Four Medieval Love Stories You May Not Know About
Four tales from the Middle Ages about love.
The Sirens: From Sage to Cannibal, From Goddess to Prostitute
Sultry and deadly seductresses, the Sirens are fearful, yet fascinating creatures that have captivated writers for centuries. But they weren’t always depicted this way – what were the origins of the Sirens and how did they become synonymous with death, destruction, and sin?
The Yule Cat of Iceland: A Different Kind of Christmas Tradition
By Minjie Su You know the Christmas Cat, – That cat was enormous. People know not where he came from Nor to what…
The Werewolf’s Wife: The She-Wolves in Medieval Literature
Whereas the werewolves grieve over their fate, the she-wolves use the power of metamorphosis to deal with those who get in their way, turning this whole wolf thing to their advantage.
5 Things you might not know about Medieval Werewolves
Medieval authors were fascinated by werewolves just as much as we are. Yet, despite all the ferocity, the werewolf they imagined is not quite the same monster in our era.
The Saga of Jón the Playmate: A ‘Cannibalistic’ Story
At first sight, Jóns saga leikara is but your average chivalric romance, filled with exciting but somewhat generic little adventures.
(Medieval) Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them: Imagining Animals in the Middle Ages
The wild landscape in the medieval imagination is both enchanting and enchanted.
Advice from a Werewolf: Arthur and Gorlagon
King Arthur goes on a quest to learn ‘the nature or the heart of a woman’. What did he find out?
The Standing Contest between King Charles and Redbad
Can win a medieval kingdom by being able to stand very still (and with just a little bit of scheming)?
Not Your Average Maiden King: Ingigerðr, Queen of Ambiguity
Far from being a damsel in distress, the Maiden King is a damsel who creates distress
In search of Lagertha, the Warrior Queen
As one of the most aspiring female characters on the show, Lagertha in the TV series Vikings is introduced as the wife of Ragnarr Loðbrók and a renowned shieldmaiden – women who fight fearlessly in the battlefront. But where does Lagertha’s story originate?
The Dead Man’s Prophecy and a Roundtrip to Hell: The Early Adventures of Hadingus
What can be more glorious, more tempting than the conquest of death?
Profile of an Emperor: Reading Vita Karoli Magni in Light of Its Sources and Composition
In composing Vita Karoli Magni, Einhard borrows heavily from Suetonius’s De vita Caesarum – Vita divi Augusti in particular – and Annales regni Francorum.
Life, Fantasy, Sagas, and Whatnot: Some Thoughts on Tolkien the Movie
I felt both very thrilled and scared when I learned that they had made a Tolkien biopic.
Plotting, Rebellion, Fratricide: A Game of Thrones in Medieval Sweden
The one story that I wish to tell today is from Erikskrönikan, or ‘The Chronicle of Duke Erik’.
The Boy Who Was a Girl: The Romance of Silence
Suppose girls cannot inherit, but your only child is a daughter and you happen to have an enormous inheritance, what will you do?
The Sad Story of the Queen of the Elves: An Icelandic Folktale
Once upon a time, in a mountainous region somewhere in Iceland, something strange took place that was at the same time puzzling and frightening: every year
‘I wanted to make them a little book’: The knight and the book for his daughters
I wanted to make them a little book to read so they might learn and study and understand the good and evil that has already happened, in order to keep them from that which is yet to come.
The Kitten that Nearly Killed King Arthur
“I’ve never feared for myself any more than I did when I was entangled with that devil…”
Famous Boars in Medieval Arthurian Romance
In medieval literature boars made teh perfect enemies that the hero must conquer in order to complete their quest.
Eloping Lovers and A Werewolf: The Romance of Guillaume de Palerne
In addition to being a story celebrating courtly love and all the romance tropes, Guillaume de Palerne is essentially a story of transformation and disguise
Elen More: The Moorish Lass in James IV’s Court
It won’t take you long to spot an ‘Elen More’ among the courtiers of King James IV. Or the ‘Moorish Lass’, as they dubbed her.
Under the Polar Sky: A ‘Dark’ Conference in a Dark Place
Darkness is where the light ends but the imagination begins.
From Haggis to Oyster Stew: Medieval Recipes from Liber cure cocorum
Looking to get some culinary expertise from the Middle Ages? Try these four recipes from the fifteenth-century.