Bards Abound

The musical tradition of the bard was reinvented with the birth of folk rock. British folk rock came about in the late 1960s and thrived in England and elsewhere until the advent of punk. Like the folk rock movement in the USA, England folk rock drew from original compositions as well as modern arrangements of folk songs. The Fairport Convention popularized genre with their album "Leige & Lief" (which contained 75% traditional folk tunes). The group worked mostly with ballads from the late medieval through to the 19th century. Other notable groups within the genre are Steeleye Span (pictured above), Pentangle and The Incredible String Band. Here is a sample of the Fairport Convention doing their rendition of the folk ballad "Matty Groves":

Terry Jones loves the Middle Ages

Apparently the Python troops' interest in Medieval times didn't end with the Holy Grail. Terry Jones (no not the Qur'an burning southern minister, silly!) narrates and writes a number of different historical television specials, some for the BBC. His Medieval Lives(2004) series was nominated for an Emmy for outstanding writing in non-fiction. He has also written books on the subject, including one which paints Chaucer's knight as a less virtuous character, called Chaucer's Knight: Portrait of a Medieval Mercenary. The below clip is from one of Jones' many forays into Medieval history. Watch the clip until the end; no doubt it'll give you "goose bumps."

Geoff Jr: Rockin', Rollin'

This touring theatrical act is performed by a man claiming to be two things: the long lost son of Geoffrey Chaucer and nearly six hundred years old. In being both of these things, Geoff Jr (of geoffchaucerjunior.com) has put together two of what hopes to be many one-man plays. The first is titled "A Random History of Rock and Roll in Middle English". With this work Geoff Jr claims that many of today's most popular and widely known songs were in fact written by the six-hundred-year-old bard in middle English. Being a firm believer in "living tradition", he has never bothered to record his work. When questioned by skeptics, Geoff Jr delivered his scathing rebuttle: "the industrie of musick be full of plagerists and queynts". Geoff Jr's second effort is a musical rendition of his father's most hilarious comedy "The Miller's Tale". Geoff Jr's most recent performance saw him performing at the Crown Beer Festival in Kent, but unfortunately he has no plans of crossing the water to appear in Canada. He is coming to terms with the modern world, however, and will be recording a disc of his greatest ballads for all to hear. Check him out at http://www.geoffchaucerjunior.com/

Blog on Blog

Before there was "Stint thy clappe, bro!" blog there was "Chaucer hath a blog" blog. Existing as the estranged and battered bastard step-child of such an elaborate blog as "Chaucer hath a blog," it is only right that we should acknowledge this fact and direct your attention to its benefits and location. While we merely attempt to collect media containing Chaucer's influence, Chaucer hath a blog, or CHAB, strives to continue discussion on the man's influence and is entirely written in Middle English.
The popularity of CHAB can be assessed from the merchandise advertised on the first page of the site. There are more than 10 different t-shirt designs (as well as a "Chaucer Liveth!" button). Each shirt has some pop culture reference with a Chaucerian slant. My personal favorites include Bevis of Hampton (which, along with a lovely sketch of Beavis of Beavice and Butt-Head fame, is the subtitle "make my romaunce medievale") and the macho/nacho slogan "Machaut, Machaut Man" (which is a reference to Guillaume de Machaut, a French poet and composer).
The blog's contributors are listed with links to in-depth profiles (also all in Middle English). These include interests, favourites (movies, music, books) and occupations. In the case of Chaucer himself we learn that he lives in Kent, is employed as Justice of the Pees for Kente and loves Boethius, Dante, Petrarch as well as the movie adaptation of The Knight's Tale and "al maner balades, roundels and virelayes". Other notable contributors are Sir John Mandeville and Katherine de Swineford.
The blog entries themselves are on a wide range of topics. Basically anything is appropriate as long as it is properly translated into Middle English (anything with reference to the medieval, or specifically Chaucer, seems to be more popular). An example of this freedom is evident in the most recent blogs which all seem to have something to do with Halloween. Most entries are an attempt to wed the current with the medieval (as is the theme of the entire project). Some recent blogs include: "The Aeneid and Zombeys," "The Metalogicon of John of Salisbury and Mummies" and "The Consolation of Philosophie the Vampyre Slayer". Fun.
More blogs are posted every day so hone your translating skills and read on. "Chaucer hath a blog" is located at http://houseoffame.blogspot.com/

