Studies in Medievalism XXXV

$120.00

Essays exploring the intersections of politics and theory through medievalism in film, literature, gaming, and political movements.

Two vital, increasingly intertwined areas of interest are addressed by this collection: politics and theory. The volume begins with a general discussion of how the Middle Ages have been particularly mediated by subsequent artifacts. The essays then address: the motivations and machinations behind Joan of Arc AI in Michael Anderson's 1989 film Time Gate; medievalist historiography in Salman Rushdie's 1983 novel Shame; medievalist identity in Rome's contemporary far-right movement; Viking imagery in and around the Make America Great Again campaign; Robin Hood avatars in mid-twentieth-century B-westerns; medievalism by the Young German Order during the 1920s and 30s; the visibility of race in David Lowery's 2021 film The Green Knight; Orientalism and race in the 1974 game Dungeons & Dragons; manifestations of Chaucer's Pardoner in Kim Zarins' 2016 novel Sometimes We Tell the Truth; gender performance and sexuality in Maria Dahvana Headley's 2020 translation of Beowulf; and the term "Anglo-Saxon," particularly relative to the Ansax-1 and ANSAXNET online communities.

'"Donald the Orange": Vikings in and around the Maga Movement' is made Open Access under the Creative Commons licence CC BY-NC-ND.

Cover image for Studies in Medievalism XXXV, isbn: 9781843847823

Agnes Blannbekin, Viennese Beguine: Life and Revelations

$29.99

Female mysticism, usually nourished in contemplative surroundings, in Blannbekin's case drew its inspiration from urban life; Weithaus identifies her visions as "street mysticism".

This early example of a spiritual diary incorporating the visions of a female mystic offers a glimpse of religious women's daily life and spiritual practices. Her visions comment on memorable events such as a popular bishop's visit to town during which people were trampled to death; the consequences of a rape committed by a priest; thefts of the Eucharist and the work of witches. Christ, for Blannbekin, is not only bridegroom, but also shopkeeper, apothecary, and axe-wielding soldier, and it was her vision of swallowing Christ's foreskin which led to her eventual censorship. Life and Revelations has only relatively recently been rediscovered by Austrian scholar Peter Dinzelbacher, and this translation is based on his critical edition.

Ulrike Wiethaus is Associate Professor, Interdisciplinary Appointments, Wake Forest University.

Agnes Blannbekin, Viennese Beguine: Life and Revelations

Norse Romance I

$130.00

Bilingual editions of the Scandinavian versions of the Tristan legend, themselves derived from Old French originals.

This three-volume set of editions and translations celebrates the literary and cultural connections between the Nordic countries and France that helped to bring Tristan and the Arthurian romances northward... thus the entire set of texts can be read as a study in Norse literary patronage, of literary renewal and transformation... A major contribution, not only to the Old Norse field, but to the broader world of medieval literature and culture. Norse Romance will endure for years to come. SPECULUM Norse Romances comprises a three-volume set, making available for the first time critical editions and translations of important medieval Arthurian texts from Iceland, Norway and Sweden, under the general editorship of Marianne Kalinke. This volume is devoted to the Tristan legend. It contains Geitarlauf and Janual, Old Norse translations of the French lais Lanval and Chevrefeuil; Tristrams saga ok Isöndar, Brother Thomas's Old Norse translationof Thomas's Tristan, dated 1226 and commissioned by King Hákon Hákonarson the Old of Norway; "Tristrams kvædi", a fourteenth-century Icelandic "Tristan" ballad; and the Saga af Tristram ok Isodd, a fourteenth-century Icelandic version of the Old Norse Tristrams saga ok Isöndar.

The translators are: ROBERT COOK, PETER JORGENSEN, JOYCE HILL, MARIANNE E. KALINKE.
Professor MARIANNE KALINKE teaches in the Department of Germanic Languages and Literatures at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Norse Romance I

$36.95

Text with facing translation of the Scandinavian versions of the Tristan legend.

This is the first in a set of three volumes making available for the first time critical editions and translations of important medieval Arthurian texts from Iceland, Norway and Sweden. Devoted to the Tristan legend. It contains Geitarlauf and Janual, Old Norse translations of the French lais Lanval and Chevrefeuil; Tristrams saga ok Isöndar, Brother Thomas's Old Norse translation of Thomas's Tristan, dated 1226 and commissioned by King Hákon Hákonarson the Old of Norway; "Tristrams kvædi", a fourteenth-century Icelandic "Tristan" ballad; and the Saga af Tristram ok Isodd, a fourteenth-century Icelandic version of the Old Norse Tristrams saga ok Isöndar.

The translators are: ROBERT COOK, PETER JORGENSEN, JOYCE HILL, MARIANNE E. KALINKE.
Professor MARIANNE KALINKE teaches in the Department of Germanic Languages and Literatures at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Agnes Blannbekin, Viennese Beguine: Life and Revelations

$95.00

Female mysticism, usually nourished in contemplative surroundings, in Blannbekin's case drew its inspiration from urban life; Weidhaus identifies her visions as 'street mysticism'.

This early example of a spiritual diary incorporating the visions of a female mystic offers a glimpse of religious women's daily life and spiritual practices. Agnes Blannbekin was from an Austrian farming family, but as a Beguinelived an urban life: Ulrike Weithaus refers to her experiences as 'street mysticism'. Blannbekin's spiritual life revolved around the liturgical cycles of the church year, but also embraced the opportunities and vagaries of city life. Her visions comment on memorable events such as a popular bishop's visit to town during which people were trampled to death; the consequences of a rape committed by a priest; thefts of the Eucharist and the work of witches. Christ, for Blannbekin, is not only bridegroom, but also shopkeeper, apothecary, and axe-wielding soldier, and it was her vision of swallowing Christ's foreskin which led to the eventual censorship of her works. Life and Revelations has only recently been rediscovered by Austrian scholar Peter Dinzelbacher, and this translation is based on his critical edition.

Four Musical Romances

$170.00

Influential medieval romances are translated, with the accompanying music and an absorbing explanatory introduction.

The thirteenth century saw the flourishing of a vibrant new literary genre in France: the romance with musical interpolations. The four works translated here are outstanding examples. Their authors incorporate songs in highly inventive ways, not simply for embellishment or atmosphere. They explore the potential of song to advance narrative, create jeopardy, to reveal their characters' inner lives and even to provide ironic comment. Jean Renart, in his Guillaume de Dole, declared himself the originator of the genre. If the innovation was his, it inspired many works that followed. The most notable include the other three in this collection: Le Roman de la Violette (The Romance of the Violet) by Gerbert de Montreuil (almost certainly the Gerbert who wrote arguably the most accomplished Continuation of Chrétien de Troyes' Perceval), Le Roman de la Poire (The Romance of the Pear) by Tibaut and Le Dit de la Panthère (The Panther of Love) by Nicole de Margival.
Together these works raise absorbing questions about how medieval romances were performed, to the point where Le Roman de la Poire is very nearly a play, understandable only as a piece to be delivered by multiple voices. They will be of great interest not only to literary scholars and musicologists but to all those interested in the performance of romance.
All the songs and refrains for which the music has survived are translated into singable form, and all the surviving notations are included in the text, edited by Matthew P. Thomson.

Cover image for Four Musical Romances, isbn: 9781843847106

Studies in Medievalism XXXIV

$130.00

The themes of tribalism and medievalism unite this wide-ranging collection of essays.

Essays address queer medievalisms in and around Gwen Lally's historical pageants and Radclyffe Hall's The Well of Loneliness; Robert Glück's 1994 novel Margery Kempe; and forms of gender tribalism in and around Josephine Butler's Catharine of Siena: A Biography. Gender is further explored alongside the central theme, with surveys of tribal gendering of masculinity in C. S. Lewis's Prince Caspian and its film; tribalism in medievalist bandits beyond Robin Hood and his "merry" band; and tribal gendering of femininity in the films Brave and Sleeping Beauty. There are also contributions on colonialist tribalism in the staging of Camelot in Richard E. Grant's film Wah-Wah; nationalistic tribalism in German pride, refracted through American frontier attitudes towards Native Americans; tribal perspectives of Native Americans in Guy Gavriel Kay's Fionavar Tapestry; the death of Optimus Prime in Transformers: The Movie as an act that stirs fans' tribal passions; and Carolingian legends as both reflecting and superseding tribal affiliations in twentieth-century America.

Cover image for Studies in Medievalism XXXIV, isbn: 9781843847380

Studies in Medievalism XXXIII

$130.00

Essays on the post-modern reception and interpretation of the Middle Ages.

Though Studies in Medievalism has hosted many essays on gender, this is the first volume devoted specifically to that theme.

The first part features four short essays that directly address manifestations of sexism in postmedieval responses to the Middle Ages: gender substitutions in a Grail Quest episode of the 2023 television series Mrs. Davis, repurposed misogyny in the last two episodes of Game of Thrones (2011-19), traditional gender stereotypes in Capital One's credit card commercials from 2000 to 2013, and "shaggy" medievalism in Robert Eggers' 2022 film The Northman.

The second part contains ten longer essays, which collectively continue to demonstrate the ubiquity of gender issues and the extraordinary flexibility of approaches to them. The authors discuss the misogynistic sexualization of Grendel's mother in Parke Godwin's 1995 fantasy novel The Tower of Beowulf, in Graham Baker's 1999 film Beowulf, in three episodes from the television series Xena: Warrior Princess, and in Robert Zemeckis's 2007 film Beowulf; gender substitution in David Lowery's 2021 film The Green Knight and in Kinoku Nasu's and Takashi Takeuchi's anime series Fate (2004-); female authorship of three early-nineteenth-century plays about court ladies' medieval empowerment; extraordinary violence in medievalist video games; nationalism in fake nineteenth-century medievalist documents and in contemporary online fora; racial discrimination in video gaming and in Jim Crow literature; and the condemnation of racism in Maria Dahvana Headley's 2018 novel The Mere Wife.

Dutch Romances [3 volume set]

$115.00

Parallel texts of key Dutch Arthurian romances in acclaimed translations with notes and introductions.

Available for the first time in paperback for the student, scholar or interested general reader, this 3 volume set from D.S. Brewer's Arthurian Archives series enable access to key texts - often for the first time - by the non-specialist. This specially-priced set includes Roman van Walewein, Ferguut and five interpolated romances from the Lancelot Compilation.

Scholars of Arthurian romance who wish to add Middle Netherlandic texts to their scholarly discussion, or anyone simply wanting the pleasure of reading a good medieval story, will welcome these volumes... each translation reads wonderfully.. highly welcome additions to medieval scholarship. SPECULUM

Mechthild of Magdeburg: Selections from The Flowing Light of the Godhead

$29.99

Selections from this widely varied original mystical treatise offer insight into the lives of C13 female religious in northern Europe.

Here is one of the great surprises of German medieval literature. Compiled between c.1250 and c.1282, it is an extraordinary piece of imaginative writing. It integrates visions, auditions, dialogues, prayers, hymns, lyrical love poems, letters, allegories and parables, and draws creatively on features from hagiography, the disputation, the treatise, and magic spells, as the author documents her relationship with God and with her contemporaries. Selectionsfrom the text are presented here in translation with introduction and notes.

Dr Elizabeth A. Andersen teaches in the School of Modern Languages, Newcastle University.

Mechthild of Magdeburg: Selections from <I>The Flowing Light of the Godhead</I>

Norse Romance [3 volume set]

$85.00

Three volumes of Norse Arthurian romances in acclaimed editions in a specially-priced set.

A welcome resource...a significant corpus of Arthuriana [which] will appeal to a wide readership of medievalists. SAGA-BOOK OF THE VIKING SOCIETY

Available for the first time in paperback for the student, scholar or interested general reader, this 3 volume set from D.S. Brewer's Arthurian Archives series enable access to key texts - often for the first time - by the non-specialist. Included here are texts that comprise the Tristan legend, avolume of translations and adaptations of French narratives featuring King Arthur's knights, and Hærra Ivan, the first major work of fiction in Swedish.

The Vision of Christine de Pizan

$29.99

Translation of Christine's autobiographical Vision, both dealing with her own life and career, and offering a possible solution to the troubled state of France at the time.

