Jane Turnbull
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ejturnbull.bsky.social
Jane Turnbull
@ejturnbull.bsky.social
130 followers 210 following 340 posts
Trying to make sense of Le Morte d'Arthur.
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ejturnbull.bsky.social
And here it is - couldn't resist buying a mivvi or zoom from one of these!
A sky blue converted Ford anglia from the 1960s. The paintwork around the cab windows and the raised boards on either side are cream, with the traditional Walls ice cream logo on the cab doors and at the front. The large dispensing windows are at a good child-friendly height, very different from the high sided ice cream vans of today.
April 20, 2025 at 7:31 PM
ejturnbull.bsky.social
Trial by battle: judicial duels were perhaps slightly more favoured in Europe than the UK, but any chivalrous knight worth his salt was expected to know the protocol.
God would defend the right and the loser would leave the ring in his coffin.
Hans Talhoffer's illustration from his Fechtbuch, 1467. Two armed protagonists sit in large high-backed chairs on opposite sides of the ring. Most notably for me is the fact they both have large hangings erected in front of them to give each some privacy from the other. Both are accompanied by very cheerful looking squires and there seems to be some interaction going on. Next to each chair and prominently placed in the foreground are two narrow coffins, each on low trestles as though they are being presented to us.
April 3, 2025 at 10:01 AM
ejturnbull.bsky.social
For knightriders presumably.
A picture of the car park for Tintagel Castle. There's a speed bump and a few cars parked under a bright blue sky. The sign reads 'Welcome to King Arthur's Car Park'. Further information describes the conditions - 24hrs pay and display, £5 charge for overnight motorhomes.
March 13, 2025 at 2:11 PM
ejturnbull.bsky.social
But I can still fart in your general direction!
The bonnacon is a dark brown bull- like creature with horns pointing backwards so it could not defend itself. It is pictured here presenting its rear end to a would-be attacker and expelling a reddish blast from its rectum. The attacker has half turned away and raised his shield to protect himself from the stench, which is meant to be acidic as well as noxious. The Bonnacon has a definite smirk on his face; the human looks less happy.
March 6, 2025 at 10:34 PM
ejturnbull.bsky.social
I shall have to go - I have family that came from that area way back. The Humber basin generally would have been full of marsh life once - may not need beavers?
Topographic map showing the low-lying area along the Humber estuary and the huge area of flat land where multiple rivers feed into the estuary itself. The sea is coloured blue, low-lying ground (2m) in turquoise and +11m in green, then yellow then orange and red.
January 25, 2025 at 5:59 PM
ejturnbull.bsky.social
Wonderful bit of stained glass from Towcester Church Northamptonshire.
The west window with a modern design like the slanting rays of the sun. The triptych partitioning of the opening has been used to picture the creation of Adam and Eve and the Fall on the left, miracles of Christ in the centre (I'm guessing here) and Christ's Passion and the coming of the Holy Spirit on the right. Christ sits in glory at the top. No date for this sadly. Blues, greens, turquoise, and brick red, fresh and vibrant.
January 23, 2025 at 9:28 PM
ejturnbull.bsky.social
He's an amazing guy - and the more I read his work the more impressed I am. I can recommend Christina Hardyment's biography if you're looking for more. www.amazon.co.uk/Malory-Knigh...
The current cover design for 'Malory: The Knight Who Became King Arthur's Chronicler' by Christina Hardyment. It features a faux-medieval manuscript page with images of Percival and a lion and a kneeling blue-robed woman with loose hair and holding a flower. The book originally came out in 2005 and I think that apart from a very scholarly study by Professor P J Field is probably the most historically accurate account of his life available.
January 20, 2025 at 10:16 AM
ejturnbull.bsky.social
So good to see that heraldry is still useful today.
The earlier coat of arms of the king of Denmark on the left and his latest upgrade on the right. Both features a pair of semi-naked men supporting a shield divided into four quarters: the left hand one has three of these quarters occupied by sleeping lions (lions couchant) just like the ones on the England football shirts. The final quarter is taken up with three ships, a curly horned ram and a polar bear. In the latest iteration the ram (representing the Faroe Islands) and the polar bear of Greenland get a quarter each, and the ships - a reference to a trading/exploring past - have disappeared. Message to any covetous states: this land is ours!
January 7, 2025 at 10:56 AM
ejturnbull.bsky.social
Long wanted to do a post to contrast the heptarchy of King Alfred with Malory's imaginary one, around seven hundred years later.
