What Medieval Literature should I read?

[Patrick Bell]

Right. Hello! Having already studied the Renaissance period of literature, certain writers, such as Marlowe, have led me to be aware of the various interesting bridges from the Medieval to the English Renaissance period of literature and I would like to get reading some seminal Medieval English texts. Where should I begin because I don't know an awful lot about Medieval writers other than Chaucer and I'm not sure what route to to take. I know there isn't a set route of reading, obviously, but I would appreciate it if someone could perhaps suggest some texts that would serve as some good introductions to the period and then some others to go a little deeper. I'm taking a gap year next year and I'll have a lot of time for reading, hopefully! I'm particularly interested in the Morality Plays, and Mysteries.

Anyway, thanks if you can be of any help! :)

[OrphanPip]

In Old English:
There is only a small body of surviving lyrical poetry, so it's quite easy to read all of the major poems in any basic anthology of Old English poetry.
Beowulf

In Middle English:
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
Pearl
Piers Plowman
And obviously Chaucer

Of the Mystery plays I'm only really familiar with The Second Sheperd's Pageant. These texts would give you a basic starting place for Medieval literature, though keeping in mind that none of the Anglo-Saxon stuff was known to Renaissance readers, most of it having been recovered and translated only in the 19th century.

[JBI]

In Old English:
There is only a small body of surviving lyrical poetry, so it's quite easy to read all of the major poems in any basic anthology of Old English poetry.
Beowulf

In Middle English:
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
Pearl
Piers Plowman
And obviously Chaucer

Of the Mystery plays I'm only really familiar with The Second Sheperd's Pageant. These texts would give you a basic starting place for Medieval literature, though keeping in mind that none of the Anglo-Saxon stuff was known to Renaissance readers, most of it having been recovered and translated only in the 19th century.

Wasn't Milton familiar with some of the older works, or at least the older uses of the language? Or was that limited to only middle-English works?

[OrphanPip]

Wasn't Milton familiar with some of the older works, or at least the older uses of the language? Or was that limited to only middle-English works?

That's possible, it's Milton after all so he might have encountered some Old English poetry, apparently (from a quick search) he learned Old English as part of his study of English history for reading historical documents. The only complete manuscript of Beowulf was collecting dust in a private library, and the Vercelli manuscript was in an Italian monastic library, so I'd venture we can safely say he wasn't familiar with those.

I shouldn't have said no one in the Renaissance would have known Old English, just a very small group of scholars at Oxford or Cambridge would have, so it didn't have a major impact on most Renaissance poets.

[mortalterror]

1400 Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer
1390 Confessio Amantis by John Gower
1390 Sir Gawain and the Green Knight by Anonymous
1387 Piers Plowman by William Langland
1375 The Bruce by John Barbour
1374 The Canzoniere by Francesco Petrarch
1353 The Decameron by Giovanni Boccaccio
1321 Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri
1300 Grettis Saga by Anonymous
1300 A Lady Asks Me by Guido Cavalcanti
1290 Havelok the Dane by Anonymous
1280 Njal's Saga by Anonymous
1276 The Gentle Heart by Guido Guinizelli
1275 Romance of the Rose by Guillaume de Lorris and Jean de Meun
1270 Elder Edda by Anonymous
1260 Laxdaela Saga by Anonymous
1250 Thorstein the Staff-Struck by Anonymous
1240 Egil's Saga by Anonymous
1225 Parzival by Wolfram von Eschenbach
1220 Prose Edda by Snorri Sturluson
1210 Nibelungenlied by Anonymous
1210 On this gay and slender tune by Arnaut Daniel
1210 Tristan and Isolt by Gottfried von Strassburg
1207 Song of the Cid by Abbot Peter
1200 Under the Linden Tree by Walther von der Vogelweide
1200 Aucassin and Nicolette by Anonymous
1190 Mabinogion by Anonymous
1190 Tale of Igor's Campaign by Anonymous
1190 Henry the Leper by Hartmann von Aue
1184 The Joyful Springtime Pleases Me by Bertran de Born
1180 When I See the Lark by Bernart de Ventadorn
1175 The Werewolf by Marie de France
1170 Yvain the Knight of the Lion by Chretien de Troyes
1163 The Confession by The Archpoet
1160 Tain Bo Cuailnge by Anonymous
1144 Letters of Abelard and Heloise
1141 Ode to Zion by Judah Halevi
1100 Under the Sun I Ride Along by William IX Duke of Aquitaine
1098 Song of Roland by Anonymous
1050 Digenes Akritas by Anonymous
991 The Battle of Maldon by Anonymous
937 The Battle of Brunanburh by Anonymous
850 Beowulf by Anonymous
850 The Phoenix by Anonymous
841 The Battle of Fontenoy by Angilbert
840 Elene by Cynewulf
830 Lay of Hildebrand by Anonymous
800 Finnsburg Fragment by Anonymous
680 Dream of the Rood by Caedmon
675 Y Gododdin by Aneirin
524 Consolation of Philosophy by Boethius

Also, this site http://www.maryjones.us/ctexts/ has been pretty useful whenever I look into anglo-saxon or celtic texts.