British Comedian pwns Chaucer

    Bill Bailey is an English comedian best known for his roles in such television shows as Black Books (2004), Spaced (2001), Hot Fuzz (2007) and Never Mind the Buzzcocks (1996)—many of which are somewhat obscure to North American audiences,but very popular in the UK.

    In the below clip, Bailey is combining a traditional pub-style joke, a “three men go into a pub” joke, with an imitation of Chaucer’s Middle English and verse.    

    The combination works well considering the crass nature of the “three men go into a pub” genre and Chaucer’s sometimes-raunchy humor, typified in the Miller’s Tale and The Wife of Bath. Also, both the “three men go into a pub” joke and the Canterbury Tales itself begin in a pub. Although certain elements of the joke are purposefully anachronistic, overall, it isn’t really all that far from the kind of altered traditional tales that Chaucer composed for the Canterbury Tales. (Thusly, have we ruined Bailey’s joke, explaining away its intelligence.)

    Also, note the added “e’s” and the pronunciation of vowels. Teehee.

Tom Green's avante-garde Chaucer

    This is a clip from the original Tom Green Show, a cult phenomenon of Canadian television.
    The only thing that directly involves Chaucer (at least in any concrete way) is the title of the piece: "The Canterbury Tales." However, the use of this title may suggest a contrast between what is perceived as "high culture" — ie. reading Chaucer — and the "low culture" of the Tom Green Show. Ironically, Chaucer could be just as grotesque as Green.
    On the other hand, there is of course the possibility that Green was well acquainted with Chaucer from high school, university or from personal interest. Unlikely as it may seem, this may be a more reasoned response than one might think. Who knows?
    Also, what are those animal skulls? Baby horses? 

Monty Python and the Holy Grail

Though officially set in the 10th century, Monty Python and the Holy Grail is parodying, more generally, the Middle Ages. In the below clip, a peasant's complaints against the rigidity of three estates is being compared to modern political discourse from the left. The obnoxious peasant is being likened to an obnoxious protestor. Thus we hear the peasant making charming anachronisms like, "We are an anarcho-syndicalist commune!"

BBC's modern Chaucer TV series!

    Originally airing in 2003, BBC released a television mini-series featuring six modern adaptations of certain Canterbury Tales: "The Miller's Tale," "The Wife of Bath," "The Knight's Tale," "The Sea Captain's Tale," "The Pardoner's Tale" and "The Man of Law's Tale."
    I have yet to watch this series or even see a clip from the show (it is difficult to find in North America), but if you are willing to fork out the money it can be bought on the UK Amazon (or you can cheat and find it through torrents).
    Considering the BBC does excellent television adaptations of classic literature, I'm going to take an educated guess and say that this series will be great. It will be interesting to see, however, how the BBC balances Chaucer's verse with modern language and how they translate plot to modern situations.

Here is a description of the series from the BBC website: http://www.bbc.co.uk/drama/canterburytales/

LEGO Chaucer

    A quick search on YouTube for Lego Chaucer yields numerous results of The Canterbury Tales adapted into stop motion using Lego. Most of these are pretty painful to watch, but some are fairly well done and are, at the least, hilarious. While these could serve to help teach students about plot in Chaucer, the major value seems to be in the actual making of the videos. If you are a teacher, challenging your class to make a series of videos narrating The Canterbury Tales using Lego would serve as a great way to teach Chaucer..

Here is a hilarious rendition of "The Wife of Bath's Tale":