A list of King Alfred's seven kingdoms (Northumbria, East Anglia, Mercia, Wessex, Sussex, Essex and Kent) against a parallel list of Malory's - Wales, Scotland, Ireland, Cornwall, England, Outer Isles and Brittany It's superimposed on a grainy detail of the Canterbury Mappa Mundi from the C11th, which is probably the oldest depiction of the British Isles. Like many maps of the period it is oriented on an East-West axis, with East at the top. I've rotated it so that the shape looks more familiar to us. For more information on it, I suggest https://arthurianweb.wordpress.com/2020/07/04/anglo-saxon-mappa-mundi/
December 30, 2024 at 3:30 PM
ejturnbull.bsky.social
I always thought @hookland.bsky.social looked a bit more like this:
December 29, 2024 at 8:10 PM
ejturnbull.bsky.social
Perhaps we need reenactments of dyers' and painters' workshops to reframe public expectations?
Detail from a cross-carpet page of St Matthew's Gospel, Lindisfarne Gospels c.700. From the British Library. Densely interlaced bird-animals in bright blue and pink are overlaid with tendrils of scarlet and sage green on a black background. Source: https://www.jennydean.co.uk/mediaeval-dyes/. Thanks Jenny! From left: Reds and rust from madder (alum mordant), brown & tan from walnut hulls (no mordant), gold & yellow from weld (alum mordant), moss greens from weld + iron modifier and blues from woad (no mordant). The difficulty was that the dyes tended to fade quickly. High-status individuals would buy new and pass faded clothing onto their followers. Pictured are strands of wool covering the full colour spectrum in bright primary colours.
December 9, 2024 at 10:02 AM
ejturnbull.bsky.social
Hideous. I mean, it's not as though they don't have any kind of contemporaneous record.
A small section from the Bayeux Tapestry. Two mounted men in scarlet tunics make their way ' ad anglicam terram' - to England. One horse is black, the other a roan. We can see one of the riders has blond hair, the other black. It's worth pointing out that although this scene is full of colour, the dyes would have been far brighter in the C11th.
December 6, 2024 at 10:10 PM
ejturnbull.bsky.social
And lastly two individuals who wear blue/green. These two wear long monk-like robes but they are particoloured and lined with white fur and have matching capuchin hoods. They have fine linen coifs like the judges but it's not entirely clear what their role is.
One of two watchers of the proceedings showing the white fur lining his gown and hood. Both men stand alert, listening attentively. The other robed man listening with great attention, his chin up and arms folded in front of him. In an age of no central heating fur-lined garments were a way of life.
December 5, 2024 at 8:25 PM
ejturnbull.bsky.social
There is also a measured formality to the proceedings; the court marshalls in charge of keeping order carry long white staves tipped with black. Other marshalls, use shorter stages as a badge of office to conduct proceedings
Two court marshalls at work. One is watching the next few accused to have their case heard, the other is standing by the person whose case is being heard. Overseeing clerk? He stands by the green table with a cheerful smile on his face overseeing the business of the court. He carries a short white staff tipped with black on either end.
December 5, 2024 at 8:25 PM
ejturnbull.bsky.social
'And many complaints were made unto Sir Arthur of grete wronges that were done syn the dethe of Kyng Uther.' Arthur rights these - mostly land theft to benefit the ruling landowning class - but he 'made the londes to be yeven ageyne unto them that oughte hem,' and the concept of fairness is there.
The five judges who listen to the case. In the earliest days the King might himself be on the bench as well but it quickly became the norm to have a professional legal team. Each wears a red gown lined with white fur over a red doublet and identical coifs of fine linen on their heads - which do look like forerunners of the later legal wigs.
December 5, 2024 at 8:25 PM
ejturnbull.bsky.social
There are two criminal trials that take place - King Angwyshance of Ireland is accused of murdering a Frenchman, and of course Guinevere, famously tried for adultery. Both of these are felonies - serious crimes that could only be tried by the King's Bench. More details on alt text.
A close look at the accused (detail from the picture above). These six men have been in prison for some time - their hair is long and they are unshaven. Three of them have no shoes or hose, and another has holes in his. One man has also lost his shirt. They are lined up against the oak barrier that separates this court from the others that operated in the hall. Although they are all shackled this may not have been the norm for better-off people.
December 5, 2024 at 8:25 PM
ejturnbull.bsky.social
Malory spent a lot of his life on the receiving end of the law so it's interesting that he places so much importance on legal justice in his writing. Arthur's first promise is 'to stand with true justice from thensforth the days of his life.'🧵
The King's Bench in 1460's, by which time it was permanently based in Westminster Hall and not moving around the country with the King as it had done since the C13th. There's a large table covered with a green cloth and a huddle of clerks bust writing on long narrow rolls of vellum. Five red robed judges sit at the back, six prisoners wait at the front for their case to be heard.
