University of Pennsylvania Libraries/Courtesy Penguin Random House This illustration is part of a Italian compendium of medicinal herbs, many of whom have faces and, clearly, some thoughts about the situation. "Plants can be weird little guys, too," according to Swarthout. You can choose a patron saint - just as important as your astrological sign - and find hot Medieval singles in your area learn how to settle disputes with trial-by-combat tips (if between a man and a woman, the man must be chest-deep in a hole to level the playing field) or how to identify the poisonous, man-lion-scorpion-hybrid manticore in the wild (he likes silly hats). What would your name be? Ratbald? Wulfwynn? How about just Guy? In her new illustrated book, Swarthout guides readers through life in the Middle Ages with the same timely wit, making sense of broader Medieval culture through a contemporary lens. You might well have seen Swarthout’s handiwork in your feeds even if you don’t follow the account: Paired with her zeitgeisty captioning, many of the strange, cute and often absurd illustrations from 6th- to 15th-century manuscripts - showing jovial skeletons and wan angels, strangely drawn animals and the daily affairs of commonfolk - have become popular memes. There’s weird floating babies, a knight stabbing himself with the caption “I’m out,” a sneaky cat with a severed penis in its mouth, and a pair of men demonstrating not-so-vaguely sexual sword-fighting tactics. Now, she’s the author of a book with a tongue-in-cheek guide to living like it’s 999 AD - or thereabouts - called “Weird Medieval Guys: How to Live, Love, Laugh (and Die) in Dark Times.” Swarthout is the researcher behind the popular art history-inspired social media account Weird Medieval Guys, which has attracted nearly 700,000 followers on X, formerly Twitter, since she began posting with the handle in April 2022. So you want to live like you’re from the Middle Ages? Well, maybe that’s not a common aspiration, but nevertheless, it’s a subject that’s become Olivia M.
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