So mostly what I gave been doing as of late has simply been homework. Anyone who sees me in the google chat bar know that my pretty constant status is "LATINing but still here!" Granted that doesn't always mean I am actually working on latin, but that I am likely working on some form of homework for my MLitt here at Aberdeen. My latest activity in frustration has been working on my Paleography homework for the second half of the class. So most of us in the class have been a bit frustrated by the fact that we didn't really get too much information for the first half of the class under the first professor of the class and are now seemingly expected to just know how to read manuscripts (difficult black and white photocopies none the less) with no context other than the vague sense of "this is a charter from king henry from the year 1158" and its in latin. The new professor seems to be under the mistaken impression that we are all somehow relatively familiar with that language, though most of us have had 6 weeks of exposure, if that.
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| This weeks homework! |
So, we are all plunging on, with a brief few pages on what to sort of look for as far as abbreviations go as far as medieval latin texts go and a very vague sense of what the alphabet looks like. This is in something called charter hand (http://medievalwriting.50megs.com/scripts/examples/protgot1.htm, http://medievalwriting.50megs.com/scripts/examples/protgot5.htm) an informalized form of gothic bookhand (http://medievalwriting.50megs.com/scripts/examples/protgot3.htm). So given these things (examples found by me, not provided by teacher) we have to wade through a document that is like 12th century court leet speak. Ok so go to someone in the 80s and ask them what AFK, LOL and PWNed means and they will stare at you blankly, thats kind of what this is like, only in a whole other language. Here is one example, see the 4th word of line one? The one that comes after the word that looks like Sux (its actually Dux, as in Duke)? On the paper it literally says Norñi. What it says in 12th century leet speak is Nor(ma)ni, meaning of Normandy. All the weird cursive z looking things are symbols for the word et (and in English and the root of out ampersand &). Last word of line 2? Looks like Sat? Salutem ... yeah that last letter is an l with a tilde over it that is telling you letters are missing, but you sort of have to know what letters are missing. Context helps with that as does understanding the language... Lets just leave it at, this is not easy with little training and understanding of what the heck is going on in this document. Its like getting a passage that you know is by Dickens but its in French and common words and names are abbreviated, now, transcribe the passage....oh and btw, you're being graded.
I am in the beginner class with a lovely person named Jonathan who is quite fun and funny! Today it was just the two of us riding in that class and we had a really great time. We rode Wesley and Flynn today and focused mostly on trotting and team riding with the horses. Trotting is really fun but trying to get it down so that you can rise and squeeze the horse to keep them going at the same time is surprisingly hard. You really have to think about six things all at the same time. Its hard but really fun! I like riding Flynn because he is really responsive to direction and he is really pretty too. Ok, the last two pictures are from the lesson: Me on Flynn and Jonathan and I doing pairs riding in a circle! 
So here is a quick little run down of some of the really cool things I see in my neighborhood and on my way to class every day! So this is a makers date on the end of the building that is across the street from me. In case its a little hard to see, it says A.B. J.B. 1884 around the base of the trefoil. I assume that it is marking the date of the build and perhaps the architects initials, but I could be wrong. 
I am really fascinated with the number of cool doors that there are along the way on my route to and from the university. This is one of the cooler yet plainer ones. Its a little hard to see in the image of the full door so I included the close of the obscured glass that makes up the center of the door. Its a vaguely celtic knot design but modernized really.
All along King St., from about Orchard St and along to the end of the St Peter's Cemetery there are a whole bunch of B&Bs which often have beautiful and distinctive doors along with signs to tell the guests where they need to come to stay. They seem to have a pretty decent business going as I most often see them with 'No Vacancy' signs hanging pleasantly in the windows. I'd love to see the inside one of these days.
