Medieval Welsh bards

Explicit content warning

03/22/24 • 81 min

1 Listener

Journey across space and time with Olivia and Aran this week as we head to medieval Wales, home of one of history's finest bardic traditions. But what was a bard, what did they do, and why did Wales have so darn many of them? Give the episode a listen to learn all this and more! Also discussed are sand worms, long houses, and why foxes are better than babes.

For more on some of what we discuss, check out:

English translations of Dafydd ap Gwilym's poetry
- https://dafyddapgwilym.net/eng/3win.php
Y Goddodin
- https://www.jstor.org/stable/48578318
The Court Poets of the Welsh Princes
- https://www.jstor.org/stable/459824
Performance and Literacy in Medieval Welsh Poetry
- https://www.jstor.org/stable/3737807

Music sources for this episode:

For more on some of what we discuss, check out:

English translations of Dafydd ap Gwilym's poetry
- https://dafyddapgwilym.net/eng/3win.php
Y Goddodin
- https://www.jstor.org/stable/48578318
The Court Poets of the Welsh Princes
- https://www.jstor.org/stable/459824
Performance and Literacy in Medieval Welsh Poetry
- https://www.jstor.org/stable/3737807

Music sources for this episode:

Previous Episode

Weird medieval animal facts

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Spring is just around the corner in the northern hemisphere, so it's time to learn some animal facts! Turns out, medieval people had all sorts of strange beliefs about wildlife both real and imagined. So, join Olivia, Aran, and beloved naturalist Sir David Attenborough* as they take you to meet fruit-rustling hedgehogs, homicidal pelicans, immortal eagles, and the most tender lovers in the animal kingdom: bears.

Also discussed: the existential terror of Animorphs, CS Lewis' creative process, and which animals are Jesus.

An excellent English translation of a Latin bestiary https://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/PVFA6XOOSG2448C
The Ashmole Bestiary https://digital.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/objects/faeff7fb-f8a7-44b5-95ed-cff9a9ffd198/
The Northumberland Bestiary https://www.getty.edu/art/collection/object/109AX3

*Not really.

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Yes, you heard us right!! Join Olivia and Aran as they defend their most dubious claim to date, which is definitely not just an excuse to step beyond our usual remit and talk about the wild, delightful world that was Edo Period Japan! We explore why Edo Japan was so cut off from the world and the effects this had on its society, plus some of the cultural developments that took place along the way. Also discussed are