiration, Medievalism, The Writer's Struggle, Writing, blogs
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Tagged blogs, Detroit Publishing, DH Lawrence, History, inspiration, medieval, Medievalism, middle ages, monasticism, Oregon, Photochroms, procrastination, research, Richenda, Romantic poetry, Romanticism, Tintern Abbey, Washington, William Wordsworth, Writing
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Finally, a respite from the rain and the cold. The sun shines today in Vancouver, and it looks like spring, though the cherry blossoms are nowhere to be seen. The blossoms in my front yard are trying, but they are reluctant to invest themselves in this uneven weather. They look like little popcorn kernels ready …
March 21, 2009 – 10:35 am
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By David Morton
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Posted in Books, Inspiration, The Novel, Uncategorized, Writing
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Tagged Barry Unsworth, inspiration, medieval, Medievalism, middle ages, monks, Morality Play, novel, novels, Paul Bettany, The Reckoning, Willem Dafoe, Writing
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