Christine de Pizan's The Vision is both a powerful contemporary response to the chaos that would eventually precipitate Henry V's invasion of France, and a fascinating view of the author's own progress as a woman reader, writer, and public commentator in the late Middle Ages. As a long-time intimate of the French court, Christine here analyses the origins of the civil strife in which France found itself in 1405, and offers a possible future, callingfor its resolution in the voice of a prophet. Alongside her documentation of the difficulties faced by a medieval woman left widowed early in life, she also explores issues of gender and authorship, interpretation and misinterpretation in her remarkable career as a writer and advisor of princes.

Glenda McLeod is Professor Emerita, Gainesville State College; Charity Cannon Willard was Professor Emerita, Ladycliff College.

Late-Medieval German Women's Poetry

$29.99

A considerable collection of German women's poetry in translation, results of ingenious archival research.

Although there were a number of outstanding women writers of the late middle ages, it was not thought that women composed lyric poetry. Classen proves this to be a misconception, presenting here a selection of secular love songs and religious hymns composed by fifteenth- and sixteenth-century German women poets, translated for the first time. Many seem to have left their works anonymously, or hid their names using acrostics; in these and other cases, Classen has identified a considerable corpus of writing which now fills the gap previously supposed to exist in the history of medieval and early-modern German women's poetry.

Dr Albrecht Classen is University DistinguishedProfessor and Undergraduate Advisor in the Department of German Studies, University of Arizona

Guidance for Women in Twelfth-Century Convents

$29.99

Collection of letters and texts offering guidance for nuns, and including selections from Abelard's letters to Heloise.

These translated letters and texts composed for younger and older women in twelfth-century convents illuminate the powerful medieval ideals of virginity and chastity. Abelard's history of women's roles in the church and his letteron women's education, both written for Heloise in her work as abbess, are seen here alongside previously untranslated letters and texts for abbesses and nuns in England and France. An interpretive essay explores the practical and spiritual engagement of women's convents with medieval commemorative and memorial practices, showing that the professional concern of women religious with death goes far beyond the stereotype of nuns as dead to the world, or enclosed in living death.

VERA MORTON gained an MA in Medieval Studies at the University of Liverpool in 1994. JOCELYN WOGAN-BROWNE is Professor of English at Fordham University, NY.

Guidance for Women in Twelfth-Century Convents

Merlin and the Grail

$29.99

This trilogy establishes a provenance for the Holy Grail and, through the figure of Merlin, links Joseph of Arimathea with mythical British history and with the knightly adventures of Perceval's Grail quest.

It is hard to overstate the importance of this trilogy of prose romances in the development of the legend of the Holy Grail and in the evolution of Arthurian literature as a whole. They give a crucial new impetus to the story of the Grail by establishing a provenance for the sacred vessel - and for the Round Table itself - in the Biblical past; and through the controlling figure of Merlin they link the story of Joseph of Arimathea with the mythical Britishhistory of Vortigern and Utherpendragon, the birth of Arthur, and the sword in the stone, and then with the knightly adventures of Perceval's Grail quest and the betrayal and death of Arthur, creating the very first Arthurian cycle. Ambitious, original and complete in its conception, this trilogy - translated here for the first time - is a finely paced, vigorous piece of storytelling that provides an outstanding example of the essentially oral nature of early prose.

NIGEL BRYANT is head of drama at Marlborough College. He has also provided editions in English of the anonymous thirteenth-century romance Perlesvaus, published as The High Book of the Grail, and Chretien's Perceval: The Story of the Grail.

The Medieval Romance of Alexander

$36.95

Nigel Bryant's is the first translation of an example of the many medieval romances about Alexander, as popular in their day as those about Arthur.

The figure of Alexander the Great haunted the medieval imagination - as much as Arthur, as much as Charlemagne. His story was translated more often in medieval Europe than any work except the Gospels. Yet only small sections of the Alexander Romance have been translated into modern French, and Nigel Bryant's is the first translation into English.
The Deeds and Conquests of Alexander the Great is Jehan Wauquelin's superb compendium, written for the Burgundian court in the mid-fifteenth century, which draws together all the key elements of the Alexandrian tradition.With great clarity and intelligence Wauquelin produced a redaction of all the major Alexander romances ofthe twelfth, thirteenth and fourteenth centuries - including the verse Roman d'Alexandre, The Vows of the Peacock and La Venjance Alixandre - to tell the whole story of Alexander's miraculous birth and childhood, hisconquests of Persia and India, his battles with fabulous beasts and outlandish peoples, his journeys in the sky and under the sea, his poisoning at Babylon and the vengeance taken by his son.
This is an accomplished and exciting work by a notable writer at the Burgundian court who perfectly understood the appeal of the great conqueror to ambitious dukes intent upon extending their dominions.

NIGEL BRYANT has translated five major Arthurianromances from medieval French, including Perceforest in which Alexander features prominently. He has also translated the fourteenth-century chronicles of Jean le Bel.

Anne of France: Lessons for my Daughter

$29.99

Anne of France (1461-1522) composed these lessons - presented as a portrait of an ideal princess - as guidance in negotiating the pitfalls facing a woman in the world of politics. First English translation.

Anne of France (1461-1522), daughter of Louis XI and sister of Charles VIII, was one of the most powerful women of her time. As the fifteenth century drew to a close, Anne composed a series of enseignements, "lessons", forher daughter Suzanne of Bourbon. These instructions represent a distillation of a lifetime's experience, and are presented through the portrait of an ideal princess to help her negotiate the difficult passage of a woman in the world of politics. The lessons are here translated into English for the first time and accompanied by full introduction, commentary and notes.

Professor Sharon L. Jansen teaches in the Department of English, Pacific Lutheran University.

Anne of France: <I>Lessons for my Daughter</I>

Goscelin of St Bertin: The Book of Encouragement and Consolation [Liber Confortatorius]

$29.99

Late eleventh-century spiritual counsel for a woman recluse, anticipating medieval advice literature for anchoresses.

Goscelin's Liber Confortatorius is extraordinary both as an example of high-medieval spiritual practice and as a record of a personal relationship. Written in about 1083 by the monk Goscelin to a protegee and personal friend, the recluse Eva, it takes up the tradition of St Jerome's letters of spiritual guidance to women, and anticipates medieval advice literature for anchoresses. As a compendious treatise, it has much to tell us about the intellectual interests and preoccupations of religious people in the late eleventh century. As a personal document, it allows a fascinating and uncommonly intimate insight into the psychology of religious life and the relationships betweenmen and women in the high middle ages. This English translation is presented here with notes and introduction.

Monika Otter is Associate Professor of English and Comparative Literature, Dartmouth College.

Goscelin of St Bertin: The Book of Encouragement and Consolation [Liber Confortatorius]

Dutch Romances I

$64.95

Edition with English translation of Middle Dutch version of the adventures of Gawain.

The gem in the crown of Middle Dutch Arthurian romance, the Roman van Walewein embodies the transformation of popular folktale into courtly romance. The framework of the romance is a tripartite series of quests, in which the hero, Walewein, must acquire and relinquish successive marvellous objects. Events are set in motion after Arthur and his knights have completed their meal, when a flying chess set enters the hall; Walewein embarks on a series ofquests to capture it and bring it back to Arthur. This edition of the text, accompanied by facing English translation, brings this important work to a wider audience; it is accompanied by an introduction, variants and rejected readings, and critical notes.

David F. Johnson is Professor of English, Florida State University; Geert H.M. Claassens is Professor of Middle Dutch Literature at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium.

Women of the Gilte Legende

$29.99

The first modern translation of one of the most influential books to come from the middle ages.

The Gilte Legende was widely read as a model for everyday life, including the education of women through examples set by early Christian martyrs. This book divides the lives of female saints into: the "ryght hooly virgins",who vocally defend their bodies against Roman persecution; "holy mothers", who give up their traditional role to pursue a life of contemplation; the "repentant sinners", who convert and voice their defiance against a society thatdemanded silence in women; and the "holy transvestites", who cast off their gender identity to find absolution and salvation. Their lives reach through the ages to speak to a modern audience, forcing a re-examination of women's roles in the medieval period.

LARISSA TRACY is Adjunct Assistant Professor of English at Georgetown University and George Mason University.

Series editor JANE CHANCE

Norse Romance III

$36.95

Final volume in three-volume set of translations of Arthurian romances from medieval Scandinavia.

Hærra Ivan (Sir Ivan, the Knight with the Lion) is the first major work of fiction in Swedish, and an important Scandinavian example of Arthurian romance. The translation from the French original was carried out at the request of the German-born Queen Eufemia of Norway, a country with a richer literary culture than Sweden at the time: Hærra Ivan thus brought Continental, courtly culture to the then recently formalised Swedish feudal class.
Last edited in 1931, the poem has been unjustly neglected in recent years; this edition and English translation, with introduction, will make it widely accessible to international scholars.

Professor MARIANNE KALINKE teaches in the Department of Germanic Languages and Literatures at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; HENRIK WILLIAMS teaches in the Department of Scandinavian Languages at Uppsala University.

Norse Romance II

$36.95

13-14c Norse versions of French narratives of Arthur's knights, with modern prose translations.

The Knights of the Round Table is devoted to translations and adaptations of French narratives featuring King Arthur's knights. It contains prose translations of three of Chrétien de Troyes's Arthurian romances, including atranslation of Perceval. Erex saga diverges considerably in content and structure from the French source and most likely represents a thorough revision by an Icelander of what was originally a Norwegian translation.Additionally, the volume contains both an Old Norse translation and an Icelandic adaptation of the French Lai du cort mantel, the ribald story of a chastity-testing mantle at King Arthur's court.

The translators are: MARIANNE E. KALINKE, KIRSTEN WOLF, HELEN MACLEAN and MATTHEW JAMES DRISCOLL

Professor MARIANNE E. KALINKE teaches in the Department of Germanic Languages and Literatures at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Chrétien's Equal: Raoul de Houdenc

$120.00

By his contemporaries, Raoul de Houdenc was 'mentioned in the same breath as Chrétien de Troyes as one of the masters of French poetry' (Keith Busby, The New Arthurian Encyclopaedia).

The writers of later romances deemed Raoul's work worthy of memory on a par with the Prose Lancelot, and placed Raoul and Chrétien on the same level in terms of authority.

Raoul de Houdenc was a major and innovative figure in 13th-century French literature. His surviving works are unusually diverse: they include an impassioned tract about the values of chivalry (The Romance of the Wings), two superbly crafted Arthurian romances (Meraugis of Portlesguez and The Avenging of Raguidel), and a swingeing polemic against declining standards especially among the bourgeoisie (The Burgess's Burgeoning Blight). And with his hugely influential satire The Dream of Hell he was the very first to compose allegory in the vernacular, mastering to perfection the art of parody and the unexpected.

After a long period of neglect Raoul is finally receiving the scholarly attention he deserves, and this is the first translation into English of his complete surviving works.

The Avenging of Raguidel 'must surely be counted as one of the most fascinating and innovative of the French Gawain romances' - Norris J. Lacy.

Index of Middle English Prose: Index to Volumes I to XX

$240.00

This volume provides a combined index to the first 20 volumes of Index of Middle English Prose. In the absence of a searchable electronic database version of this series, it will be an essential tool for all researchers in this area. Indexes of incipits and excipits are provided, together with author and title indexes and general subject indexes.

The project to publish a complete listing of all known manuscript items containing Middle English prose began in 1978, and the first volume appeared in 1984. The final listing will consist of some fifty volumes; with the publication of the twentieth volume in 2009, the corpus was sufficiently extensive to justify the first comprehensive index to the contents of the existing titles. This, the resulting volume, is a vital research tool for anyone working with Middle English prose texts. It is designed to give immediate access to the indices now found separately in the first twenty descriptive manuscript catalogues and begins with a summary contents list for each of these. In additionto an index of first lines, the volume contains other finding aids in the form of an index of rubrics and titles, and a general index. This will enable scholars to quickly find all surviving manuscript copies of a particular textin the collections catalogued to date, and will form the basis of future index volumes.

KARI ANNE RAND is Professor of Older English Language at the University of Oslo.

Index of Middle English Prose: Index to Volumes I to XX

Medieval English Lyrics and Carols

$39.95

A new and comprehensive anthology of medieval lyrics and carols, in new editions, with introduction and commentary.

