So it’s Christmas Eve, and in the U.S., the green Grinch monster invented by “Dr. Seuss” is a well-known figure who tries to destroy Christmas. But in the 1640s, there was an actual Grinch-movement to ban the holiday. Most British people put the blame for this unpopular episode on the English military leader-cum-religious zealot Oliver […]
Check out this mag-ni-fi-cent mural of the northwestern deity Tyr, God of war, painted in Germany in 1850. Besides the fact that he is missing an arm and has the physique that epitomized Aryan masculine ideals of the 19th century, the other obvious feature is his horned helmet. It was from this milieu, my friends,
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This is the so-called “Buddha bucket” — one of the many great archaeological remains from the most important Viking burial ship ever discovered — the Osenberg ship, dating from 834 CE (says dendrochronological analysis). 70 feet long and 16 feet wide, the ship had been intentionally set up on high ground away from other settlements,
Werewolf stories existed in Europe as long ago as Ancient Roman times, but the ways people imagined them changed. Whereas for much of the Middle Ages, werewolves retained some of their sympathetic human nature, by the late 15th century they began to figure as evil servants of the devil. Some men were even executed for
Olifants were Medieval horns carved out of elephants’ tusks. Their artistry borrows from cultures across the Mediterranean east, and they were used for special ritual occasions. In literature, the rash hero Roland ends up causing his entire army’s slaughter because he refuses to call for help on his olifant. The horn pictured here is from
Here’s a nit-comb from Viking-era Denmark (late 700s). Today I am reading through arguments why we shouldn’t think of the Vikings as a filthy and unhygienic culture. On the plus side, we may observe the following: 1. Vikings combed lice from their hair (whoopie so do baboons).2. Vikings had “ear-spoons” to remove the wax from
Today I am discussing a little snippet, a slice (if you will), of an alleged Viking practice known as the Blood Eagle. Featured prominently in modern portrayals of Viking culture, the Blood Eagle was a horrifying method of execution in which the victim’s entire back was split open (perhaps by a spear with a hook
I’m not usually the kind of historian who gets ultra verklempt about weapons, not even Medieval ones. But these Viking-era swords were just mighty bitchin. From about 750-1100 CE, “Ulfberht” swords emerged in northern Europe, and they were different than the rest. Vikings and other peoples in northwestern Europe had already improved sword-making techniques: they
Check out this 12th century mosaic on the west wall of the Church of Santa Maria Assunta in Torcello, Venice, Italy. The animals that have eaten up humans have to barf them back up again when it’s resurrection time. Eww. But this picture gets at some of the crazy logic loops that Medieval people had
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This is a post about a legacy of surrealistic and evocative art that originated from a very old book and a nearly-as-old garden, which influenced a philosopher who lived hundreds of years later and an artist living even later still. Might I present to you, dear readers, the Hypnerotomachia Poliphili? The famous printer Aldus Manutius
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A gargoyle, from Notre Dame (these famed water spouts were only installed in the 1800s). The term comes from old French “gargouille” meaning “throat” but also the gurgling sound made by liquid in the throat. This of course refers to the rain-spout functionality of the gargoyle. But it also pertains to a medieval legend about
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This image of Pope Benedict IX (d. 1056) does not do his reputation justice. He was put in power by a male relative at the young age of 20, and lived such an immoral life that he was forced to abdicate twice. He managed to worm his way back into power, serving as pope for
This painting by al-Qazwini (1203-1283) shows a monster from the Gog and Magog legend. The Hebrew Bible, the New Testament, and the Qur’an each mention Gog and Magog as either monstrous people or wild places. Their stories evolved, but usually referred to a threatening, beastly pseudo-human group that threatened a righteous (usually Godly) and civilized
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Statue made of Birchwood of the Virgin Mary, with glass eyes. Autun region of France, c. 1130-40.
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If you wanted to feel special in the 14th c., you might have tried to get ahold of objects like these: reliquaries were sacred containers of the holy bodily remains of Europe’s medieval superheroes, the Christian saints. This shoe (suggesting that inside was part of a foot) depicts Saint Margaret just having busted her way
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Hieronymous Bosch, “Third Day of Creation,” (c. 1490-1510). Bosch was a proto-surrealist oil painter from the Medieval Netherlands with a wonderfully twisted imagination. This painting represents the world as he imagined it before the creation of animals. Here, the color scheme (typical for the exterior of tryptichs, which this was) brings out the drabness of
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This is a photo of the Charles Bridge, spanning the Vltava River in the city of Prague. One of the loveliest Medieval bridges still extant, it was finished in 1402. There is a really neat animation that in three minutes shows how the bridge was built (it actually took 45 years IRL). Unfortunately Instagram won’t
There’s a famous children’s book called _Everybody Poops_, and this photo might look like some sort of rendition of that. Here you can see birds, horses, dogs, pigs, and rabbits all in the act of defecating. Our own human species is represented in the second row, right next to the donkey. This visual diagram is
This is a medieval rendition of Porphyry of Tyre, a philosopher who lived in the late Roman Empire (c 234-305 CE), and one of the most articulate advocates of vegetarianism from Ancient world. Porphyry was renowned for many philosophical contributions, including writing the standard textbook on logic that lasted for over a thousand years, as
The dome above the mirhab in the Mosque-Cathedral of Cordova, 965 CE. The octagonal-faceted dome is worked with gold and crafted with some of the finest mosaic tile-work in the world. The mirhab oriented Spanish Muslims to the direction of prayer. The fact that it was funded with gold from the Christian Byzantine Empire illustrates
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