In Chaucer’s original The Canterbury Tales, written in the late fourteenth century, the narrator joins a group of 29 pilgrims who are about to set out on a journey from Southwark to Canterbury to visit the shrine of Saint Thomas Becket at Canterbury Cathedral. He proposes that each member of the group tell two stories to entertain them on their journey, and proceeds to record each of these ‘tales’. The teller of the best story was to be rewarded with a free meal at the expense of the rest of the group.
]]>This production by theatre company KNUTS is a modern adaptation of Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales in two parts. Adapted by Stephen Quinn and directed by Stephen Lee, it transposes stories from Chaucer’s original text into a variety of different genres, ranging from Western to silent film, Victorian melodrama and a Shakespearean version of a Medieval Romance. Part One includes renditions of ‘The Pardoner’s Tale’, ‘The Miller’s Tale’ and ‘The Reeve’s Tale’, and Part Two ‘The Franklin’s Tale’, The Wife of Bath’s Tale’ and ‘The Merchant’s Tale’. This production featured as part of the Perth Fringe Festival in 2013, where ‘The Canterbury Tales: Part One’ was performed from 7 February to 13 February and ‘The Canterbury Tales: Part Two’ was performed the following week from 14 February to 19 February 2013. A positive review of ‘The Canterbury Tales: Part Two’ from The West Australian can be read at: http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/entertainment/a/-/entertainment/16159623/review-the-canterbury-tales-part-two/.
In Chaucer’s original The Canterbury Tales, written in the late fourteenth century, the narrator joins a group of 29 pilgrims who are about to set out on a journey from Southwark to Canterbury to visit the shrine of Saint Thomas Becket at Canterbury Cathedral. He proposes that each member of the group tell two stories to entertain them on their journey, and proceeds to record each of these ‘tales’. The teller of the best story was to be rewarded with a free meal at the expense of the rest of the group.
The Evandale Village Singers are choir based in the northern Tasmanian town of Evandale who formed in 1999. For more see http://www.anca.org.au/choir-view/1302
]]>This poster advertises two performances of Henry Purcell’s ‘King Arthur’ by the Evandale Village Singers in late October 2012 at St Andrew’s Anglican Church in Evandale. Henry Purcell’s ‘King Arthur’ is a Restoration-period opera set in the early medieval period with a libretto by John Dryden. It was first performed in 1691. The plot deals with Arthur, king of the Briton’s, and his battles against the incoming Saxons, which historically would have taken place in the fifth or sixth centuries. The text mentions the Anglo-Saxon deities Woden and
Thor (Old English Thunor), as well as the Norse goddess Freya.
The Evandale Village Singers are choir based in the northern Tasmanian town of Evandale who formed in 1999. For more see http://www.anca.org.au/choir-view/1302
For the article see http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article51296463
]]>‘The Talisman’ is an article by Robert Power published in 1924 in the ‘Two Minute Talks’ section of the Launceston newspaper the Examiner. The article is about the importance of putting ones faith in God rather than superstitious charms. The article opens by mentioning the talisman of ‘great heroes’, all of whom are medieval.
Hereward the Wake (who fought against the Normans in England in 1070-1) had magic armour, Charlemagne’s knight Roland (whose feats are told in the eleventh-century poem The Song of Roland) had an important horn, and King Arthur and his knights have the supernatural sword Excalibur.
For the article see http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article51296463
For their website see http://www.alicescottages.com.au/camelot.html
]]>Alice’s Cottages offer romantic B&B accommodation in the Tasmanian city of Launceston. One of the cottages is called ‘Camelot Cottage’ (named after the castle and court of King
Arthur), and it features ‘Merlin’s Spa’. The ‘medieval experience’ advertised on their website is enhanced by the inclusion of a tented four poster bed and a tapestry/wall hanging, whilst swords and a medieval helmet decorate the
cottage. Some of the photos feature a young couple in the cottage, with the man wearing a medieval helmet.