Lyrics and carols are two of the most important types of medieval literature. This anthology provides a generous and wide-ranging selection, beginning with the first lyrics in English to celebrate love as romantic devotion to a woman, and including all pre-Chaucerian love lyrics (other than a few brief snatches). Poems by Chaucer and his successors present the courtly game of love in its sophisticated later medieval form, while devotional lyrics portray the tenderness of the later medieval response to Christ as lover and beloved and to the Virgin Mary with the infant Jesus, Mary as sorrowing mother and as Queen of Heaven. Fully represented also are lyrics on characteristically medieval moral and penitential themes, alongside miscellaneous lyrics such as drinking and dancing songs, ballads, satires, poems of wit, humour and sexual innuendo, accounts of lecherous priests, minstrels mocking their audiences, and women vividly listing their lovers' inadequacies.
The texts are edited anew, accompanied with a textual apparatus detailing manuscript readings where emendations have been made to restore sense, metre and rhyme. The language of pre-Chaucerian poems has been normalised to accord with the dialect of late fourteenth-century London ("Chaucerian English"), and unfamiliar spellings in later lyrics have been regularized. Readability is further aided by line-by-line glosses. An extensive introduction offers an appraisal of the forms, themes and contexts of the lyrics and a full discussion of their language and metre, while a comprehensive commentary gives further essential information.

Thomas G. Duncan is an Honorary Senior Lecturer in the School of English at St Andrews University.

A Perceforest Reader

$29.99

Perceforest is one of the largest and certainly the most extraordinary of the late Arthurian romances, and is almost completely unknown except to a handful of scholars. But it is a work of exceptional richness and importance, and has been justly described as "an encyclopaedia of 14th-century chivalry" and "a mine of folkloric motifs". Its contents are drawn not only from earlier Arthurian material, but also from romances about Alexander the Great, from Roman histories and from medieval travel writing - not to mention oral tradition, including as it does the first and unexpurgated version of the story of the Sleeping Beauty. Out of this, the author creates a remarkable prehistory of King Arthur's Britain, describing how Alexander the Great gives the island to Perceforest, who has to purge the island of magic-wielding knights descended from Darnant the Enchanter, despite their supernatural powers. Perceforest then founds the knightly order of the "Franc Palais", an ideal of chivalric civilisation which prefigures the Round Table of Arthur and indeed that of Edward III; but that civilisation is, as the author shows, all too fragile. The action all takes place in a pagan world of many gods, but the temple of the Sovereign God, discovered by Perceforest, prefigures the Christian world and the coming of the Grail and Arthur.
Nigel Bryant has recently adapted this immense romance into English; even in his version, which gives a complete account of the whole work but links extensive sections of full translation with compressed accounts of other passages, it runs to nearly half amillion words.
A Perceforest Reader is an ideal introduction to the remarkable world portrayed in this late flowering of the Arthurian imagination.

Comic Drama in the Low Countries, c.1450-1560

$130.00

Text and translation of comic plays sheds light on a fascinating era of theatrical production.

`[Opens] up an entirely new corpus of texts for scholars and readers familar with and interested in European dramatic texts from this period, but who have heretofore not had access to them due to the language barrier.' Professor David F. Johnson, Florida State University, Tallahassee

During the Middle Ages and early modern period, a dramatic culture of astonishing vitality developed in the Low Countries. Owing to the activities of organisationsknown as rederijkerskamers, or "chambers of rhetoric", drama became a central aspect of public life in the cities of the Netherlands. The comedies produced by these groups are particularly interesting. Drawing their forms and narratives from folklore and popular ritual, and entertaining in their own right, they also bring together a range of important concerns; they respond directly to some of the key developments in the period, reflecting the political and religious turmoil of the Reformation and Dutch Revolt, the emergence of humanism, and the appearance of an early capitalist economy.
This collection brings together the original Middle Dutch text of ten of these comic plays, with facing translation into modern English. The selection is divided evenly between formal stage-plays and monologues, and provides a representation of the full range of rederijker drama, from the sophisticatedFarce of the Fisherman, with its sly undermining of audience expectation, to the hearty scatology of A Mock-Sermon on Saint Nobody, and the grim gallows humour of The Farce of the Beggar. An introduction and notes place the plays in their context and elucidate difficulties of interpretation.

Ben Parsons is Teaching Fellow at the University of Leicester; Bas Jongenelen is teacher of Dutch Literature at Fontys Lerarenopleidingin Tilburg.

Comic Drama in the Low Countries, c.1450-1560

Hildegard of Bingen: On Natural Philosophy and Medicine

$29.99

Medieval attitudes to health and treatment revealed in Hildegard's treatise.

Hildegard of Bingen [1098-1179], an important figure in her own time, has come increasingly to critical attention in recent years. Cause et Cure, attributed to Hildegard, is both a cosmological text and a medical handbook;it is a densely layered work woven together from diverse threads. It begins with a chapter on cosmology which leads to consideration of the human being as a small-scale copy of the universe. From here the focus shifts to the diseases and disorders which afflict human beings. The sections on treatment which follow provide information on medieval pharmacology and herbal healing. The text discusses the differences between male and female, human sexuality, embryology, sleep and dreams, signs predicting death or survival, astrological influences.
The Introduction sketches Hildegard's life and career, and describes the cultural context with emphasis on medieval medicine. The Interpretive Essay discusses the selections presented in translation and alerts the reader to the benefits as well as the limits of medieval health care.

MARGRET BERGER, formerly Associate Professor in the Division of Interdisciplinary Studies [German] at Simon Fraser University, has specialised in medieval German literature and Romance philology.

Hildegard of Bingen: On Natural Philosophy and Medicine

Dutch Romances III

$84.95

The romances translated here are contained in the so-called Lancelot Compilation. Compiled in the early fourteenth century by five scribes, its 241 extant folios contain the lion's share of Arthurian romance in Middle Dutch, no fewer than ten texts. The core of this compilation is comprised of translations into rhymed couplets of the Lancelot-Queste-Mort, into which seven additional romances have been inserted. The result is a compilation that successfully transforms a number of disparate texts into an ordered sequence of ten Arthurian romances, a project that rivals similar ones in better known European vernaculars, and bears comparison with Malory's Morte Darthur. Parallel text with notes and an introduction.
Wrake van Ragisel (Vengeance of Raguidel), the Ridder metter mowen (Romance of the Knight of the Sleeve), Lanceloet en het hert metde witte voet (Lancelot and the Hart with the White Foot), Walewein ende Keye, and Torec.

David F. Johnson is Professor of English, Florida State University; Geert H.M. Claassens is Professor of Middle Dutch Literature at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium.

Hrotsvit of Gandersheim

$29.99

Selection of the works of Hrotsvit, the first-known woman dramatist, containing legends, dramas, and epics.

Hrotsvit of Gandersheim (c.935 - c.975), almost certainly of noble Saxon parentage, was a canoness of the Saxon imperial abbey of Gandersheim, living and working there during its time of greatest material prosperity and cultural and intellectual pre-eminence. Her importance cannot be overestimated: she is the first poet of Saxony; the first known dramatist of Christianity (indeed the first known woman dramatist of any time); and a woman displaying erudition and wit in an essentially patriarchal age, a female author in a literary field dominated by men who insisted on re-evaluating and redrawing the literary depiction of women. Discovered in the late fifteenth century, her extraordinary oeuvre, written in medieval Latin, comprises a wide variety of genres: eight legends, six dramas, and two epics, organised into three books.
The present volume contains a selection of Hrotsvit's works in Englishtranslation, together with an interpretative essay, critical introduction, and scholarly apparatus.
Professor KATHARINA WILSONteaches at the University of Georgia.

Julian of Norwich: Revelations of Divine Love and The Motherhood of God

$29.99

Frances Beer chooses Julian's first, more intimate, Revelations on which to base this accessible edition and study of her life and work.

Despite the strange and distant nature of her life and subject-matter, the works of Julian of Norwich remain immediate and compelling. Her Revelations are recorded in two versions: the short text, or "first edition", written near the time; and the better-known second version, which is both longer and more complex, completed some twenty years later. The short text, offering personal details edited out in her "second edition", but which allow a bettersense of Julian as a person, is presented here in translation. It includes also those chapters from the long text that describe Julian's doctrine of the Motherhood of God. The volume also contains an introduction, placing Julianin the larger context of the fourteenth-century English mystical tradition, and an Interpretative Essay.

FRANCES BEER is Professor of English at York University, Toronto.

Julian of Norwich: <I>Revelations of Divine Love</I> and <I>The Motherhood of God</I>

French Arthurian Literature V: The Lay of Mantel

$95.00

Text with facing translation of an undeservedly neglected, humorous French lay, in which the women of Arthur's court have their virtue challenged by a magic mantle.

The Old French lay of Mantel belongs to the group of anonymous lays that were composed in the late twelfth or thirteenth century. These short narratives vary in tone and usually deal with some aspect of love, usually in anaristocratic, courtly setting. Here, this is Arthur's court, with its well-known characters involved, and the tone is satiric and comic; the story is a chastity test, which the ladies of the court undergo in public by donning themantle - if it does not fit, their behaviour is betrayed. The poem plays on the insecurities of the knights, who are at first confident of their loves' fidelity, but in the end are all too anxious to ignore their transgressions.
The popularity of the lay is attested by its survival in five manuscripts, an unusually high number. It is edited here from MS Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale de France, nouv. acq. fr. 1104, a manuscript containing twenty-four lays, including nine by Marie de France whose work has to some extent defined the genre. The text is accompanied by a facing translation, and presented with introduction, elucidatory notes, bibliography, and indices.

Glyn S. Burgess is Emeritus Professor of French, University of Liverpool; Leslie C. Brook is Honorary Senior Research Fellow in French, University of Birmingham.

French Arthurian Literature V: The Lay of <I>Mantel</I>

The Correspondence of Dante Gabriel Rossetti

$190.00

Major edition revealing key ideas and events in the lives and work of the Pre-Raphaelite brotherhood and Victorian literary circles: 5,800 letters (including 2,000 previously unpublished letters) to 330 recipients.

The best of these letters, flowing rapidly from his pen, radiate charisma and enthusiasm, warmth and care for his friends, and a total engagement with art and literature. BURLINGTON MAGAZINE [Julian Treuherz]
1835-1854: This nine-volume edition will represent the definitive collection of extant Rossetti correspondence, an outstanding primary witness to the range of ideas and opinions that shaped Rossetti's art and poetry. The largest collection ofRossetti's letters ever to be published, it features all known surviving letters, a total of almost 5,800 to over 330 recipients, and includes 2,000 previously unpublished letters by Rossetti and selected letters to him. In addition to this, about 100 drawings taken from within letter texts are also reproduced. In its entirety the collection will give an invaluable and unparalleled insight into Rossetti's character and art, and will form a rich resource for students and scholars studying all aspects of his life and work. The correspondence has been transcribed from collections in sixty-four manuscript repositories, containing Rossetti's letters to his companions in the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, Hunt and Stephens; friends such as Boyce and Bell Scott; his early patrons, Ellen Heaton and James Leathart; and his publisher friend, Alexander Macmillan. An additional twenty-two printed sources have also been accessed. Index; extensive annotations.WILLIAM E. FREDEMAN (1928-1999) was professor of English at the University of British Columbia from 1956-1991. His many books, articles and reviews on the Pre-Raphaelites and their followersinclude his important Pre-Raphaelitism: A Bibliocritical Study. He died in 1999 with this edition almost completed. An editorial committee chaired by Betty Fredeman has been formed to see it through the press.

The Correspondence of Dante Gabriel Rossetti 6

$200.00

The sixth volume of Rossetti's correspondence covers a particularly energetic period of artistic activity and dealings with patrons, his new agent C.A. Howell, dealers and friends.

Rossetti's return to Kelmscott in September 1872, following his breakdown and recovery charted in volume 5, commenced a period of artistic activity which was at its most energetic in the years 1873-1874. Because of the isolationof Kelmscott, he engaged C.A. Howell as his agent, and trusted him to find new buyers and assist in negotiations with his principal patrons. A complex character who " whirled us...in a tornado of lies", he could nevertheless sellpictures, negotiate with mercurial buyers and tolerate Rossetti's peremptory ways. We are fortunate, too, in having Rossetti's letters to the demanding patron Frederick Leyland. The letters demonstrate that in Leyland, Rossettimore than met his match, but neither the friendship nor the patronage foundered.

Previously valued friends exhausted his patience: Swinburne, for example, is "the crowning nuisance of the whole world." At the same time,he unreservedly acknowledged debts and obligations, in particular to F.M. Brown and his brother William (to both of whom he owed "more in life" than to anyone else); and friends in need could always count on his generosity. WhenJames Hannay's death left his family in uncertain circumstances, Rossetti acted immediately: "I have no family of my own to provide for, & am therefore doubly bound to do what I can for an old friend's children."

