Ich do invyte yow to joyne me yn a celebracioun across the entyre globe of the erthe. Yn thys celebracioun we shal reade of oold bokes yn sondrye oold tonges. Eny oold tonge will do, and eny maner of readinge. All are welcome.
Geoffrey Chaucer (of 'hath a blog' fame) invites you all to join him on April 1 (aka, 'Whan that Aprille' day) in reading something or other in some old language, in order to "take joye yn alle langages that are yclept [called] ‘old,’ or ‘middel,’ or ‘auncient,’ or ‘archaic,’ or, alas, even ‘dead.’"
He adds,
Ye maye, paraventure, wisshe to reade from the beginning of my Tales of Caunterburye, but ye maye also wisshe to reade of eny oothir boke or texte or scroll or manuscript that ye love. Ye maye even reade the poetrye of John Gower yf that ys yower thinge.
Chaucer don't judge. Even if you choose to read John Gower, you strange and questionable person.
Coincidentally, I recorded (and rambled about) that same first eighteen lines of the Canterbury Tales a couple of weeks back, but on Monday I and the other members of the University of Melbourne's Middle English Reading Group made a video recording of all of us reciting/reading it - in a round. Word salad, as somebody said, but it was fun. :) It will be up on the website on Whan That Aprille day.
You should all do something too, if you can!
