Someday soon, Karl der Grosse and I will have to part company—but I’m glad that day has not yet come. Otherwise, I’d never find neat stuff like this in my mailbox.

Yep, that’s a Charlemagne stick puppet, made by none other than medievalist and puppeteer Jennifer Lynn Jordan. Thanks, Jen!

Perhaps Jen’s puppet can help us answer the timeless question posed by something else I recently got in the mail.

Of course, most readers of this blog know that Charlemagne wasn’t exactly renowned for keeping his trousers up in the first place. Alas, this ad doesn’t answer the question it poses; it only promotes a free brochure that does promise an answer. I haven’t yet located a copy of that brochure—but, as another legendary bearded figure once sang, the road goes ever on and on…