The Correspondence of Dante Gabriel Rossetti 6

The Correspondence of Dante Gabriel Rossetti 5

$200.00

Breakdown and attempted suicide, and co-tenancy of Kelmscott Manor with Morris, balanced by usual professional concerns.

The best of these letters, flowing rapidly from his pen, radiate charisma and enthusiasm, warmth and care for his friends, and a total engagement with art and literature. JULIAN TREUHERZ, BURLINGTON MAGAZINE [on I. and II.] These years were the most tumultuous of Rossetti's life. His breakdown and attempted suicide inevitably makes the letters of this period exceptionally poignant, but the volume contains many letters relating to his life and work. Throughout most of 1871 he was writing and painting; he became, with William Morris, a co-tenant of Kelmscott Manor, bringing him close to Jane Morris and also to the two Morris daughters. In October the name of Robert Buchanan entersthe letters as the likely author of 'The Fleshly School of Poetry', and an alarming unease can be sensed. Following his attempted suicide and eventual return to Kelmscott, the letters increase in number - affectionate, considerate and businesslike by turns, with a certain morbidity at times; many letters are concerned with helping Ford Madox Brown's application for the Slade Professorship at Cambridge. The wider world of Victorian London is present: Turgenev comes to dinner, Browning sends his new volumes, Swinburne arrives drunk, and the American poet and adventurer Joaquin Miller makes himself known to the Rossetti circle. Nine appendices include five devoted to Poems and one tothe Fleshly School controversy.

The Correspondence of Dante Gabriel Rossetti 5

The Letters of the Rozmberk Sisters

$29.99

Women in 15c Bohemia express themselves on marriage, companionship, daily castle life, and family relations.

The letters of the Rozmberk sisters, Perchta and Anézka, give a vivid insight into how medieval women viewed themselves. Perchta's letters inform her father that his choice of a husband for her has caused her desperate sadness andsorrow in which death seems a better alternative. Despite her unhappiness and her almost total dependence on others, however, Perchta undertook to take control of her own fate and to improve the circumstances of her life. Her letters were the means whereby she informed her father and brothers of her misery and persuaded them to take action, and in the process they tell us about her expectations of respect and companionship in marriage. The letters of bothsisters show them to be women with a vigorous sense of their own dignity and offer insights into the hopes and disappointments, joys and vexations of fifteenth-century women. The letters also introduce theenvironment and the activities of daily castle life, and offer an intimate picture of family life in the fifteenth century.JOHN M. KLASSEN is Professor of History at Trinity Western University, Canada. He was assisted in the translations by EVA DOLEZALOVA, Historical Institue, Prague, and LYNN SZABO, Trinity Western University.

The Correspondence of Dante Gabriel Rossetti 3

$195.00

Following the death of Elizabeth Siddal in 1862 and his settling in Chelsea, Rossetti entered on a period of his life -- charted in volume 3 -- that was marked by renewed activity as a painter and increased financial prosperity.The years 1868-1870 covered by volume 4 culminate in his return to writing poetry and the publication in June 1870 of his long-anticipated and widely-read Poems. However, despite the satisfaction that he could take from his standing as a painter and from the fact that he was about to establish himself as a poet, 1868-1870 were troubled years for Rossetti. Problems with his eyesight led him to give up painting for long periods, and to fear that, like his father before him, he would end his days blind. He consulted Sir William Bowman and other leading ophthalmologists, who eased his mind sufficiently for him to return to his easel. This was also the time when he declared his lovefor Jane Morris, the wife of his long-time friend and admirer William Morris. In his long, moving letters to Janey we come face to face with the satisfactions and frustrations of their relationship. The letters to Janey provide acontext for understanding the many paintings and drawings from this period for which she was the model, and for gauging the biographical origins of the sonnets, written at this time for the sequence, The House of Life, an early version of which was included in Poems.Probably the most rewarding letters in the volume concern the preparation of Poems. The letters deal at length with Rossetti's decision to have his poems typeset for distribution to friends,the exhumation of Elizabeth Siddal's coffin to recover the manuscript of his poems, his obsessive care over the physical appearance of the volume, especially the binding , and his efforts at "working the oracle," William Bell Scott's description of his methodically lining up sympathetic reviewers.As with all of Rossetti's correspondence, the letters in volume 4 are replete with pointed and sometimes humorous commentary on an array of people and events,ranging from Edward Burne-Jones's affair with "the Greek damzel," Mary Zambaco, and Frederick Sandys's appropriation of subjects from his pictures, to his unease over Swinburne's uncontrollable drunkenness, and his ominous hatredof Robert Buchanan, the author of the "Fleshly School" attack on his poetry in the Contemporary Review of October 1871, which became a major cause of the disastrous events of the years 1871-1872.

The Correspondence of Dante Gabriel Rossetti 3

The Plays of George Chapman

$220.00

Much-needed modern critical edition. REVIEW OF ENGLISH STUDIES

Feminist Linguistics in Literary Criticism

$105.00

Essays employing close scrutiny of texts to clarify gender issues in feminist literary criticism.

One of the major problems in feminist literary criticism is the tendency to generalise when exploring language and gender. This volume clarifies the issues involved and tests generalisations by specific analysis, and in the process defines a "feminist stylistics" - a fresh, practical approach which will serve as a model for future work in this area.
The seven essays in the collection analyse widely varying literary texts, using the framework of linguistic theory to address feminist issues. The texts range from Shakespeare's As You Like It to present-day pop songs, and also cover poetry and contemporary fiction. The feminist critics whose approach is under examination include Cixous, Irigaray, Kristeva, Showalter, Woolf and a number of British feminists; and the linguistic models employed cover discourse analysis, politeness theory, lexicalisation and transitivity.

Contributors: Clara Calvo, Lesley Jeffries, Marion Lomax, Sara Mills, Louise Sylvester, Anne Varty, Shan Wareing

Feminist Linguistics in Literary Criticism

Studies in Medievalism VI

$120.00

Studies on the influence of the middle ages, and in particular the Arthurian legends, on the culture of North America.

Fifteen essays trace North America's enthusiastic engagement with the middle ages from the Revolution to Disney. There are eight studies of the American reception of Arthur: in art (Abbey, Rosenthal), literature (Canadian writers,John Ciardi), scholarship (R.S. Loomis), politics (JFK), and popular culture (Arthurian youth groups, Disneyland, the Excalibur Casino). Other topics include Tom Paine, Elbertus Hubbard, Edgar Rice Burroughs, C.B. DeMille, popular treatments of Villon, the roots of the New Mexican cuento, and the rhetoric of the Gulf War.

Contributors: ROGER WOOD, KYMBERLEY N. PINDER, ERICA E. HIRSHLER, ALAN LUPACK, CHARLOTTE OBERG, RAYMOND H. THOMPSON,STAN GALLOWAY, ROBIN BLAETZ, ROBERT D. PECKHAM, JEFF RIDER, KLAUS P. JANKOFSKY, MARY MORSE, PAMELA S. MORGAN, SUSAN ARONSTEIN, NANCY COINER, JONATHAN M. ELUKIN

T.H. White's The Once and Future King

$120.00

A critical study of T.H. White's classic Arthurian tetralogy.

The Once and Future King defies classification. Is it for children, or for adults? Is it fantasy or a psychological novel? In its great range, it encompasses poetry and farce, comedy and tragedy -and sudden flights of schoolboy humour. White's `footnote to Malory' (his own phrase) resulted in the last major retelling of the story based on Malory's Morte Darthur, and Elisabeth Brewer explores the literary context of White's finest work as wellas considering his aims and achievement in writing it.
White's story of Arthur begins with his `enfances', set in an imaginary medieval England, but it is far removed from the conventional historical novel. White was writing in wartime England, a country increasingly absorbed by a need to find an antidote to war. Through the medium of the Arthurian story he found his own voice, his unique contribution to keeping alive the flame of civilisation. Malory's chivalric virtues are rejected in favour of White's own twentieth-century values; the love affair of Lancelot and Guenever is interpreted in terms of modern psychology.
The books which eventually made up The Once and Future Kingof 1958 appeared in distinctly different editions. In discussing these,Elisabeth Brewer looks at some of the ways in which White drew on his own personal experience at a deep psychological level, while also incorporating into his story material inspired by his antiquarian pursuits and by his years as a schoolmaster. She completes her study with an account of White's use of historical material, and the relationship of The Once and Future King to the Morte Darthur.
ELISABETH BREWER lectured in English at Homerton College, Cambridge. She is the author of books and articles on Chaucer and the Arthurian legends.

Percy Bysshe Shelley

$95.00

Essays on Shelley's achievements and distinctive qualities as a writer covering the whole range of his work.

This volume brings together important new readings of Shelley's poetry by British critics. All of the contributors are aware of Shelley's controversial political views, and assume from the outset an engaged political consciousness which informs every part of his work. But the primary intention in this collection is to provide positive reassessment of Shelley's achievements and distinctive qualities as a writer. Included are detailed readings of the lyricpoetry, the longer visionary narratives, and also the topical literary-political works. There are informed discussions of the local social and cultural circumstances in which some of Shelley's best-known poems were written.
In the poet's bi-centenary year, these readings are offered in a spirit of celebration and appreciation of a writer whose primary importance lies, not in his ideas, or his life, or his contexts, but in his status as a major Englishpoet.

Contributors: VINCENT NEWEY, KELVIN EVEREST, TIMOTHY WEBB, RICHARD CRONIN, EDWARD LARRISSY, BERNARD BEATTY, MICHAEL O'NEILL

The Medieval Book and a Modern Collector

$64.95

New research into medieval English literature, with a particular focus on manuscripts and writing.

This acclaimed study of English medieval manuscripts and early printed books - many items from Professor Takamiya's own collection - quickly sold out in hardcover. The subjects range from Saint Jerome to Tolkien, with particular concentrations on Chaucer, Gower, Malory and religious and historical writings of the late middle ages. There are essays examining the work of early printers such as Caxton and de Worde, and of bibliophiles and antiquarians in modern times. Befitting a tribute to a bibliophile, this volume has been handsomely designed by Lida Kindersley of the Cardozo Kindersley Workshop in Cambridge, and is extensively illustrated. The volume as a whole constitutes a substantial body of research on medieval English literature, and early books and manuscripts.

Contributors: Richard Barber, Nicolas Barker, Richard Beadle, N.F. Blake, Julia Boffey, Piero Boitani, Derek Brewer, Helen Cooper, A.I. Doyle, Martha W. Driver, A.S.G. Edwards, P.J.C. Field, Christopher de Hamel, Ralph Hanna, Lotte Hellinga, Kristian Jensen, Edward Donald Kennedy, Richard A. Linenthal, Jill Mann, Takami Matsuda, David McKitterick, Rosamond McKitterick, Linne R. Mooney, Ruth Morse, Daniel W. Mosser, Tsuyoshi Mukai, Paul Needham, M.B. Parkes, Derek Pearsall, Oliver Pickering, P.R. Robinson, Michael G. Sargent, John Scahill, Kathleen L. Scott, Jeremy J. Smith, Isamu Takahashi, John J. Thompson, Linda Ehrsam Voigts, Yoko Wada, Bonnie Wheeler, Patrick Zutshi.

The Medieval Book and a Modern Collector

Literature and the Visual Media

$95.00

Essays on the links between film and fiction, and their mutual influence.

Fiction and film interrelate closely to each other, and the specially commissioned essays in this volume all consider different aspects of this relationship. Beginning with discussions of Dickens and Victorian literature, the contributors, all leading scholars in this field, demonstrate how visual devices like the magic lantern caught the interest of writers and affected their choice of subject and method. The impact of the cinema on the British modernistsis then discussed, and the remaining essays provide detailed case studies on such subjects as Hemingway, Updike, and the depiction of women in contemporary fiction and film.

Victorian Women Poets

$95.00

Specially commissioned essays offer revisionary readings of canonical poets and bring into focus rediscovered writers.