December 5, 2024 at 8:25 PM
ejturnbull.bsky.social
Medieval women celebrate St Andrew's day! Thanks to @britishlibrary.bsky.social shop.
Blue and white fair isle style jersey with a saltire type decoration across the top of the yoke and medieval women - Julian of Norwich, Hildegarde de Bingen, Christine de Pisan, Joan of Arc and Eleanor of Aquitaine on the sleeves and along the front.
November 29, 2024 at 10:11 PM
ejturnbull.bsky.social
Optimist: The cup is half full.
Pessimist: The cup is half empty.
Medieval Steward: The cup is on the cupboard. And that, my friend, is where it will stay. My lord may choose to honour one of his chosen guests with it, but that will not be you. Can I offer you this wooden mazer instead?
Detail from 'January' in the Duc du Berry's Book of Hours c.1415. It is a busy colourful banquet scene, and jammed against the left hand side of the picture is the all-important cup-board, covered with a white damask cloth and displaying a range of flagons, flasks, bowls and mazers, all apparently made of gold. These displays were considered to be an important part of hospitality signifying plenty and generosity.
November 27, 2024 at 4:45 PM
ejturnbull.bsky.social
"The wide world is all about you: you can fence yourselves in but you cannot forever fence it out." - JRR Tolkien.
Sunlight and clouds creating shadows on the hills. The landscape is green and gently rolling - fields and hedges and small woods - and the sky is blue. A view from east Cornwall looking back across the Tamar to Devon
November 27, 2024 at 1:48 PM
ejturnbull.bsky.social
Bring me my fur-lined gown!
A comfortable gown for hunting in. It seems to pull over the head like a poncho and there is a hood at the back. A gold and blue brocade outer layer is lined with a light brown fur. Detail from The Boar and Bear Hunt, the Devonshire Hunting Tapestries, late C14th Alexander Mornauer of Landshut, National Gallery c1470. A town clerk in Bavaria, Alexander's fur looks a bit more moth-eaten; it may be rabbit perhaps? Detail from the Arnolfini portrait by Jan van Eyck 1434. Giovanni was Italian by birth but here is living and working in the Netherlands. He may be wearing his heavy sable furs on this early summer's day as a status symbol or because he's feeling the cold. Sir John Talbot kneeling to Henry VI in 1442. A showy gown of scarlet woollen broadcloth lined with a deep golden fur. The huge trailing sleeves are folded back over the wrist to best display how rich and lush it is.
November 24, 2024 at 9:25 PM
ejturnbull.bsky.social
Ginger and turmeric with honey. Because it's harder to write in the cold.
A large china mug with a homemade hot ginger/turmeric/honey in it. Add black pepper for extra health benefits or whisky for fun - though best to keep off the alcohol while working!
November 21, 2024 at 11:23 AM
ejturnbull.bsky.social
And so to Tintagel, probably oddest castle in Britain. By the end of the C12th Geoffrey of Monmouth had declared it the place where King Arthur was conceived and Thomas of Britain had written his poem Tristan for the cultured court of Eleanor of Aquitaine.
Stone effigy of Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine lying on her tomb reading a book. She's thinking that it's a shame that although she's read Thomas's poem about Tristan and Isolde she will never visit the theme park at Tintagel. Original image By Adam Bishop - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=17048657
November 19, 2024 at 2:55 PM
ejturnbull.bsky.social
Winter is coming...the first outlines of a snow scene on the window of Kenilworth Books.
A confusion of white lines drawn on the window glass. Through the pane you can see a display of books for winter reading. On the glass itself is a sketch of a portly snowman in muffler and top hat, his arm flung out to greet a huge stag who appears at the far end. I hope to get a picture of the finished work next week!
November 17, 2024 at 10:24 PM
ejturnbull.bsky.social
I think it goes to show how fascinated people were about far-flung lands. The Silk Roads brought goods such as indigo dye (there's a Sir Persaunt of Inde, the Blew Knight, in Malory), but also some very tall stories! And sometimes the tigers themselves were blue..
A large blue feline animal staring at itself in a green mirror. This is from a Bestiary MS Bodley 764, C13th but based on earlier works. Tigers, we are informed, are named after the river Tigris, "the swiftest of all rivers". "It is a beast with colourful spots, of extraordinary abilities and swiftness," opines the probably ecclesiastical writer, which lives around the Caspian Sea. Bestiaries encouraged moral reflection - in this case, that mothers, however fierce, are stupid and easily confused, which is a suitably misogynistic interpretation for a supposedly celibate monk!
November 15, 2024 at 10:20 AM