I’m very much not an expert but I have read revelations of divine love (twice?? unclear how far I actually read it in undergrad) and been to a fascinating reading group discussion on it. I think there’s a huge amount there and I’ve done a wee bit of reading on her presentation of sickness, back when I was writing about the plague, but I’ve really only scratched the surface and I don’t know that I have good takes
while reading this I realized I had an odd correlation between this and my own life. I am part of a historical fencing club, using techniques from 14th century German longsword texts. There is an INSANE amount of discourse in the community basically about how much play should be in this pursuit, how much of it is sport and mock violence, and how much of what is in these rather sparse texts is actual training for war. Some people have a very hard time believing, (even though the texts explicitly say it! ) that they were playing at all, at least in peacetime. They were playing a sport, like we do today.
Our hometown tournament begins each fight by calling both fencers to the center, asking them if they both understand the rules, and reminding them that their opponent’s safety is their responsibility, and they are there to have fun in addition to competition. it is definitely a sort of ritual. :) wonderful work, I love reading these.
One of my favorite genres of writing is ‘artists discussing the choices they made’, so it’s great to see your observations & arguments throughout the translated fitts.
It’ll be especially interesting to see what you have to say about the Green Chapel - the soiliest place in the poem, probably?
i’m very excited to get to that part! my masters dissertation probably spent about five thousand words just on the green chapel, so i’ll really struggle to get it in substack form, but i’m excited nonetheless
i love the way you approach this work! the liminality of this poem is something that is so fascinating to me, and i think that viewing these kinds of works for their intrinsic liminality makes them all the more interesting. i’m in agreement with you— it could be a dream. i think this argument enriches the possibilities and interpretations of old and middle english literature, in all of its weird other-worldliness. i’m guidng a provocation on this poem next week and your ideas are really helping to guide my understanding of the poem so thank you for this incredible work!
that’s so exciting! i’ve not yet heard of my ideas making it into irl discussion before. i completely believe it’s all a dream and wider than that i believe most literature is a dream. unconfirmed yet but you may be a dream.
Green/environment. Personally I think the Green Knight as a variation of the Green Man points towards a more chthonic based idea of religion which may or may not echo older pre-roman forms of Druidical practices who's ritual ecology was destroyed when the Romans finally fell on Anglesey. Anyhow I would stilk think that Gwain can still uphold a reading rooted in the idea of the chthonic even if Fraser and Hutton have to be thrown at it, along maybe with a little Jung... 😎
I'm excited that you're working on this poem, which I have loved for many years!
What’s your opinion of Julian of Norwich?
I’m very much not an expert but I have read revelations of divine love (twice?? unclear how far I actually read it in undergrad) and been to a fascinating reading group discussion on it. I think there’s a huge amount there and I’ve done a wee bit of reading on her presentation of sickness, back when I was writing about the plague, but I’ve really only scratched the surface and I don’t know that I have good takes
while reading this I realized I had an odd correlation between this and my own life. I am part of a historical fencing club, using techniques from 14th century German longsword texts. There is an INSANE amount of discourse in the community basically about how much play should be in this pursuit, how much of it is sport and mock violence, and how much of what is in these rather sparse texts is actual training for war. Some people have a very hard time believing, (even though the texts explicitly say it! ) that they were playing at all, at least in peacetime. They were playing a sport, like we do today.
Our hometown tournament begins each fight by calling both fencers to the center, asking them if they both understand the rules, and reminding them that their opponent’s safety is their responsibility, and they are there to have fun in addition to competition. it is definitely a sort of ritual. :) wonderful work, I love reading these.
that’s so fascinating i had no idea that happened! I love when i find out art is building out from a part of life i wasn’t aware was happening
One of my favorite genres of writing is ‘artists discussing the choices they made’, so it’s great to see your observations & arguments throughout the translated fitts.
It’ll be especially interesting to see what you have to say about the Green Chapel - the soiliest place in the poem, probably?
i’m very excited to get to that part! my masters dissertation probably spent about five thousand words just on the green chapel, so i’ll really struggle to get it in substack form, but i’m excited nonetheless
i love the way you approach this work! the liminality of this poem is something that is so fascinating to me, and i think that viewing these kinds of works for their intrinsic liminality makes them all the more interesting. i’m in agreement with you— it could be a dream. i think this argument enriches the possibilities and interpretations of old and middle english literature, in all of its weird other-worldliness. i’m guidng a provocation on this poem next week and your ideas are really helping to guide my understanding of the poem so thank you for this incredible work!
that’s so exciting! i’ve not yet heard of my ideas making it into irl discussion before. i completely believe it’s all a dream and wider than that i believe most literature is a dream. unconfirmed yet but you may be a dream.
Green/environment. Personally I think the Green Knight as a variation of the Green Man points towards a more chthonic based idea of religion which may or may not echo older pre-roman forms of Druidical practices who's ritual ecology was destroyed when the Romans finally fell on Anglesey. Anyhow I would stilk think that Gwain can still uphold a reading rooted in the idea of the chthonic even if Fraser and Hutton have to be thrown at it, along maybe with a little Jung... 😎