The specially commissioned essays in Victorian Women Poets, written by scholars from Britain and North America, offer revisionary readings of canonical poets and bring into focus re-discovered writers. The volume both engages critically with the political and aesthetic agenda behind the project of recovery, and also presents a pioneering approach to reading poets who have slipped out of the canon. The work of Elizabeth Barrett Browning and ChristinaRossetti is re-assessed and given surprising and innovative literary, political and intellectual contexts that will change the way we interpret their poetry. Writers of emerging significance, such as Theodosia Garrow Trollope, Augusta Webster, Mathilde Blind, Michael Field and Margaret Veley, are given prominence in groundbreaking analysis that situates their writing within the wider debates of the period. The themes interwoven throughout the essays - literary history and canonicity, political poetics, nationhood, print culture, and genre - provide a radically new understanding of Victorian women's poetry that maps an agenda for future research.
JOSEPH BRISTOW, SUSAN BROWN, GLENNIS BYRON, ALISON CHAPMAN, NATALIE M. HOUSTON, MICHELE MARTINEZ, PATRICIA PULHAM, MARJORIE STONE. ALISON CHAPMAN lectures in English literature at the University of Glasgow.

Personification in Piers Plowman

$85.00

Published by Boydell & Brewer Inc.

Heroes and Heroines in Medieval English Literature

$120.00

Studies of the evolution of the hero, from Beowulf to Lancelot.

André Crépin, head of the English faculty at the Sorbonne, has made a great contribution to medieval English studies in France and in Europe. These studies in his honour reflect the wide range of his interests in Old and Middle English, fromBeowulf to Malory.
Their linking theme is the literary and linguistic evolution of the hero, from the classic expression of the Germanic code to the chivalry of the knights of the Round Table, from Beowulf toChaucer's knight to Sir Lancelot. Beowulf as archetypal hero is both the subject of and the concept behind more than one study; others, attempting to define heroism, grapple with the semantic problem posed by the absence of thisword until very late in the medieval period; and the very notion of heroism is questioned as the passive hero or anti-hero emerges as a literary type, at the same time as the medieval consciousness of self developed.

Contributors: GUY BOURGUIN, LEO CARRUTHERS, PETER CLEMOES, ANDY ORCHARD, ERIC STANLEY, JULIETTE DOR, DEREK BREWER, TERENCE P. DOLAN, JILL MANN, JOSSELINE BIBARD, JEAN-JACQUES BLANCHOT, JAMES WIMSATT, TERENCE McCARTHY, GLORIA CIGMAN.

Heroes and Heroines in Medieval English Literature

The Origins of Beowulf

$29.99

A detailed and passionate argument suggesting that Beowulf originated in the pre-Viking kingdom of 8th-century East Anglia.

Where did Beowulf, unique and thrilling example of an Old English epic poem come from? In whose hall did the poem's maker first tell the tale? The poem exists now in just one manuscript, but careful study of the literary and historical associations reveals striking details which lead Dr Newton to claim, as he pieces together the various clues, a specific origin for the poem.
Dr Newton suggests that references in Beowulf to the heroes whose names are listed in Anglo-Saxon royal genealogies indicate that such Northern dynastic concerns are most likely to have been fostered in the kingdom of East Anglia. He supports his thesis with evidence drawn from East Anglianarchaeology, hagiography and folklore. His argument, detailed and passionate, offers the exciting possibility that he has discovered the lost origins of the poem in the pre-Viking kingdom of 8th-century East Anglia.

SAMNEWTON was awarded his Ph.D. for work on Beowulf.

Romance in Medieval England

$120.00

Essays dealing with the cultural and linguistic diversity of the romance form from 12c-15c in England.

These papers, presented at the first meeting of the society for the Study of Medieval Romance in 1988, exemplify some of the most significant recent trends in literary studies. Notable among these is an interest in women's historyand female points of view. More specifically medieval concerns are codicological study and the present lively debate over editorial issues and principles. Since the essays deal with the romance in England between the 12th and 15th centuries, they illustrate both the cultural and linguistic diversity of the genre and the diversity in possible critical approaches.

Contributors: MALDWYN MILLS, JENNIFER FELLOWS, JOHN J. THOMPSON, GILLIAN ROGERS, LYNNE S. BLANCHFIELD, CAROL M. MEALE, JOHN SIMONS, S.H.A. SHEPHERD, ROSAMUND ALLEN, JUDITH WEISS, ROSALIND FIELD, DAVID BURNLEY, ELIZABETH WILLIAMS.

The Role of the Poet in Early Societies

$29.99

This study draws on a wide range of texts - early Irish, pre-modern Scottish Gaelic, early Welsh, Early Norse, Old English -to illustrate the role of the poet as a tool of power, as seer, and as ceremonial figure.

Essays on Troilus and Criseyde

$29.99

`Each essay opens up new directions without ignoring past critical trends...an important guide for new approaches to the text and meaning of Troilus and Criseyde and, as such, an important contribution to Chaucerian scholarship.' CHOICE`Are we to take the tone from the ending and read the whole poem ironically? Or read it sympathetically and dismiss the ending...? These interesting pieces share a determination to deal thoroughly with whatappear minor aspects of the poem and see if those offer any guide to the whole.' TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENTConntributors: ALFRED DAVID, JOHN FRANKIS, ALAN T. GAYLORD, MARK LAMBERT, JOHN McKINNELL, JAMES WIMSATT, BARRY WINDEATT.

Old English Poetic Metre

$170.00

Metrical study of Old English poetry drawing on database of almost half the surviving corpus - a uniquely extensive sample.

The primary aim of this study is to provide an improved description of Old English metre. Making use of a computerized database containing 13,044 lines of Old English poetry (about 40% of the total which survives), it is unique among other studies of Old English metre (which have usually confined themselves to Beowulf) for the size of the corpus it examines. Although located firmly within the traditional `five types' theory of Old English metre, itdeparts from previous critical orthodoxies in several respects. It places greater emphasis than is usual on syntax and formulaic diction, and demonstrates, for example, that a coherent metrical system emerges if alliteration is used as a guide to word stress, and that resolution is a metrically significant phenomenon. A secondary aim is to recover the way Anglo-Saxon poets composed their verse, with important implications for oral-formulaic theory; and a revised terminology is suggested.

B.R. HUTCHESON teaches at Macon College, USA.

Chaucer and his World

$29.99

Subtle and illuminating life of Chaucer, drawn against the turbulent backdrop of 14th century England.

`Brewer brings to his task a full scholarly knowledge of the sources of Chaucerian biography... Of obvious value to students reading Chaucer and to all who read him for pleasure; more advanced scholars will also find in it much toprovoke thought and advance understanding.' TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENTChaucer's tales, rich in comedy and pathos, have an immediate appeal; they draw freely and vividly from the romance and colour of the times in which he lived, and his world that of the second half of the 14th century is rich in cultural interest. It was a time of new exploration and new individualism, of peasant revolt and passionate religious dissent, and of a remarkable flowering of the arts. Chaucer lived at thevery centre of the action, and this book follows the stages of his career, illuminating with reference to the art and architecture of the time and through reference to his writings, the physicalenvironment and intellectual climate in which he lived. Reissue: first published 1978. DEREK BREWER was Professor of English Literature emeritus, University of Cambridge.

Index of Middle English Prose volumes I-X

$360.00

The Index of Middle English Prose is an international collaborative project which will ultimately locate, identify and record all extant Middle English prose texts composed between c.1200 and c.1500, in both manuscript andprinted form in medieval and post-medieval versions. The first step towards this goal has been this series of Handlists, each recording the holdings of a major library or group of libraries. Compiled by scholars, Handlists include detailed descriptions ofeach prose item with identifications, categorisations and full bibliographical data. Every Handlist will also contain a series of indexes including listings of opening and closing lines, authors, titles, subject matter and rubrics. For students of the middle ages Handlists provide essential bibliographical tools and shed light on a wide range of subjects.

Index of Middle English Prose volumes I-X

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

$29.99

This anthology of medieval writing provides a context for a deeper understanding of the Gawain-poet's originality and skill.

The intertextuality of this brilliant poem can be more fully understood through Elisabeth Brewer's presentation of modern English versions of themes familiar from Gawain and the Green Knight -beheading, seduction and othertraditional material - from a range of medieval writings. Her book is a delightful and unusual small anthology of medieval literature; but its greatest success lies in providing a context for a fuller understanding of Sir Gawain, through its presentation of extracts and poems (including translation from Celtic and French originals) illustrating the tradition in which the Gawain-poet wrote, underscoring his own great achievement. It is both anintroduction to the poem and a useful tool for critical comparison. First published in 1975 as From Cuchulainn to Gawain.ELISABETH BREWERlectured in English at Homerton College, Cambridge.

Teaching and Learning Latin in Thirteenth Century England, Volume Three

$170.00

Here at last is the first systematic study of the teaching and learning of Latin in thirteenth century England based on evidence from nearly 200 manuscripts where the text has been glossed in the vernacular. These glosses providethe key to discovering the linguistic competence and interest of students at an elementary level: men and women who needed a working knowledge of Latin for practical purposes. The received view that Latin was the exclusive language of the schoolroom is shown to be mistaken and the exhaustive recording of the vernacular glosses provides a hitherto untapped source of lexical materials in French and Middle English. An essential source-book for medievalists interested in language, literacy and culture.

Teaching and Learning Latin in Thirteenth Century England, Volume Three

Hunting in Middle English Literature

$120.00

An analysis of the hunt, its imagery and allusion, in Middle English literature.

This book examines for the first time the tradition of hunting imagery and allusion in specifically Middle English literature, and discovers that it differs from the parallel European tradition in its use of certain images.
Anne Rooney begins with a review of the Middle English hunting manuals, the texts that taught the art of hunting principally through instruction in the terminology, horn calls and attendant ceremony of the hunt. The second chapter sets the Middle English tradition in its European context, with an account of the inheritance from Classical and medieval French literature. The central part of the book identifies and categorises hunting images in verse and prose romance, other narrative verse, lyric poetry and religious writings of many types. The final two chapters reassess hunting images in two important Middle English texts, The Book of the Duchess and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.

Dr ANNE ROONEY teaches medieval English literatureat the University of Cambridge.

Teaching and Learning Latin in Thirteenth Century England, Volume One

$190.00

First systematic study of the teaching aid which constituted the set-texts of Latin instruction in 13c England.

Based on nearly two hundred manuscripts containing vernacular glosses, this is the first systematic study of the teaching aids which constituted the set-texts of Latin instruction in thirteenth-century England, some of which are printed here for the first time. These glosses provide the key to discovering the linguistic competence and interest of students at an elementary level: men and women who needed a working knowledge of Latin for practical purposes.The received view that Latin was the exclusive language of the schoolroom is shown to be mistaken and the exhaustive recording of the vernacular glosses provides a hitherto untapped source of lexical materials in French and Middle English.

Teaching and Learning Latin in Thirteenth Century England, Volume One

Early Welsh Saga Poetry

$240.00

The early Welsh Saga Englynion are lyric poems in character, long presumed to be the poetic remains of lost stories, told in a mixture of prose and verse. Three main cycles survive, centred on the figures of Llywarch Hen, who loses all his sons in his vicarious quest for glory; Unrien Rheged, a king unwillingly betrayed by his follower and kinsman; and Heledd, the sole survivor of an English invasion of her country. There are also many non-cyclicalpoems of the same type with other narrator figures such as the leper of Abercuawg. The best poems display considerable artistry and emotional intensity.
The critical discussion of the saga Englynion seeks to restore the lost narrative background by careful reading of internal indications and by comparative study. The growth, nature and artistry of each cycle is fully explored, as well as how each relates to the larger corpus. Relevant early Welsh traditions and history are also cited.
This is the first full edition of the saga Englynion since Sir Ifor Williams's Canu Llywarch Hen, and uses two additional manuscript copies. Full translations make the work accessible to a wider audience.

Studies in Medievalism IV

$130.00

This volume is devoted to medievalism in England, including: The Antiquarian Impulse in England, 1500-1730, The Two Noble Kinsmen and the Problem of Chivalry, From Medievalism to Historicism, Catholic History and the MiddleAges, Rossetti's Quest for God's Graal.

Medievalism - the whole spectrum of post-medieval response to the middle ages - is now accepted as a vital key to the understanding of Western culture and society from 1500 to the present, pervading every aspect of our time, fromthe popularto the scholarly and artistic. Studies in Medievalism, published annually, is the one series to provide a regular forum for discussion of issues related to medievalism. This volume is devoted to medievalism in England, appropriately, since England has always played a central part in the development of medievalism. Contributors from England, Germany, Japan, Canada and the United States deal with topics ranging from 16th-century antiquarianism to 20th-century detective fiction.

