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Medieval Studies Program
1267 University of Oregon
Eugene, OR 97403-1267

Office: 541-346-4069
FAX: (541) 346-4118
midages@uoregon.edu

Index of Fun Links Medieval Soundbites Famous Medieval Women Links to Medieval Manuscripts Medieval Recipes Medieval Joke Page Medieval Insult Page Top Ten Things Brought to You By the Middle Ages Films Set in the Middle Ages? Novels Set in the Middle Ages? Everything Unladen Swallow

 


  

 

The Medieval Insult Page

All insults guaranteed authentic!

Medieval Latin:

"Tu sochors! Tu scibalum hedi! Tu scibalum ouis! Tu scibalum equi! Tu fimus bouis! Tu stercus porci! Tu hominis stercus! Tu canis scibalum! Tu uulpis scibalum! Tu muricipis scibalum! Tu galline stercus! Tu asini scibalum! Tu uulpicule omnium uulpiculorum! Tu uulpis cauda! Tu uulpis barba! Tu nebris uulpiculi! Tu uechors et semichors! Tu scurra!"

"You idiot! You goat dung! Sheep dung! Horse dung! You cow dung! You pig filth! You human dung! You dog dung! Fox dung! Cat dung! Chicken droppings! You donkey dung! You fox cub of all fox cubs! You fox tail! You fox beard! You skin of a fox cub! You idiot and halfwit! You buffoon!"

 -- The Colloquy of Ælfric Bata (England, c. 1000)

Old Norse:

"Thú ert brú¸r Svínfellsáss, em sagt er, hverja ir níunda nótt ok geri hann thik at konu!"

"You are the bride of the Svïnafell troll, as people say, and every ninth night he treats you like a woman!"

-- Skarphe¸inn to Flosi in Njal's Saga, ch. 123

Middle English:

"'I wolde I had thy coillons in myn hond
In stide of relikes or of seintuarie.
Lat kutte hem of, I wold thee help hem carie;
They shul be shryned in an hogges toord!'
     This Pardoner answerde nat a word;
So wrooth was he, no word ne wolde he seye..."

"'I wish I had your ****s in my hand
In place of relics or of saints' holy things.
Come, cut them off; I'll help you carry them;
They shall be enshrined in a hog's ****!'
     This Pardoner answered not a word;
So enraged was he, no word would he say..."

 -- Chaucer, The Canterbury Tales: "The Pardoner's Tale"

Dame Study cursing those who inquire too deeply into scripture:

"For alle that wilneth to wite the whyes of God almyghty,
I wolde his eighe were in his ers and his fynger after..."

"For all that want to know the whys of God almighty,
I wish his eyes were in his *** and his finger following..."

 -- Piers Plowman B.10.124-5

Lady Holy Church to Piers Plowman:

"'Thow dolted daffe!' quod she, 'dulle are thi wittes.'"

"'You doltish dunce!' she said, 'dull are your wits.'"

 -- Piers Plowman B.1.140

"'That thou tellest,' quod Truthe, 'is but a tale of waltrot!'"

"'What you say,' said Truth, 'is nothing but a tale of claptrap!"

 -- Piers Plowman B.18.142

Old High German/Latin:

"Vnde ars in tine naso (canis culum in tuo naso)!"

A dog's butt in your face!

-- from the earliest Berlitz translation guide written for a Frenchman travelling in Germany, 10th century