Dr. Valerie
@drvalerieisin.bsky.social
One half of the Courses For Philologists + Philologists' Corner Team.
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drvalerieisin.wixsite.com/welcome
Register for classes, join our online library, and sign up for our email list all in one place!
If only people would take this to heart!
December 11, 2025 at 4:01 AM
If only people would take this to heart!
Reposted by Dr. Valerie
There's a famous Quranic lexeme, ṣirāṭ, a straight path. It's generally thought to derive from Latin strata, a paved road, whence also our "street."
As far as I can tell it doesn't occur in pre-Islamic poetry, but maybe this word, surāṭī, is an instance of it? It could mean "straight" (of a sword).
As far as I can tell it doesn't occur in pre-Islamic poetry, but maybe this word, surāṭī, is an instance of it? It could mean "straight" (of a sword).
December 11, 2025 at 2:52 AM
There's a famous Quranic lexeme, ṣirāṭ, a straight path. It's generally thought to derive from Latin strata, a paved road, whence also our "street."
As far as I can tell it doesn't occur in pre-Islamic poetry, but maybe this word, surāṭī, is an instance of it? It could mean "straight" (of a sword).
As far as I can tell it doesn't occur in pre-Islamic poetry, but maybe this word, surāṭī, is an instance of it? It could mean "straight" (of a sword).
Wishing you a season full of delights!
December 4, 2025 at 12:53 AM
Wishing you a season full of delights!
Reposted by Dr. Valerie
Fragments of decorative wall plaster from Roman Lincoln (Lindum). The fragments came from the Greetwell villa site in Lincoln (sadly destroyed by quarrying during the C19th), and are now part of the collections at Lincoln Museum. 📷 My own. #FrescoFriday #RomanBritain
November 28, 2025 at 7:07 AM
Fragments of decorative wall plaster from Roman Lincoln (Lindum). The fragments came from the Greetwell villa site in Lincoln (sadly destroyed by quarrying during the C19th), and are now part of the collections at Lincoln Museum. 📷 My own. #FrescoFriday #RomanBritain
Not pictured: the home made chicken soup I had today that reminded me of how true this is.
November 27, 2025 at 4:06 AM
Not pictured: the home made chicken soup I had today that reminded me of how true this is.
Reposted by Dr. Valerie
Egyptian Arabic idiom of the day:
daʿawātkum
"Pray for me", lit. "your supplications."
E.g. قدامي امتحان صعب، دعواتكم
uddāmī imtiḥān ṣaʿb, daʿawātkum
"I have a hard exam, pray for me."
daʿawātkum
"Pray for me", lit. "your supplications."
E.g. قدامي امتحان صعب، دعواتكم
uddāmī imtiḥān ṣaʿb, daʿawātkum
"I have a hard exam, pray for me."
November 27, 2025 at 1:31 AM
Egyptian Arabic idiom of the day:
daʿawātkum
"Pray for me", lit. "your supplications."
E.g. قدامي امتحان صعب، دعواتكم
uddāmī imtiḥān ṣaʿb, daʿawātkum
"I have a hard exam, pray for me."
daʿawātkum
"Pray for me", lit. "your supplications."
E.g. قدامي امتحان صعب، دعواتكم
uddāmī imtiḥān ṣaʿb, daʿawātkum
"I have a hard exam, pray for me."
Reposted by Dr. Valerie
For the feast of Saint Edmund Martyr, here is one of my favourite depictions of the wolf that guarded Edmund's head - a marginal drawing appearing by the lesson before the one in which the wolf is mentioned. Or so I interpret this figure.
[MS Pierpont Morgan 736, f.187]
[MS Pierpont Morgan 736, f.187]
November 20, 2025 at 9:19 PM
For the feast of Saint Edmund Martyr, here is one of my favourite depictions of the wolf that guarded Edmund's head - a marginal drawing appearing by the lesson before the one in which the wolf is mentioned. Or so I interpret this figure.
[MS Pierpont Morgan 736, f.187]
[MS Pierpont Morgan 736, f.187]
TFW you try to say what people expect you to say instead of what you really think and you end up tripping all over your words.
November 20, 2025 at 4:25 AM
TFW you try to say what people expect you to say instead of what you really think and you end up tripping all over your words.
Reposted by Dr. Valerie
Remember: they used thousands of academic books too! If you’re a scholar, check for your books too. This isn’t just novelists and pop writers, it’s academic books too!
AI advocates have warned that if every author in the class action filed a claim, it would "financially ruin" the entire industry.
Authors celebrate “historic” settlement coming soon in Anthropic class action
Advocates fear such settlements will “financially ruin” the AI industry.
arstechnica.com
November 18, 2025 at 6:32 AM
Remember: they used thousands of academic books too! If you’re a scholar, check for your books too. This isn’t just novelists and pop writers, it’s academic books too!
TFW you realize people will show you who they are if you pay attention.
November 13, 2025 at 3:11 AM
TFW you realize people will show you who they are if you pay attention.
Reposted by Dr. Valerie
Beware of the Salamander!
BL Royal 12 C XIX; Bestiary; 13th century; England; f.68v
BL Royal 12 C XIX; Bestiary; 13th century; England; f.68v
November 12, 2025 at 9:07 PM
Beware of the Salamander!
BL Royal 12 C XIX; Bestiary; 13th century; England; f.68v
BL Royal 12 C XIX; Bestiary; 13th century; England; f.68v
TFW: you see the cracks starting to spread and then you remember…
November 5, 2025 at 11:42 PM
TFW: you see the cracks starting to spread and then you remember…
Reposted by Dr. Valerie
The Supermoon is rising…
November 5, 2025 at 4:19 PM
The Supermoon is rising…
Happy Halloween!