Contributors: D.R. WOOLF, DENNIS O'BRIEN, PETER HADORN, A. CAMERON AIRHEART, MARTIN WALSH, R.J.SMITH, ROGER SIMPSON, RAYMOND CHAPMAN, CLARE SIMMONS, THOMAS COOKSEY, RENATE HAAS, YURIFUWA, ANTHONY HARRISON, ROBERT BURTON, EDWIN CHRISTIAN, BLAKE LINDSY, MARC BAER.

Memorials of the Book Trade in Medieval London

$105.00

The Bridge charity both patronised artisans involved with the manuscript-book trade and administered properties occupied by craftsmen connected with it. Its records provide `an invaluable and factual picture of the 15th-century book trade.' BOOK COLLECTOR In Memorials of the Book Trade in Medieval London, Paul Christianson presents a detailed account and assessment of the early records of the Bridge House Estates, the City of London trust responsible for the properties and the business and civic affairs of old London Bridge. These records reveal the organisation and administration of the Bridge charity itself as well as its frequent patronage of London artisans, particularly those involved with the manuscript-book trade. As artifacts, the records illustrate many features of contemporary book production, including binding techniques, the early use of paper, and the development of decorative penworkand of uniform styles of handwriting. The records of properties held by the Bridge charity in areas of the city occupied by craftsmen connected with the book trade also provide a series of unique insights into the organisation and location of that trade throughout the 15th century and into the 16th century. The book is illustrated with plates showing all the major palaeographical and other features of the Bridge house records and is of considerable importance to the study of the book trade and, more generally, of the history of the city of London itself.C. PAUL CHRISTIANSON is Mildred Foss Thompson Professor of English Language and Literature, The College of Wooster, Ohio.

Memorials of the Book Trade in Medieval London

Gower's Confessio Amantis: Responses and Reassessments

$120.00

Published by Boydell & Brewer Inc.

Gower's <I>Confessio Amantis</I>: Responses and Reassessments

Chaucer's Approach to Gender in the Canterbury Tales

$120.00

An original feminist approach, through a study of Chaucer's treatment of masculinity, to the Canterbury Tales

This volume presents a feminist approach to the Canterbury Tales, investigating the ways in which the tensions and contradictions found within the broad contours of medieval gender discourse write themselves into Chaucer'stext. Four discourses of medieval masculinity are examined, which simultaneously reinforce and resist one another: heroic or chivalric, Christian, courtly love, and emerging humanist models.
Each chapter attempts to negotiateboth contemporary assumptions of gender construction, and essentialist readings of gender common to the middle ages; throughout, the author argues that the Canterbury Tales offer a sophisticated discussion of masculinity,and that it strongly indicts some of the prevalent medieval notions of ideal masculinity while still remaining firmly homosocial and homophobic. The book concludes that on the question of gender issues, the Tales are beststudied as male-authored texts containing representations and negotiations revealing much about late medieval masculinities.

Dr ANNE LASKAYA teaches in the English Department at the University of Oregon.

Chaucer's Approach to Gender in the <I>Canterbury Tales</I>

The Medieval Medea

$130.00

Wide-ranging study of the myth of Medea, concentrating on but not exclusively confined to its medieval incarnation.

The legends of Jason and Medea illustrate how disparate and sometimes contradictory stories were combined in the creation of the first secular princely quest, how that quest functioned as a benchmark of western chronology, and howthat in turn assured the stories' position as part of the legends of Troy. The innovations of Euripides and Apollonius were imitated throughout Antiquity, and examples of murderous mothers illustrated the lethal disruptions of which women could be capable. For many medieval authors - Dante, Chaucer, Boccaccio, Gower, Christine de Pizan and others -the problem of a hero who betrays his oath and a heroine who murders and escapes offered insoluble and tragicsubjects. This study discusses how the legends contribute not only to ideas of history, but also to conceptions of the power and ruthlessness of women.
RUTH MORSE is Professeur des Universités at UniversitéParis VII.

Arthurian Literature XIII

$120.00

Latest volume in this series containing the best new work on Arthurian topics.

The latest volume of Arthurian Literature includes an edition and study of the widely disseminated Latin translation of Des Grantz Geanz(`De origine gigantum') by James Carley and Julia Crick, with a feminist readingof the poem by Lesley Johnson. Claude Luttrell writes on Chrétien's Cligès; Corinne Saunders explores the issue of rape in Chaucer's Wife of Bath's Tale, Neil Wright offers a reconstruction of the Arthurian epitaphin Royal 20 B.XV, Frank Brandsma discusses the treatment of simultaneity in Yvain, Chanson de Roland and a section of the Lancelot en prose, Julia Crick updates the progress on the manuscripts of Geoffrey of Monmouth, and A.H.W. Smith contributes a supplement to the bibliography of twentieth-century Arthurian literature begun in earlier volumes.

The Text and Tradition of Layamon's Brut

$130.00

Essays reflecting the present state of Layamon studies, identifying problems and outlining current directions in research.

This volume investigates the problems with which the contemporary reader of Layamon's Brut is faced: To what extent is the archaic feel of the Brut part of a deliberate aesthetic strategy of Layamon's? For what sortof audience could it have been written? How can one define its relation to older or more recent texts and traditions? What ideological stance (if any) is to be deduced from the work?
The seventeen articles in this book tackle the different issues from a variety of fields: codicology and palaeography; Linguistics, stylists and syntax; the socio-political dimension of the work and its possible audience; the tradition upon which Layamon was drawing, and his contribution to later writers; literary theory and more general issues such as gender and spatial symbolism in the Brut. A number of essays present a synthesis of points of view, specifically intended to provide students with a yardstick against which to measure the more controversial articlesin the volume.

Contributors: MARIE-FRANÇOISE ALAMICHEL, ROSAMUND ALLEN, STEPHEN K. BREHE, BETH BRYAN, ARTHUR WAYNE GLOWKA, MARSHAL S. GRANT, DOUGLAS MOFFAT, YOKO IYEIRI, LESLEY JOHNSON, FRANÇOICE LE SAUX, JAMES I. McNELIS III, JAMES NOBLE, HERBERT PILCH, JANE ROBERTS, ERIC G. STANLEY, CAROLE WEINBERG, KELLEY M. WICKHAM-CROWLEY, NEIL WRIGHT

Dr FRANCOISE LE SAUXlectures in Medieval English language and literature at the University of Lausanne.

The Text and Tradition of Layamon's <I>Brut</I>

Managing Language in Piers Plowman

$130.00

A fresh approach to ambiguities of language in Piers Plowman.

Starting from a consideration of medieval definitions of the word as both logos and verbum, this reading of Piers Plowmanshows that both scholastic and mystic attitudes to language are at play within the poem.Concepts of authority, authorship, interpretation and translation are explored and it is made clear that these are inextricably linked, both in critical debates and in the text itself. The study progresses towards a conclusion that the full potential of language can be realised only when the desire to express things unambiguously is abandoned and ambiguity itself is allowed to be a power and a way of understanding. The rich fabric of Langland's text thusbecomes something to enjoy and participate in, rather than battle with or seek to control. Furthermore, it proves to be a meeting point for medieval and modern theories of text and reading, which are themselves enlivened by this complex and vivid poem.
G.A. RUDD lectures in English at the University of Liverpool.

Arthurian and Other Studies presented to Shunichi Noguchi

$130.00

Essays on Arthurian themes, on Beowulf, Chaucer and Shakespeare, and textual studies of Gower and others.

These essays for Shunichi Noguchi, by scholars from Britain, the USA and Japan, reflect his approach to English studies and his wide range of interests from Beowulf to Ulysses. The principal focus, however, is on medieval and renaissance studies: nine of the essays are on Arthurian themes, to which Professor Noguchi has devoted his academic life. There are also essays on Beowulf, Chaucer, the York miracle plays, and Shakespeare, as well as textual studies of Gower, Wulfstan, Wycliffe and Caxton.

Contributors: SHUICHI AITA, SHINSUKE ANDO, DEREK BREWER, ANTONY DICKINSON, P.J.C. FIELD, KAZUO FUKUDA, EIICHI HAYAKAWA, TADAHIRO IKEGAMI, MIKIKO ISHII, SOUJIIWASAKI, GREGORY K. JEMBER, TOMOMI KATO, EDWARD DONALD KENNEDY,TADAO KUBOUCHI, JOHN LAWLOR, KIYOKAZU MIZOBATA, GEORGE MOOR, TSUYOSHI MUKAI, YUJI NAKAO, FUMIKO OKA, YUZUYO OKUMURA, ISAMU SAITO, SHIRO SHIBA, JAN SIMKO, JUN SUDO, TAKASHI SUZUKI, TOSHIYUKI TAKAMIYA, RAYMOND P. TRIPP.

Arthurian and Other Studies presented to Shunichi Noguchi

Counsel and Strategy in Middle English Romance

$120.00

Barnes contends that `rule by counsel' is central to the ethos of Middle English romance.

By examining the development of Middle English romance against its background of 13th- and 14th-century royal-baronial conflict, this book assumes a new historical perspective. Friction between Plantagenet kings and dissident barons contributed to the development of the `problem of counsel' both as an actuality and as a topos in the literature of the period. Rule by counsel, an ideal which informs medieval English government at every level, is, the authorargues, central to the ethos of Middle English romance.

The procedural formula of `counsel and strategy' is tested against a number of romances: Ywain and Gawain, Havelok, Gamelyn, Athelston, a selection of nine romances from the Auchinleck manuscript, and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. By selecting these narratives Geraldine Barnes is able to approach the question of counsel from a number of different angles. This is a book which will stimulate considerable interest among scholars of medieval literature.

GERALDINE BARNES is Senior Lecturer in English Language and Early English Literature at the University of Sydney.

Counsel and Strategy in Middle English Romance

Helena of Britain in Medieval Legend

$120.00

The first study to examine the origins, development, political exploitation and decline of the legend of St Helena, tracing its momentum and adaptive power from Anglo-Saxon England onwards.

St Helena, mother of Constantine the Great and legendary finder of the True Cross, was appropriated in the middle ages as a British saint. The rise and persistence of this legend harnessed Helena's imperial and sacred status to portray her as a romance heroine, source of national pride, and a legitimising link to imperial Rome. This study is the first to examine the origins, development, political exploitation and decline of this legend, tracing its momentum and adaptive power from Anglo-Saxon England to the twentieth century. Using Latin, English, and Welsh texts, as well as church dedications and visual arts, the author examines the positive effect of the British legend on the cult of St Helena and the reasons for its wide appeal and durability in both secular and religious contexts.
Two previously unpublished vitae of St Helena are included in the volume: a Middle English verse vita from the South English Legendary, and a Latin prose vita by the twelfth-century hagiographer, Jocelin of Furness.

Antonina Harbus is Professor in the Department of English at Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia.

Chaucer's Boccaccio

$29.99

The notes are a model of economy... The introduction is quite superb... The volume as a whole is a worthy addition to a series which has already begun to establish high expectations. TIMES HIGHER EDUCATION SUPPLEMENT

Chaucer made extensive use of Boccacio's romances as a basis for his major works, and any analysis of his handling of his sources must depend on a knowledge of the Italian poet's work.

An Introduction to Malory

$29.99

This introduction to Morte Darthuroutlines the book's basic character, followed by a study of the key concepts of love, loyalty, sin and shame. Malory's approach to his material is discussed, as are his sources, and his individual contribution; finally, Maloryand his book are placed in their historical context. Published in 1988 as Reading the Morte Darthur. `Presents in very accessible form the explanatory material which [students] will require. He is well-informed about the basic issues in Malory scholarship and criticism, and his approach is sound.' REVIEW OF ENGLISH STUDIES`This book is aimed specifically at readers approaching Malory's Morte Darthur... it will be very useful both to new readers and to their instructors.' CHOICEThe Morte Darthuris a book of action and adventure, not a book of thought. It is full of unexplained and inexplicable customs,magic and mystery, love and hate, nobility, villainy and the highest ideals. Among its characters are the heroes and heroines of the greatest love stories in the western tradition, and it appeals to our most basic and powerful sentiments. Terence McCarthy's book is an introduction to Malory, and so the first section is designed to show how to go about reading the Morte Darthur, and to outline aspects of its basic character. The remaining sections offer an interpretation of it, beginning with the key concepts of love, loyalty, sin and shame.
The reader is urged to resist the temptation to consider the Morte Darthuras an early novel, and Malory as omniscient narrator, in order to see him as he saw himself - a historian chronicling the public events of a kingdom. Even his much-praised style underlines the formal and traditional aspect of his book. The Morte Darthuris based on inherited material, and while it is not necessary to know all the intricacies of Malory's sources, Terence McCarthy shows how Malory worked and the extent and nature of his individual contribution. A brief final section puts Malory and his book in their historical context: the turmoil of late fifteenth-century England may be a striking contrast to the order and harmony Arthur achieved (and lost), but too precise an interpretation will remain fruitless until weknow more about Sir Thomas Malory -including who he actually was.

