The Bothy Band 1976 – godlike

Gods and goddesses do not care about our petty problems of life and death and suffering.  Rather, they unleash joy and terror at their own wh...

Atheism in Egypt

Did anyone expect this?  Juan Cole reports:   Egyptian journalist Hilmy al-Namnam said last fall that some researchers had concluded that there were 2 million Egyptian atheists. He blamed the rapid increase in unbelief among young people on the period of Muslim Brotherhood rule and the hypocrisy of television preachers. Educated young women are especially...

A classic courtly love sentiment from Cadenet

Provided that her great virtue increases,and is heard about,it doesn't matter to her if I find myself afflicted,nor how my affairs go.For it is good for her that I bear all the suffering,and I like when I can put her forth;it is good for her when she can make me languishand I like...

More from Cadenet

The thing I would  be,if I had such faculty,would be suchas has power.For I'd be nicely providedwith weapons and clothing,I'd be generous with guests,I'd be sumptuous in court,I'd want to see ladies,give gifts often,follow wars and tournaments,and take pleasure in courting.And this, it seems to me, would be virtuemore than rapineof which are fondall our barons;for if...

The American Tributary System, by Yuen Foong Khong

From the Chinese Journal of International Politics (paywall):America has more in common with China than is generally recognized. In this article, I employ the idea of the tributary system—most often associated with China’s international relations from antiquity—to interpret how America relates to the rest of the world (ROW). I argue that the United States has instituted the most...

How time flies…

Our history grad students were presenting historiographical surveys of their major research papers to the members of the history graduate faculty. One paper was about the representation of the Vietnam War in comic books of the time. It turned out that I was the only person in the...

According to my impression, the best of the other poetry

With a faithful heart and with a humble attitude I come towards Love to show the grievous ills I have suffered, great and extraordinary, for the sweet smile and amorous semblance my lady gave me when we first exchanged glances when she took my heart and my faithful thoughts and I put myself under her rich suzerainty.  To you, O Love, I want to show, by singing,...

Not cynical enough to be Marcabru, which is why I like it

 Another troubadour poem:Bel m'es quan son li fruich madurE reverdejon li gaim,E l'auzeill, per lo temps escur,Baisson de lor votz lo refrim,Tant redopton la tenebror!E mos coratges s'enansa,Qu'ieu chant per joi de fin' AmorE vei ma bon' esperansa.Fals amic, amador tafur,Baisson Amor e levo·l crim,E no·us cuidetz c'Amors pejur,C'atrestant val cum fetz al prim!Totz temps fon...

Some Malian Tuareg music over at NPR

I don't know how long this music from Tinariwen will be available, but there is quite a bit of their recent release at this NPR si...

Laura Kendrick on courtly love

From The Game of Love:For Guillaume IX and his facetious troubadour followers, the stakes in the game of love were not the sexual favors of living ladies; Guillaume IX did not have to write poetry to get what he wanted from women, nor did other nobleman and courtiers. The object...

Love from afar?

Laura Kendrick in her book The Game of Love: Troubadour wordplay, makes the point that medieval readers in  paying more attention to the sound of words than their spelling could create compositions with multiple meanings. For instance, here is a translation of a poem by Jaufre Rudel that acknowledges an ambiguity in the interpretation of de loing/ del oing.He speaks the truth...

Margaret E Owens, Afterlives of the Royal Funeral Effigies

I don't know if I learn something every day, but when I do it's often a happy experience. Yesterday Margaret Owens of the Department of English Studies at Nipissing University delivered a seminar presentation on how the royal funeral effigies (not the permanent tomb effigies) ended...