Because my life decided to do a fall-to-pieces thing and New Year is coming, I have spent the weekend fixing the small things (since the big things are out of my control).
For instance, I have been courageous and emailed the Folio Society reminding them that I am not my late father and telling them to please get me off their database because too many letters with great offers for "Mr Polack" just got my goat. I talked to a priest about people who try to convert me. The first thing he suggested was that I come to a conversion class, but when he stopped and listened, he was wonderful. I emailed some lost friends and am back in touch with them. I sorted out what's happening for Jewish New Year. I started work on all my back papers that need work and hope to catch up with the worst of the paper war and stuff owed and just generally get my act together by Thursday night.
On Thursday I shall do a big shop with a friend and that will see me through the Holy Day period. I have two piles of review books to get through by then - ten days of really bad aches slowed the one pile down and the other pile was due to be attacked this week. I think I will aim at finishing the speculative fiction pile, so the books can go to their final destination. I will have the three academic books as my fun reading for the week, and I can start those reviews when the reading has digested.
Why is academic reading fun? Two of the books are translations of chansons de geste. How could it not be fun?
Which reminds me, ages and ages ago someone asked for translations of chansons de geste. There weren't many. These books contain the ones that I talked about as "I wonder what became of them?" - and were started twenty something years ago. Finally in print. Unsurprisingly, one of the books is dedicated to my main doctoral supervisor. Both books are by Michael Newth. One is "Aymeri of Narbonne" (Ithaca Press, NY 2005) and the other is "Heroes of the French Epic" (Boydell and Brewer, 2005). The second volume has 6 epics, including a couple of my favourites. The darkest of them is Raoul de Cambrai, and that's the one I might use to check his translation. Alas, he doesn't appear to have any of the wonderful vendetta-ish ones - you can get a feel for them from Raoul de Cambrai, though. And so finally, new translations (and in most cases the first translations) of seven chansons de geste. All in verse.
So my work reading for this week is 6 bloody epics and the fragment of a seventh. That should help put my world to rights :). And if any of the original interested parties get hold of them, let me know and we can talk about them. I would love someone to talk with about chansons de geste!
I just realised. Brains spilling out of ears as related to time of death. I might locate it this week :).
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