For their website see http://www.alicescottages.com.au/camelot.html
Chalice Bridge Estate can be found at http://chalicebridge.com.au/
]]>‘The Chalice’ is a limited release, reserve wine range produced by Chalice Bridge Estate winery in Margaret River, Western Australia. The name evokes the legends of the Quest for the Holy Grail, and this medieval association is enhanced by the illustrations on the bottle labels. The label features a chalice, or goblet/footed cup, surrounded by a floral design. A chalice is often depicted as the vessel of the Holy Grail, although during the medieval period it was also sometimes depicted as a platter. The Quest for the Holy Grail was a popular part of the legendary Arthurian cycle involving Lancelot and/or Galahad during the medieval period, particularly in the work of Chrétien de Troyes and Wolfram von Eschenbach. Now, however, the Quest is often more readily associated with the Knights Templar, for example in the 1989 film Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.
Chalice Bridge Estate can be found at http://chalicebridge.com.au/
Designer: Daniel McKeating, Studio Lost & Found, Western Australia (http://www.studiolostandfound.com/)
About Christian Waller:
Christian Waller was born Christian Marjory Emily Carlyle Yandell in 1894 in Castlemaine, Victoria. In 1910 she moved to Melbourne with her family. There she attended the National Gallery Schools and won acclaim from a young age, receiving a number of student prizes, exhibiting her work with the Victorian Artists Society and featuring in illustrated publications such as Franklin Petersons Melba’s Gift Book of Australian Art and Literature in 1915. In 1915 she married fellow artist Mervyn Napier Waller. He lost his right arm the following year serving on the Western Front, and Christian supported him upon his return to Australia by working as a commercial artist. During the 1920s she became a book illustrator, and her work from this period has been described as reflecting “Classical, Medieval, Pre-Raphaelite and Art Nouveau influences” (See Thomas, David, 'Waller, Christian Marjory Emily Carlyle (1894–1954)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/waller-christian-marjory-emily-carlyle-11944/text21407, accessed 4 February 2012). From 1928 Waller started designing stained glass windows. This was an artistic medium in which she was prolific, and for which she became well known, during the 1930s and 40s.
]]>This watercolour by Australian artist Christian Waller was gifted to the Art Gallery of Ballarat in 1933 by the Women’s Association. It depicts a woman in medieval dress whom the title identifies as Morgan Le Fay. Morgan Le Fay is a sorceress/healer in Arthurian legend. Starting with Chrétien de Troyes in the late twelfth century, she is often named as Arthur’s half-sister (by his mother Igerne). She plays a key adversarial role in much Arthurian literature; she is often depicted trying to expose the adulterous liaisons of Lancelot and Guinevere, and attempting to bring about Arthur’s downfall. She does this by using her magic powers to give Arthur’s sword, Excalibur, to her lover Accolon (while leaving Arthur unknowingly with a counterfeit), and by throwing Excalibur into the lake. At the end of Thomas Malory’s fifteenth-century text Le Morte d’Arthur, however, she resumes her healing role by taking Arthur to Avalon and tending to the wounded king. For a copy of Le Morte d’Arthur, see: http://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/m/malory/thomas/m25m/. In the background of Waller’s painting are numerous medieval references: a lance, a heraldic shield, a helmet, a picture of a knight riding a horse, and a set of highly symbolic keys given Morgan Le Fay’s power in Arthurian legend.
About Christian Waller:
Christian Waller was born Christian Marjory Emily Carlyle Yandell in 1894 in Castlemaine, Victoria. In 1910 she moved to Melbourne with her family. There she attended the National Gallery Schools and won acclaim from a young age, receiving a number of student prizes, exhibiting her work with the Victorian Artists Society and featuring in illustrated publications such as Franklin Petersons Melba’s Gift Book of Australian Art and Literature in 1915. In 1915 she married fellow artist Mervyn Napier Waller. He lost his right arm the following year serving on the Western Front, and Christian supported him upon his return to Australia by working as a commercial artist. During the 1920s she became a book illustrator, and her work from this period has been described as reflecting “Classical, Medieval, Pre-Raphaelite and Art Nouveau influences” (See Thomas, David, 'Waller, Christian Marjory Emily Carlyle (1894–1954)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/waller-christian-marjory-emily-carlyle-11944/text21407, accessed 4 February 2012). From 1928 Waller started designing stained glass windows. This was an artistic medium in which she was prolific, and for which she became well known, during the 1930s and 40s.