Category Archives: medieval

Dante 2008: The Inferno

Posted on 2008/07/21 by ngilmour

I finished up Inferno this afternoon while waiting to take a so-called random drug test.? (I say so-called because it’s my third in fifteen months, and I’m one employee in a library system that employs probably over a hundred.? The … Continue reading →

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Oh Heavens!

Posted on 2008/07/18 by ngilmour

I’ve forgotten to start my annual read of Dante’s Comedy! I started early this morning, finishing off five cantos before Micah got up. I’m sure another Dante post or five will be coming soon. I’ve read the entire Comedy (that … Continue reading →

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The Summa

Posted on 2008/07/05 by ngilmour

I located and downloaded all four parts of an English translation of the Summa Theologica today.? From the looks of it, it’s going to be about 10,000 Sony reader screens of theological goodness. Nerd alert.

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Boethius and Alfred

Posted on 2008/03/26 by ngilmour

I led discussion in our Old English seminar and held my own with the big ax-swinging Anglo-Saxonists.? That’s always a nice feeling.? Now the next few weeks are going to be low-maintenance for me in there–each student has one discussion … Continue reading →

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The End of an Age and the Bible’s Michael Corleone

Posted on 2008/02/28 by ngilmour

We talked about the deaths of David and Arthur today and the radically different worlds and politics they leave behind. When Arthur dies, he takes the world of chivalry to the grave with him. By book’s end Gawain and Lancelot … Continue reading →

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Monkish Knights and the Bible’s Boba Fett

Posted on 2008/02/26 by ngilmour

Classes went much better today.? The pace was still more hurried than I prefer, but we actually got into some substantive discussion rather than the flyover survey I gave last Thursday. Before I proceed, I have to confess to my … Continue reading →

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A Big ol’ Hunk of Beowulf, that’s Hwaet.

Posted on 2007/03/03 by ngilmour

Yikes. I just finished the first part of the weekend’s homework in Beowulf class. Fifty-four lines. Yeesh. Now on to the next bit…

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Hwaet!

Posted on 2007/01/27 by ngilmour

400 posts! Woo hoo! Also, I’ve now translated 319 lines of Beowulf, or 10% of the thing! Hwaet!

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Honest Boethius

Posted on 2006/05/16 by ngilmour

Just finished The Consolation of Philosophy yesterday. The final three chapters deal with those lovely questions of divine foreknowledge, determinism, and human agency. Boethius, an unapologetic Platonist, unsurprisingly advances the Platonist argument that the same action that seems undetermined to … Continue reading →

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Dante is it

Posted on 2005/06/25 by ngilmour

I’m ten cantos into Paradise, and once again Dante amazes me. This will be my fourth read through all three canticles, and the poetic power of the man never wanes. Like Milton (my other poetic/theological master), Dante manages to dramatize … Continue reading →

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Another Run through Dante

Posted on 2005/06/04 by ngilmour

I’m nearly 30 cantos into my most recent reading of the Comedy, and once again I find myself wishing I’d learned Italian instead of Spanish. Ah, well. Mark Musa’s translation is more than adequate to keep my Dante addiction sated. … Continue reading →

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Won’t Leave Me Alone

Posted on 2004/10/04 by ngilmour

I dreamed last night that we had a girl, but the girl was about the size of a June bug, small enough to cradle in my palm. The problem was that we were with Mary’s family, and all the women … Continue reading →

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Lost again

Posted on 2004/10/03 by ngilmour

I dreamed last night that I was in college and that my schedule was made up entirely of high-level math classes. I never attended any class in the context of the dream but instead wandered around a labyrinth-like building, never … Continue reading →

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Knaughty Knights

Posted on 2004/09/21 by ngilmour

Having finished The Analogical Imagination, I’ve embarked on something completely different, namely rereading my Malory book that I at best skimmed while getting the house ready for Ollie and Sue’s visit last spring (or was it Ollie and Uncle Charlie? … Continue reading →

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