MC Lars has been on the nerdcore scene for some years, and given how often he turns to literary topics, he’s a great favorite of Professor Awesome. Though he’s probably better known for songs like “This Gigantic Robot Kills” and “Lars Attacks,” you might want to check out some of his Poe-inspired work, like “Annabelle Lee, RIP,” “Flow Like Poe,” and “Mr. Raven.”
Maria Bustillos has an article on Adventure Time that is beautiful — complete with interviews and clips, she delves into the literary theory that undergirds the show. I may make it required reading next time I teach my “Myth and Folklore” class.
The New Yorker has some commentary on Adventure Time, with a very similar take to “Adventure Time and Geek Culture.”
Young Justice, the animated series about D.C. comic book sidekicks getting their own covert Junior Justice League, had a throw-away Beowulf reference in episode 19, “Secrets.”
In that episode, a villain named “Harm” (who obnoxiously always referred to himself in the 3rd person) steals Beowulf’s sword, which can only be wielded by the pure of heart — and as his heart is pure evil, it counts. Once he has learned the incantation to make the sword work (which is vaguely-Old-English sounding gibberish), he uses it to wreak a bit of havoc.
Beyond that, it isn’t really clear what sword this is supposed to be, since in the Old English poem Beowulf fights Grendel unarmed (heh heh), and in the battle with Grendel’s mother Unferth’s sword Hrunting fails, and the Beowulf has to kill her with a giant sword she happens to have lying around her lair.
One cool potential reference to Grendel, though — the sword is actually sheathed in what looks like a mummified arm. Not exactly canonical to the medieval poem, but cool nonetheless.
Game of Thrones continues to promote an interest in medieval history and culture, and “The Time Traveller’s Manual to a Medieval Wedding” over at History Behind Game of Thrones uses the marriage of Charles the Bold and Margaret of York as the example.
Blanco, the horse that played Shadowfax in Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings movies, died last week.
Adam WarRock left being an attorney for the nerdcore music scene years ago. Check him out.
