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The Manuscripts, the Thief, and his Secret
Metafilter points to this story in the Guardian about Mont Sainte-Odile an ancient convent perched atop a 2,500ft peak in eastern France, a locked library containing a priceless collection of early printed books and illuminated manuscripts, a secret passage – and a series of spectacular and inexplicable thefts.
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Calens Mai or May Day
Long before May 1 became associated with workers, it was associated with the joys of spring and the restoration of fertility to the land. The Celtic festival of Beltaine (Modern English Beltane) is the ancestor of the calens Mai, or May Day associated with May 1. I suspect the Roman floralia may have contributed or shared an common IE ancestor. Beltaine is one of the four main Celtic seasonal festivals, and as a liminal time, between the death of winter and the birth of the warm half of the year, it is one of the occasions when the barriers between the mortal world and the otherworld are easily passed (Rees…
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Medieval Puzzle
I was making one of my regular “search the web for digitized manuscripts” searches when I discovered this web-based interactive jig saw puzzle based on an image from a Parisian Book of Hours. Try it, it’s fun!