Arthurian Literature X

$120.00

The tenth volume of Arthurian Literature continues some ofthe themes of earlier issues, as well as exploring unfamiliar andcontroversial ground. The second part of CHRISTINE POULSON's survey of the Arthurian legend in 19th-century art is an analysisby subject of the works catalogued by artist in Arthurian Literature IX. A. H. W. SMITH provides a substantial update to MaryWildman's bibliography of modern Arthurian literature which appearedin Arthurian Literature II, adding not only recent works butalso many items missing from the earlier list. Mr Smith also contributesan article on Ponticus Virumnius and the text of Gildas, one of themore intriguing mysteries ofArthurian text history, and sets outVirumnius' claim to have seen a poem by Gildas which has since disappeared. ARMEL DIVERRES writes on the origins of Chretien de Troyes'Conte del Graal; he argues that we should seek thepoet's inspiration in the crusading activities of Philip of Flanders, supporting his case with a careful examination of many otherwise difficult passages in the poem.

Arthurian Literature IX

$85.00

Published by Boydell & Brewer Inc.

Layamon's Brut

$120.00

A comprehensive and objective study of Layamon's sources is long overdue. As a first step Françoise le Saux investigates the English poet's handling of his main source, Wace's Roman de Brut, to determine what principles guided the composition of the English Brut. These established, she is able to distinguish between different sorts of variation from the Roman, thereby providing norms against which to gauge the probability of further, secondary sources. Additional sources are then identified, in the various fields suggested by the poem: historical; literary; and religious writings (or tales) in Welsh, English, Latin and French and perhaps even Scandinavian.

Cei and the Arthurian Legend

$120.00

`No Arthurian critic will be able to ignore this book which gathers together so much diverse material and skilfully brings out unexpected links between versions widely separated in time and country of origin. MODERN LANGUAGE REVIEW

`No Arthurian critic will be able to ignore this book which gathers together so much diverse material and skilfully brings out unexpected links between versions widely separated in time and country of origin.' MODERN LANGUAGE REVIEW Cei is one of the most puzzling figures in the development of the Arthurian legend: a hero beyond compare in the early Welsh sources, his appearances in later Arthurian literature are frequently associated with comic defeatin combat, objectionable outspokenness, and sometimes with more serious misdeeds. This study assesses Cei from his native Welsh context to his role in the romances of Chrétien de Troyes and later developments, in which the authorlooks at the portrayal of Cei in a selection of medievalContinental, Welsh and English works, before moving closer to the present day and the rich heritage of English ballad and Gaelic folktale; the ending offers something of a surprise. This account of the long and varied career of one of Arthur's closest associates shows how a sympathetic approach to Cei can shed new light on some particularly controversial aspects of Arthurian studies.

The Changing Face of Arthurian Romance

$120.00

These essays on Arthurian prose romances, published as a tribute to Cedric E. Pickford, reflect their development and the reshaping of the romances in response to changing taste and fashion from the death of Chrétien de Troyes tothe end of the medieval period in England. Topics include the question of religious influences; the transition of Arthurian material to foreign contexts; and the fortunes of the prose romance in England, focusing on the Prose Merlinand Malory. The contributors are: ELSPETH KENNEDY, RENÉE L. CURTIS, FANNI BOGDANOW, JANE H.M. TAYLOR, DAVID BLAMIRES, CERIDWEN LLOYD-MORGAN, CAROL M. MEALE, KAREN STERN, DEREK BREWER, FAITH LYONS, ROGER MIDDLETON

Historia Regum Britannie of Geoffrey of Monmouth III

$170.00

A fine research tool which has so many applications. SPECULUM

<I>Historia Regum Britannie</I> of Geoffrey of Monmouth III

The Index of Middle English Prose Handlist II

$105.00

The John Rylands and Chetham's Libraries, Manchester, were both founded by charitable local magnates and in the course of time have become well known in many parts of the world. Housed in their striking original premises, they both contain major collections of manuscripts which in each case include important texts in Middle English prose. In particular, the Rylands collection, which is the larger, has fifteen copies of the Wycliffite Bible, six of the prose Brut, three of Nicholas Love'sMirror of the Blessed Life of Jesu Christ, two of Pore Caitif, as well as single copies of numerous other works. Chetham's has a Wycliffite Bible, a Mandeville's Travels,a Polychronicontranslation by Trevisa, lives of Christ and of the saints, and an important series of scientific and medical texts. The Handlist of these manuscripts describes each text and gives concise bibliographical information on each, in the same style as the previously published Handlist Icovering the Huntington Library.

The Index of Middle English Prose Handlist II

Introduction to Chaucerian English

$120.00

There is fairly general agreement that the modern reader's appreciation of Chaucer's writings can be enhanced by providing the reader with guides to `Chaucerian background' - literary, historical and cultural - and students of Chaucer are fortunate in having at their disposal a large number of books covering various aspects of Chaucerian background. One field which is less well covered is Chaucer's language: it is true that certain aspects of Chaucer's syntax and lexis have been dealt with in fairly recent years, but other subcategories of Chaucerian English, such as phonology and morphology, deserve more attention. The absence of readily available guides to these aspects of Chaucer's English has placed the linguistically-oriented student at a considerable disadvantage compared with his more literary-minded colleague, but the latter is also in need of a more detailed and reliable guide to Chaucerian Englishthan the somewhat scant notes often included in editions of Chaucerian texts. The present book is intended to meet this need. It is largely limited to Chaucerian phonology and morphology, and assumes some familiarity with the rudiments of linguistics, but the technical terminology has been kept to a minimum.

Chaucer and the Imaginary World of Fame

$130.00

Legend of Arthur in the Middle Ages Studies presented to A H Diverres

$120.00

This volume, a festschrift for Professor A,H. Diverres, has been included in the Arthurian Studies series because it contains highly important new work on the medieval aspects of Arthurian legend, ranging from Rachel Bromwich's essay on the Celtic elements in Arthurian romance and A.O.H Jarman's study of Arthurian allusions in the Black Book of Carmarthen to examinations of the Spanish and French romances of the 15th century. There are five papers on theromances of Chretien de Troyes, including pieces by Tony Hunt, Kenneth Varty and Charles Foulon, two on Welsh and German romances associated with Chretien's work, while other studies are on the Breton lais and on the English romances. In all, this is a wide-ranging and valuable collection, and a welcome addition to the series.

Legend of Arthur in the Middle Ages Studies presented to A H Diverres

Three Tudor Classical Interludes

$120.00

Intended for dramatisation by young scholars, these three interludes blend boisterous English comedy with humanist interest in the classical world.

Women, the Book, and the Worldly

$120.00

Studies of women's roles in the secular literary world, as patrons, authors, readers, and characters in secular literature.

This second volume of proceedings from the `Women and the Book' conference, held at St Hilda's College, Oxford in 1993, brings together fifteen papers dealing with women's experience in the secular literary world. It covers the whole variety of roles women might take, as patrons, authors, readers, and characters in secular literature; encompassed in its range are well-known characters, real and fictional, such as Christine de Pisan and the Wife of Bath, and the more obscure but no less fascinating topic of women in Chinese medieval court poetry. Like its predecessor Women, the Book, and the Godly(Brewer, 1995), this volume illuminates the world of medieval women with carefulscholarship and attention to sources, producing new readings and new materials which shed fresh light on an increasingly important field of study.

Contributors: PATRICIA SKINNER, PHILIP E. BENNETT, JENNIFER GOODMAN, CHARITY CANNON-WILLARD, BENJAMIN SEMPLE, ANNE BIRRELL, JEANETTE BEER, MARK BALFOUR, CAROL HARVEY, HEATHER ARDEN, KAREN JAMBECK, JULIA BOFFEY, JENNIFER SUMMIT, MARGARITA STOCKER

Syntax and Style in Chaucer's Poetry

$120.00

The purpose of this book is to give an outline of structural features of Chaucer's poetic syntax that are relevant to the study of style, and to define some general tendencies in his construction of sentences. What emerges is a fondness on Chaucer's part for discontinuity in the order of words and phrases and for certain forms of expression which have a wider application t:han their modern counterparts. In order that Chaucer's usage may be seen in its historical context, comparative material is drawn from the writings of his contemporaries - Langland, Gower, and the Gawain-poet - and from the body of early English rhyming romances now taken to represent an influent:ial nativepoetic tradition. I In an introductory chapter Dr Roscow questions the familiar description of Chaucer's syntax as colloquial, and argues for attention to a wider range of literary functions in studying the relationship between syntax and style in nedieval poetry

Festive Drama

$130.00

Essays on festive drama - plays, pageantry and traditional ceremonies - of the European middle ages, with comparative material.

Festive drama, in these studies, includes processions and folk-customs as well as full-blown plays, from Spain, the Netherlands, France, Germany, Britain, Denmark, and Bohemia (now the Czech Republic). The main focus is the middleages, but style and approach are as relevant as time-scale, reflecting a culture in which there are no firm divisions between drama and pageantry and traditional ceremonies. Common themes emerge: the world turned upside-down of Shrovetide; the emotive power of religious celebration; and the links between commerce and the demonstration of civic pride. Festive customs are viewed as hidden agendas of popular culture, and performances are reconstructed. Thisis the obverse of art and power: the means by which the people, not the princes, rule the world.

Professor MEG TWYCROSS teaches at the Department of English at Lancaster University.

Contributors: PETER H. GREENFIELD, OLGA HORNER, SHEILA LINDENBAUM, CLAIRE SPONSLER, RONALD E. SURTZ, RAFAEL PORTILLO, MANUEL J. GOMEZ LARA, PAMELA M. KING, ROBERT POTTER, JOHN CARTWRIGHT, DAVID MILLS, JAMES STOKES, ALAN E. KNIGHT, MARJOKE DE ROOS, FEMKE KRAMER, TOM PETTITT, LEIF SNDERGAARD, WIM HÜSKEN, JEAN-MARC PASTRÉÉ, SALLY-BETH MACLEAN, MALCOLM JONES, CHRISTINE RICHARDSON, JARMILA F. VELTRUSKY, JOHN COLDEWEY.

Symbolic Stories: Traditional Narratives of the Family Drama in English Literature

$120.00

Analysis of the structure of traditional stories and fairytales, bringing out their shared characteristics, and showing why they remain so powerful and resonant today.

Many famous stories, from the Old Testament, medieval romance and folktale, to Shakespeare's tragedies and comedies and even some great novels, present apparent inconsistencies or absurdities when judged as plausible representations of 'reality'. Yet the experience of many generations of readers and listeners is that such stories take a powerful hold on the imagination and memory, and create a strong impression on coherent significance. Symbolic Stories shows why the structure of these tales is so significant, and why they are repeated, both in the original and with variations, down the ages.

Professor Brewer reveals new aspects of the stories themselves by elucidating the implicit and symbolic meanings that lie below the literal narrative. The stories discussed are those that are especially concerned with the processes of growing up and coming to maturity. They are told from the point of view of the emerging individual as he or she passes through the rites de passage that allow disengagement from parents, self-realisation, the establishment of new relationships, and integration with society.

The bookdemonstrates certain characteristic themes and structures in these traditional stories, but is far from reducing them to a single formula. One of the main purposes is to show how selected stories of great artistic value establishtheir own individual meanings within the general pattern. There are new interpretations of the famous romances, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, and Malory's Tale of Sir Gareth, and of other romances. Shakespeare'sremarkable portrayals throughout his career of various aspects of the family drama are discussed, and the essence of a new theory of tragedy and comedy is suggested. The extreme type of traditional story in Europe is seen as the fairy tale, which is analysed to show how fundamentally such narrative differs from the novel, but Mansfield Park and Great Expectations are explored in detail to show their equivocal relationships to the tradition.

The book will appeal to all those who are interested in the structure of narrative, whether from the point of view of literature, psychology or folklore.

The late Professor Derek Brewer was Master of Emmanuel College Cambridge and Reader in Medieval English Literature in the University of Cambridge. He published numerous books and articles, especially on Chaucer, but on all periods of English literature.

