Young Heretics Spencer Klavan

This week we're going still further back in time, and further north, to read some Middle English from the tale of Gawain and the Green Knight. It's a galloping adventure that's been translated by some of the greats--including J.R.R. Tolkien--and reading the original is a good chance to practice dipping your toe into the more obscure forms of English that make the past feel like another country. Plus: how we appropriated Viking culture.
Pre-order my new book, Light of the Mind, Light of the World: https://a.co/d/2QccOfM
Check out our sponsor, the Ancient Language Institute (now offering Old English instruction!): https://ancientlanguage.com/youngheretics/
Subscribe to my new joint Substack with Andrew Klavan (no relation): https://thenewjerusalem.substack.com
Tips on pronouncing Middle English:
https://projects.iq.harvard.edu/cb45/middle-english-basic-pronunciation-and-grammar
https://folgerpedia.folger.edu/mediawiki/media/images_pedia_folgerpedia_mw/1/1f/How_to_pronounce_Middle_English.pdf
Recordings of expert readings:
https://www.arthuriana.com/sggk-rendall

So you want to defend the Western canon, huh? Why, exactly? In this episode I take a step back and ask why, outside of politics, we should care about books. Especially in the age of podcasts and digital media, with the publishing industry bleeding profits, it's easy to think of books as obsolete. But that might be exactly why we need them most--to hold ourselves together in a world of digital dissolution.
Check out our sponsor, the Ancient Language Institute: https://ancientlanguage.com/youngheretics/
Pre-order my new book, Light of the Mind, Light of the World: https://a.co/d/2QccOfM
Subscribe to be in the mailbag: https://rejoiceevermore.substack.com
We maked this: Lists of recommended works at The New Jerusalem. https://open.substack.com/pub/thenewjerusalem/p/list-16-brightness-visible?utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web

Have you ever thought about how weird it is that our oldest English literature is somehow...in another language? If you want to become a better communicator, understand your own history better, and just generally have an awesome time reading cool stories about knights and stuff, you could do no better than to read the great chivalric tales of the English past. But how to start? Today I'm embarking on a new Friday series that will answer that very question, for busy people who want to read Aurthurian romances and have time to play Prince of Persia.
Pre-order my new book, Light of the Mind, Light of the World: https://a.co/d/2QccOfM
Check out our sponsor, the Ancient Language Institute (now offering Old English instruction!): https://ancientlanguage.com/youngheretics/
Subscribe to my new joint Substack with Andrew Klavan (no relation): https://thenewjerusalem.substack.com

If you've never read a great work of literature before...where do you start? This week, in response to a listener request, I'm taking a poem I had never read before and walking through my process of getting to know it with you step by step. Hopefully, this will help give you some tips and pointers for getting acquainted with new authors and new ideas. If nothing else, by the time we're done you'll know which English queen helped make Shakespeare's career possible, what sorts of romantic entanglements can end you up in the Tower of London, and how to telegraph your sad boy vibes without getting your head chopped off.
A review of Graven With Diamonds, by Nicola Shulman: https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/reviews/graven-with-diamonds-by-nicola-shulman-2286444.html
A podcast with Susan Bridgen, author of Thomas Wyatt: The Heart's Forest: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/not-just-the-tudors/id1564113869?i=1000554333559
Check out our sponsor, the Ancient Language Institute: https://ancientlanguage.com/youngheretics/
Pre-order my new book, Light of the Mind, Light of the World: https://a.co/d/2QccOfM
Subscribe to be in the mailbag: https://rejoiceevermore.substack.com
I maked this: "The Tale of the Brothers True," at Rejoice Evermore: https://open.substack.com/pub/rejoiceevermore/p/the-frat-bros-of-the-round-table?r=wm1tt&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
 

When it comes to picking a translation, which brands can you trust? Like streaming services and video game consoles, publishers are always competing for eyeballs, which means no one imprint is going to be able to gather all the best authors and translators under one roof. But here are some good rules of thumb to help you understand the lay of the land when it comes to choosing a translation or series of translations, so you always know what you're getting yourself into.
Pre-order my new book, Light of the Mind, Light of the World: https://a.co/d/2QccOfM
Check out our sponsor, the Ancient Language Institute: https://ancientlanguage.com/youngheretics/
Subscribe to my new joint Substack with Andrew Klavan (no relation): https://thenewjerusalem.substack.com

Before C.S. Lewis, before George Orwell, there was Goethe: in Faust Part II, the magician's servant Wagner concocts a literal test tube baby--a "homunculus" or "little man" made without any sexual intercourse at all. This picture of humanity cut off from its natural origins is frighteningly familiar, and it leads to a final word on science, magic, and the coming age of genetic screenings. Where do we go from here? Only the past can help guide us into the future.
Check out our sponsor, the Ancient Language Institute: https://ancientlanguage.com/youngheretics/
Pre-order my new book, Light of the Mind, Light of the World: https://a.co/d/2QccOfM
Subscribe to be in the mailbag: https://rejoiceevermore.substack.com
We maked this: The New Jerusalem, featuring Andrew Klavan's latest essay on antisemitism: https://thenewjerusalem.substack.com/p/essay-4-antisemitism-is-the-devils