Medieval Macros - Bayeux Tapestry

About

The Historic Tale Construction Kit was one of many eCard generators created by Bjorn Karnbogen of Cologne, Germany in 2003; the same year that 4chan was created.

From an archived version of Wikiworld’s 4chan entry:

Olde English image macros of existing memes created using the Historical Tale Construction Kit. New medieval macros show up from time to time as new memes and in-jokes appear, though nothing has yet matched the original flood when /b/ first discovered them. Stolen by YTMND.

In addition to the popularity of still-frame image macros on 4chan, the Bayeux Tapestry inspired the creation of a multitude of YTMNDs.

• Medieval WRYYYY
• All Thine Castles are Within ovr Possesion
• Medieval PTKFGS

From YTMND’s wiki entry:

The resulting combination of pictures and text resembles the most basic form of a YTMND, perhaps explaining the fad’s appeal to YTMND users.
The text in Medieval YTMNDs is usually a fad catchphrase rewritten to resemble Early Modern English, often to the point of absurdity. (“I hath it with thine mother trysting serpents on thine mother trysting flying barge!”)
To complete the medieval setting, virtually every site in the fad uses the same song: folk singer Heather Dale’s recording of the 15th century Christmas carol “This Endris Night.” The popularity of the fad earned “This Endris Night” a spot on YTMND – The Soundtrack Volume 1.

Tracing Popularity

Google Insights for Search shows that searches for the “Historic Tale Construction Kit” peaked in January of 2006. However, this did not impact the generally decreasing trend of search traffic for “Bayuex Tapestry.”

“Bayeux Tapestry” reflects a significant yearly cycle in which July to August are generally low months, and interest picks up again in October or November of each year. This is most likely due to the fact that the Battle of Hastings occurred in October of the year 1066.