A companion to medieval poetry

Author(s)

• Saunders, Corinne J.

Bibliographic Information

A companion to medieval poetry

edited by Corinne Saunders

（Blackwell companions to literature and culture）

Wiley-Blackwell, 2010

• : hbk

Note

Includes bibliographical references and index

Description and Table of Contents

Description

MEDIEVAL POETRY In a series of original essays from leading literary scholars, this Companion offers a chronological sweep of medieval poetry from Old English to the great genres of romance, narrative, and alliterative poetry of the 15th century. Beginning in the Anglo-Saxon period, the volume explores the Old English language and its alliterative tradition, before moving on to examine the genres of heroic, devotional, wisdom and epic poetry, culminating in a discussion of arguably the founding text of the English literary canon, the great epic Beowulf. In part two, the Companion moves on to discuss the linguistic and social changes brought about as a result of the Norman Conquest, exploring how this influenced the development of literary genres. Essays probe the shifts and continuities in genres such as lyric, chronicle and dream vision, and the emergence of new genres such as popular and courtly romance, and drama. A particular focus is the continuation of the alliterative tradition from the Anglo-Saxon period to the fifteenth century. A series of chapters on major authors, including Chaucer, Gower, and Langland, provide fresh approaches to reading and studying key texts, such as The Canterbury Tales, Piers Plowman and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Finally, the collection examines cultural change at the close of the medieval period and the variety of literature produced in the 'long fifteenth century', including writing by and for women, Scots poetry, clerical and courtly works, and secular and sacred drama.

Table of Contents

List of Figures x Notes on Contributors xi Acknowledgements xvi Introduction 1 Corinne Saunders Part I Old English Poetry 11 Contexts 13 1 The World of Anglo-Saxon England 15 Andy Orchard 2 The Old English Language and the Alliterative Tradition 34 Richard Dance 3 Old English Manuscripts and Readers 51 Rohini Jayatilaka 4 Old English and Latin Poetic Traditions 65 Andy Orchard Genres and Modes 83 5 Germanic Legend and Old English Heroic Poetry 85 Hugh Magennis 6 Old English Biblical and Devotional Poetry 101 Daniel Anlezark 7 Old English Wisdom Poetry 125 David Ashurst 8 Old English Epic Poetry: Beowulf141 Daniel Anlezark Part II Middle English Poetry 161 Contexts 163 9 The World of Medieval England: From the Norman Conquest to the Fourteenth Century 165 Conor McCarthy 10 Middle English Language and Poetry 181 Simon Horobin 11 Middle English Manuscripts and Readers 196 Ralph Hanna Genres and Modes 217 12 Legendary History and Chronicle: Lazamon's Brut and the Chronicle Tradition 219 Lucy Perry 13 Medieval Debate-Poetry and The Owl and the Nightingale 237 Neil Cartlidge 14 Lyrics, Sacred and Secular 258 David Fuller 15 Macaronic Poetry 277 Elizabeth Archibald 16 Popular Romance 289 Nancy Mason Bradbury 17 Arthurian and Courtly Romance 308 Rosalind Field 18 Alliterative Poetry: Religion and Morality 329 John Scattergood 19 Alliterative Poetry and Politics 349 John Scattergood Poets and Poems 367 20 The Poet of Pearl, Cleanness and Patience 369 A. V. C. Schmidt 21 Sir Gawain and the Green Knight 385 Tony Davenport 22 Langland's Piers Plowman 401 Lawrence Warner 23 Chaucer's Love Visions 414 Helen Phillips 24 Chaucer's Troilus and Criseyde 435 Alcuin Blamires 25 Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales 452 Corinne Saunders 26 The Poetry of John Gower 476 R. F. Yeager Part III Post-Chaucerian and Fifteenth-Century Poetry 497 Contexts 499 27 England in the Long Fifteenth Century 501 Matthew Woodcock 28 Poetic Language in the Fifteenth Century 520 A. S. G. Edwards 29 Manuscript and Print: Books, Readers and Writers 538 Julia Boffey Poets and Poems 555 30 Hoccleve and Lydgate 557 Daniel Wakelin 31 Women and Writing 575 C. Annette Grise 32 Medieval Scottish Poetry 592 Douglas Gray 33 Courtiers and Courtly Poetry 608 Barry Windeatt 34 Drama: Sacred and Secular 626 Pamela King Epilogue: Afterlives of Medieval English Poetry 647 Corinne Saunders Index 661

by "Nielsen BookData"

Details

• NCID: BB01780074
• ISBN:
  • 9781405159630
• LCCN: 2009047991
• Country Code: us
• Title Language Code: eng
• Text Language Code: eng
• Place of Publication: Malden, MA
• Pages/Volumes: xvii, 683 p.
• Size: 26 cm
• Classification:
  • LCC : PR313
  • DC22 : 821/.109
• Subject Headings:
  • LCSH : English poetry -- Middle English, 1100-1500 -- History and criticism
  • LCSH : Civilization, Medieval, in literature
• Parent Bibliography ID:
  • BA33407255