Symbolic Stories: Traditional Narratives of the Family Drama in English Literature

Chaucer on Love, Knowledge and Sight

$120.00

Medieval natural philosophy illuminates Chaucer's use of the motif of sight and the relationship between love and knowledge.

In this study, Norman Klassen shows how Chaucer explores the complexity of the relationship between love and knowledge through recourse to the motif of sight. The convention of love at first sight involves love, knowledge, and sight, but insists that the claims of love and the realm of the rational are in strict opposition. In the metaphysical tradition, however, the relationship between love, knowledge and sight is more complex, manifesting both qualitiesof opposition and of symbiosis, similar to that found in late medieval natural philosophy.
The author argues that Chaucer is unorthodox in exploiting the possibilities for using sight both to express emotional experience and to accentuate rationality at the same time. The conventional opposition of love and knowledge in the phenomenon of love at first sight gives way in Chaucer's development of love, knowledge, and sight to a symbiosis in his lovepoetry. The complexity of this relationship draws attention to his own role as artificer, as one who in the process of articulating the effects of love at first sight cannot help but bring together love and knowledge in ways not anticipated by the conventions of love poetry.NORMAN KLASSENis a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada postdoctorial fellow at the Centre for Medieval Studies and the Department of English Language and Literature at the University of Minnesota.

The Medieval Lyric

$36.95

This highly acclaimed introduction to the medieval lyric during the period 850-1300 is now reissued in a third edition, which includes a new preface and substantial new bibliographical indications. After an introductory discussionof the performers and performance of lyrics in the middle ages, each chapter analyses one of the major lyrical genres and centres on close critical discussion of outstanding lyrics, with generous quotation of texts and translations. While the rise of religious lyric and the transformations of love-lyric receive the fullest treatment, there are also chapters on women's songs, on the alba, on dance-songs, and on `lyrics of realism'.

The Alliterative Revival

$120.00

Informative study of the 14th-century revival of alliterative poetry which culminated in the major masterpieces of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Pearl and Piers Plowman.

The revival of alliterative poetry in the fourteenth century, which culminated in the major masterpieces of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Pearl and Piers Plowman, poses many problems for the historians of literature. As a result, the poems have tended to be studied in isolation, and their poetic context and use of an established tradition have been largely ignored. This book assesses the alliterative revival as a poetic movement, and restores the poems to their literary context. In particular, it offers an evaluation of the obscure origins of the revival, and on the type of audience for whom the poems were intended.

The Origins of Drama in Scandinavia

$190.00

A fresh look at early dramatic activity in Scandinavia, using archaeological, historical and literary evidence.

This book takes a new approach to the question of whether some form of drama existed in early Scandinavia. Dr Gunnell examines the dialogic poems of the Poetic Edda, preserved in manuscripts from the late thirteenth century, fromthe viewpoints of both performer and audience. He argues that in order to be fully understood by the audience, the poems must have been presented in some dramatic fashion, and not merely chanted. He substantiates his claims by exploring characteristics found only in the manuscripts of these dialogic poems and in contemporary manuscripts of dramatic works from England and Northern France, suggesting that even in the thirteenth century, the dialogic poems must have been regarded as dramatic works. The examination is accompanied by the most complete review to date of the evidence for some kind of ritual drama having existed in pagan Scandinavia, looking at archaeological evidence forthe use of masks and costumes, information contained in the sagas, and contemporary historical accounts.

TERRY GUNNELL is Professor of Folkloristics at the University of Iceland.

Conquering the Reign of Femeny

$120.00

Close study of Chaucer's most important works shows how he used gender issues to extend the range of romance.

The paradox of romance as a genre is that it contains multiple possibilities, yet remains profoundly constrained by its own terms and conventions. Through a close reading of several of Chaucer's most important works, Dr Weisl examines Chaucer's use of gender issues to explore and challenge this genre. She argues that Chaucer's complex treatment of the romance, following both continental and Middle English traditions, experiments with and tests romance conventions.
Each chapter looks indetail at one or more of Chaucer's works, examining their different approaches to the problems of gender, and showing how this is closely connected with genre. Subjects addressed include the feminised private spaces in Troilus and Criseydewhich protect Criseyde, but are inevitably penetrated by male power; the masculine imperatives of the epic which challenge the limits of the feminised romance in the Knight'sTale(and the speech of its heroine Emelye, who questions the assumptions of the genre itself); Canacee in the Squire's Tale, who rejects the stereotyped role of the heroine, and the romance world in the Tale of SirThopas, without a heroine at all.Dr ANGELA JANE WEISLis visiting assistant professor of English and Women's Studies at Wittenberg University, Ohio.

The Two Versions of Malory's Morte Darthur

$120.00

Analysis of the relationship between the Winchester manuscript and Caxton's edition. Detailed linguistic analysis of the two versions of the Morte Darthur, charting important changes in the development of the English language.

Malory's Morte Darthursurvives in two versions: the Winchester manuscript, which has been dated 1469-70, and the edition Caxton published in 1485. These versions were thought to be collaterally related through a common source to an original lost manuscript, until in 1977 new evidence suggested a linear descent. Dr Tieken-Boon van Ostade's study supports this argument, first through a detailed refutation of Vinaver's arguments for collateral descent,then through an analysis of the incidence of multiple negation in both versions of the Morte Darthurand the conclusions to be drawn from it. A reconstruction of the events leading to Caxton's publication of the text at a politically hazardous time completes the volume.Dr INGRID TIEKEN-BOON VAN OSTADEis lecturer in English at the University of Leiden. Two books already published centre on the history of the English language.

The Two Versions of Malory's Morte Darthur

Readings in Medieval English Romance

$120.00

Wide-ranging essays engaging with all aspects of medieval romance, from textual studies to historical sources.

The essays in this volume reflect the range and diversity of approach and of critical stance which have characterised romance studies in recent years. Amongst the areas of interest addressed are those of generic definition; the role of romance in relation to emergent ideas of nationalism; the complex associations between gender and genre, and between historical events and their expression in literature. Other issues explored are the transmission and reception of texts; the nature of the audiences; and the implications of critical theory for the reading of medieval romance.

Contributors: MALDWYN MILLS, J.A. BURROW, DONNA CRAWFORD, A.S.G. EDWARDS, ARLYN DIAMOND, JOCELYN WOGAN-BROWNE, JOHN J. THOMPSON, THORLAC TURVILLE-PETRE, DIANA SPEED, JOHN SCATTERGOOD, COLIN RICHMOND, CAROL M. MEALE.

Catalogue of the Manuscripts of Hereford Cathedral Library

$195.00

227 manuscripts dating from the 8th- to the 15th-century.

The library at Hereford Cathedral is famous as one of the few surviving `chained libraries'; but the contents of the books secured to the seventeenth century presses are less well known. There are 227 western manuscripts, of whichabout half have been at the cathedral since before the Reformation. They range in date from the eighth to the fifteenth century, and include finely-illustrated patristic books of the twelfth century, a large collection of OxfordUniversity legal textbooks, and books of civil and canon law from the end of the thirteenth century. Over half the volumes survive in largely intact medieval bindings.
The catalogue, begun by the late Sir Roger Mynors and completed by Professor Thomson, reflects the particular strengths of the collection. The many glossed books are described using a particularly effective system devised by Sir Roger Mynors. An introductory essay by Michael Gullick describes the medieval bindings, and the plates cover not only illumination and bindings, but medieval pressmarks and ownership inscriptions, as well as examples of scripts.

Catalogue of the Manuscripts of Hereford Cathedral Library

The Forest of Medieval Romance

$120.00

Traces the development of the forest as a central literary motif in medieval romance.

Corinne J. Saunders's exploration of the topos of the forest, a familiar and ubiquitous motif in the literature of the middle ages, is a broad study embracing a range of medieval and Elizabethan exts from the twelft to the sixteenth centuries: the roman d'antiquite, Breton lay and courtly romance, the hagiographical tradition of the Vita Merlini and the Queste del Saint Graal, Spenser and Shakespeare. Saunders identifies the forest as a primary romance landscape, as a place of adventure, love, and spiritual vision... offers a pleasurable overview of the narrative function of the forest as a literary landscape. Based on a close comparative [and theoretically non-partisan] reading ofa broad range of literary texts drawn from the Europeqan canon, Saunders's study explores the continuity and transformation of an important motif in the corpus of medieval literature. MODERN LANGUAGE REVIEWDr CORINNE SAUNDERSteaches in the Department of English at the University of Durham. [BLURBEXTRACTED FROM TLS REVIEW] ...An immense tract, not only of medieval literature but of human experience [is] engagingly introduced and presented here...Corinne Saunders considers first forests in reality (a reality which keeps breaking through in romance...). She looks also at the classical and biblical models including Virgil, Statius and Nebuchadnezzar...only then does she turn tothe non-real and non-Classical, i.e. the medieval and romantic. Here she follows a clear chronological plan from twelfth to fifteenth centuries [also covering] the allegorized landscape of Spenser and the lovers' woods of Arden or Athens in Shakespeare. Her text-by-text layout does justice to the variety of possibilities taken up by different authors; the forest as a place where men run mad and turn into animals, a place of voluntary suffering, a focus ofsignificance in the Grail-quests, a lovers' bower; above all and centrally, the place where the knight is tested and defined, even (as with Perceval) created.

Romance of Perlesvaus

$36.95

Prepared for publication by JANET GRAYSON from Jessie Weston's manuscript.

Cornish Literature

$120.00

Comparative study of Cornish literature, placing it in a wider context and looking in detail at major works.

`This admirable survey...compact, smoothly written, easy to read and digest, yet indicative throughout of profound scholarship and an obvious mastery of the field, Cornish Literatureprovides an enduring guide to this smallbut significant genre. The three Middle Cornish plays - in English titles, The Creation of the World, Life of St Meriasekand the tripartite Ordinalia - accompany a long Pascon agan Arluth, a verse `Passion of our Lord' and the odd fragment... His last chapter, `Survivals and Revivals', is a fair but detached account covering a long (1611 to 1992) phase that will also interest sociologists. The chief strength of his book is the textual analysis of the main plays, placing them alongside medieval English drama as well as the larger European manifestation of religious drama and the complex question of all their biblical and quasi-biblical sources. There is auseful bibliography. Modestly priced, Brian Murdoch's scholarly and attractive guide should appeal to many beyond medievalist circles; it will not be superseded for a long time.' THE TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT BRIAN MURDOCHis head of the Department of German at Stirling University.

Chrétien de Troyes and the German Middle Ages

$170.00

Studies showing the influence of the French Arthurian romances of Chrétien de Troyes on German medieval literature.

The pre-eminent role of Chrétien de Troyes in the formation of Arthurian romance is reflected in the swift and brilliant response of German courtly poets to his works. Within a few years of their composition, Erec et Enideand Yvain were adapted for German audiences by Hartmann von Aue, while Chrétien's unfinished Grail-story was taken up by Wolfram von Eschenbach and brought to a triumphant conclusion in Parzival. In this volume a distinguished international team of scholars contrast the treatment and reception of the stories in Germany with their French originals.

Contributors: E.M.MELETINSKY, MICHAEL BATTS, SILVIA RANAWAKE, W.H.JACKSON, H.B.WILSON, KAREN PRATT, MARTIN H. JONES, DANIEL ROCHER, WALTER BLANK, KLAUS GRUBMULLER, TONY HUNT, WIEBKE FREYTAG, MICHAEL CURSCHMANN, RENE PERENNEC, ADRIAN STEVENS, ARTHUR GROOS, TIMOTHY McFARLAND, J.-M. PASTRE and VOLKER HONEMAN.

Chrétien de Troyes and the German Middle Ages

Arthurian Literature XI

$120.00

The vital index to all previous volumes, I-X; plus new research.

Epitomises what is best in Arthurian scholarship today.ZEITSCHRIFT FUR ROMANISCHE PHILOLOGIE

Arthurian Literatureis now established as a leading publication for research articles of monograph length on subjects of perennial interest to Arthurians. The Indexto the first ten volumes, representing the years 1980-1990, will be warmly welcomed by Arthurians and other scholars with an interest in medieval and later literature. Additionally an extended biographical essay by JANET GRAYSON draws together material relating to the life and work of Jessie Weston, who, largely working outside the mainstream of scholarly tradition, exercised a powerful influence on Arthurian studies. The regular "Update" feature catalogues Arthurian legend in the fine and applied art of the 19th and early 20th centuries, contributed by ROGER SIMPSON.