3 Things You Never Say to a Medievalist

1 - "Do you, like, dress up in costumes and stuff?"


No. No. No.

When someone tells you that they on their way to a convention to study King Arthur or Viking longships, don't ask them if it's a dorky cosplay convention.  Preparing for a convention involves translating dead languages and comprehending obscure theologies - dress-up games are for kids.

Comparison -  Asking a medical student if he's studying anatomy to get better at playing Operation.

 "So, doctor, you must be pretty good at removing the funny bone."  "Yeah, but the bread basket was my major."

2 - "Do you study that stuff from 'The DaVinci Code?'"

We'll do no such thing.  Dan Brown's books are ridiculous - and they are made even more ridiculous by his repeated claim that they are historically accurate.  They aren't.  And no medievalist on their first day of class believes any single thing presented in that book because every word of it is completely untrue.

Comparison - Asking your ethics professor is Snakes and Ladders is going to be on the final exam.

 Actually, this game will teach you more than Dan Brown's books, so does Candy Land and slapping yourself in the face with a spoon..

3 - "What are you going to do with your degree?"


This is the worst question.  For us medievalists, it's simply a passion.  I would spend time getting lost in Viking legends and stories of medieval monsters for fun even if I never got paid to do it!  I do it because I love it.  And when people ask me what I'm going to do with my degree I have a hard time answering.  What are you going to do with your fishing rod?  Or your love of stamps?

Comparison - Asking someone what they are going to do with their Monopoly game pieces.

 "As flies to wanton boys are we to th' players, they bankrupt us for their sport!"

4 - Medieval studies does matter, however.

What your resident medievalist does really matters - and it's more important than a hobby even though most of us would continue our studies if we were unemployed.  Unlike many other fields of history, the middle ages is still a big question mark in many ways.  There are scores of unread documents that are just waiting for a new scholar to pick up and read (or, "tole lege," as we say).  Each generation of medievalists changes the field and helps us understand how our society became what it is, today.  Some historians have called this time in history the "proto-modern" era, because, at last, the foundations of modern life were being built.  But, for such an important time in history, it's remarkable that we are still in dark about things.   Most historical fields don't have so much left to learn, but the medievalist has entered into an exciting and changing field that is redefining what we know about our heritage at a rapid rate; which is remarkable when you realize that most areas of history, such as Civil War studies or popular WWII subjects, are so well known to us that there is little (if any) new ground to tread upon - we already know the lessons of those times.  But the medievalists are still sorting papers, digging up artifacts, and learning how to properly see the middle ages.  It's a fantastic field that needs our attention.

(Photo credit - that picture of the enormous game of Operation comes from this website about large board games that are for sale.)