November 1, 2025 at 12:29 AM
Happy Halloween!
Reposted by Dr. Valerie
Wishing you a safe and happy e’en, despite everything…
October 31, 2025 at 5:38 PM
Wishing you a safe and happy e’en, despite everything…
This week’s proverb gets straight to the point:
October 30, 2025 at 3:19 AM
This week’s proverb gets straight to the point:
Reposted by Dr. Valerie
🎃Time for the Halloween Bash #Raffle!
🗓The raffle runs from October 1-31 @ 11:59 PM. 1 lucky winner will be randomly selected on November 1
👻#Donate and Enter for a Chance to a SASA Halloween Gift Basket!!!
➡️Click here to purchase a raffle ticket now! saveancientstudies.org/halloweenbash
🗓The raffle runs from October 1-31 @ 11:59 PM. 1 lucky winner will be randomly selected on November 1
👻#Donate and Enter for a Chance to a SASA Halloween Gift Basket!!!
➡️Click here to purchase a raffle ticket now! saveancientstudies.org/halloweenbash
October 23, 2025 at 11:30 PM
🎃Time for the Halloween Bash #Raffle!
🗓The raffle runs from October 1-31 @ 11:59 PM. 1 lucky winner will be randomly selected on November 1
👻#Donate and Enter for a Chance to a SASA Halloween Gift Basket!!!
➡️Click here to purchase a raffle ticket now! saveancientstudies.org/halloweenbash
🗓The raffle runs from October 1-31 @ 11:59 PM. 1 lucky winner will be randomly selected on November 1
👻#Donate and Enter for a Chance to a SASA Halloween Gift Basket!!!
➡️Click here to purchase a raffle ticket now! saveancientstudies.org/halloweenbash
Reposted by Dr. Valerie
"Öd Teŋri yaşar; kişi oglı kop ölgeli törümiş."
October 23, 2025 at 2:25 PM
"Öd Teŋri yaşar; kişi oglı kop ölgeli törümiş."
TFW it’s autumn, it’s getting cold, the wildflowers are gone, and the trees are bare.
October 23, 2025 at 2:34 AM
TFW it’s autumn, it’s getting cold, the wildflowers are gone, and the trees are bare.
Reposted by Dr. Valerie
The Snorri Sturluson Icelandic Fellowships invite writers, translators, and scholars in the humanities from around the world to spend at least three months in Iceland. Fellows receive support for travel and living expenses during their stay. Apply by 1 December.
arnastofnun.is/en/snorri-st...
arnastofnun.is/en/snorri-st...
Snorri Sturluson Icelandic Fellowships
Annually The Árni Magnússon Institute for Icelandic Studies invites applications for the Snorri Sturluson Icelandic Fellowships.
arnastofnun.is
October 20, 2025 at 1:13 PM
The Snorri Sturluson Icelandic Fellowships invite writers, translators, and scholars in the humanities from around the world to spend at least three months in Iceland. Fellows receive support for travel and living expenses during their stay. Apply by 1 December.
arnastofnun.is/en/snorri-st...
arnastofnun.is/en/snorri-st...
Reposted by Dr. Valerie
I got distracted by some fragment work this evening, & I was happy to revisit this little detail from a fourteenth-century German breviary, containing the feast of the dedication of a church.
[Syddansk Universitetsbibliotek, RARA Musik M 4]
[Syddansk Universitetsbibliotek, RARA Musik M 4]
October 21, 2025 at 10:59 PM
I got distracted by some fragment work this evening, & I was happy to revisit this little detail from a fourteenth-century German breviary, containing the feast of the dedication of a church.
[Syddansk Universitetsbibliotek, RARA Musik M 4]
[Syddansk Universitetsbibliotek, RARA Musik M 4]
… it doesn’t sit back and weigh its options, it doesn’t hedge its bets. Love is always all in.
October 16, 2025 at 1:08 AM
… it doesn’t sit back and weigh its options, it doesn’t hedge its bets. Love is always all in.
Reposted by Dr. Valerie
The eagle of justice with open wings, made by the congregated souls in Paradiso Canto XIX
Bodleian Library MS. Holkham misc. 48; Divine Comedy, Dante Alighieri; 1350–1375; Italy, Genoa (?); p.137
@bodleian.ox.ac.uk
Bodleian Library MS. Holkham misc. 48; Divine Comedy, Dante Alighieri; 1350–1375; Italy, Genoa (?); p.137
@bodleian.ox.ac.uk
October 13, 2025 at 8:59 PM
The eagle of justice with open wings, made by the congregated souls in Paradiso Canto XIX
Bodleian Library MS. Holkham misc. 48; Divine Comedy, Dante Alighieri; 1350–1375; Italy, Genoa (?); p.137
@bodleian.ox.ac.uk
Bodleian Library MS. Holkham misc. 48; Divine Comedy, Dante Alighieri; 1350–1375; Italy, Genoa (?); p.137
@bodleian.ox.ac.uk
And right now is the perfect time to start.
Need a book? Don’t let that hold you back — sign up for our online library via the link in my bio/pinned post.
It’s full of free language resources and I add to it all the time!
Need a book? Don’t let that hold you back — sign up for our online library via the link in my bio/pinned post.
It’s full of free language resources and I add to it all the time!
October 14, 2025 at 12:19 AM
And right now is the perfect time to start.
Need a book? Don’t let that hold you back — sign up for our online library via the link in my bio/pinned post.
It’s full of free language resources and I add to it all the time!
Need a book? Don’t let that hold you back — sign up for our online library via the link in my bio/pinned post.
It’s full of free language resources and I add to it all the time!