Lokasenna is the board's resident expert on the medieval era in Europe. I know he's got a PHD, teaches a course at Cambridge, and translates ancient Norse. You might want to message him.

If you are interested in Asian literature from the same time period I have a list for that too.

Various (347-759) Manyoshu
Tao Qian (365-427) Poems
Kalidasa (370-450) Sakuntala and the Ring of Recollection, Meghaduta
Bhartrhari (450) Satakatraya
Xu Ling (507-583) New Songs From the Jade Terrace
Various (550) Mu'allaqat
Bharavi (550) Kiratarjuniya
Muhammad (570-632) Quran
Dandin (600) The Adventures of the Ten Princes
Wang Wei (699-759) Poems
Bhavabhuti (700) Málati and Mádhava
Amaru (700) Amarusataka
Li Bai (701-762) Tianmu Mountain Ascended in a Dream
Du Fu (712-770) The Song of the Wagons
Han-shan (730-850) Cold Mountain Poems
Han Yu (768-824) Essays
Bai Juyi (772-846) Song of Unending Sorrow, Song of the Lute Player
Yuan Zhen (779-831) Biography of Ying Ying
Various (800-920) Kokinshu
Various (800-1200) Antar, A Bedoueen Romance
Rudaki (858-941) Lament in Old Age
Various (900-1300) One Thousand and One Nights
Al-Mutanabbi (915-965) Poems
Li Houzhu (937-978) Poems
Ferdowsi (940-1020) Shahnameh
Sei Shonagon (966-1017) The Pillow Book
Al-Ma'arri (973-1058) The Spark of Flint
Murasaki Shikibu (973-1025) Tale of Genji
Nasir Khusraw (1004-1088) Poems
Su Shi (1037-1101) Poems
Omar Khayyam (1048-1131) Rubaiyat
Vidyakara (1050-1130) Treasury of Verses
Moses Ibn Ezra (1055-1138) Diwan
Judah Halevi (1075-1141) Poems
Li Qingzhao (1084-1151) Poems
Mahadeviyakka (1100) Poems
Khaqani (1121-1190) Gift of the Two Iraqs
Anvari (1126-1189) Tears of Khorasan
Nezami (1141-1209) Khamsa
Attar (1145-1221) Conference of the Birds
Kamban (1150) Ramavataram
Sa'di (1184-1283) Gulistan, Bostan
Jayadeva (1200) Gita Govinda
Rumi (1207-1273) Masnavi

JBI is probably the best person to talk to about that since he's in China now doing grad work on that era.


That's possible, it's Milton after all so he might have encountered some Old English poetry, apparently (from a quick search) he learned Old English as part of his study of English history for reading historical documents. The only complete manuscript of Beowulf was collecting dust in a private library, and the Vercelli manuscript was in an Italian monastic library, so I'd venture we can safely say he wasn't familiar with those.

I shouldn't have said no one in the Renaissance would have known Old English, just a very small group of scholars at Oxford or Cambridge would have, so it didn't have a major impact on most Renaissance poets.
Milton learned Old English when he was researching his history of Britain. He also knew Hebrew, Greek, Latin, Spanish, Italian, and French.

[Lokasenna]

Hey-ho!

Always a good thing for people to start exploring medieval literature, and everybody above has suggested some excellent texts.

If you're interested in morality and mystery plays, then you have potentially a very wide set to choose from. The York, Wakefield, Chester and N-Town mystery plays represent the only extant complete cycles (though there are many fragements of other such works). Everyman and Mankind are two of the most popular morality plays, and would be a good starting point. Perhaps a volume like this would be a good idea: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/046087280X/ref=oh_details_o06_s02_i01?ie=UTF8&psc=1. It's a good edition which uses updated spelling, but retains the original words and offers a supporting gloss.

As for other things, well, there's so much excellent medieval literature (which of course covers such a huge time period) that it seems a shame to pick only a few highlights. Here are some possibilities I would suggest as a way of getting a flavour of different types and styles:

Old English
Beowulf (highly recommended!)
The Wanderer/The Seafarer
Bede's Historia Ecclesiastica

Old Norse
The Poetic Edda
Egils saga
Laxdaela saga

Old French
The Lais of Marie de France
Chanson de Roland

Middle High German
Nibelungenlied

Medieval Welsh
Mabinogion
(in a similar vein, you may want to consider some early Irish material if you find this to your taste)

Arthurian Literature
The Romances of Chrétien de Troyes
Mallory's Le Morte d'Arthur

Middle English
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
The Vision of Piers Plowman (this would fit well with your interest in morality tales)
The Book of Margery Kempe (the first autobiography in English)
Ancrene Wisse
Julian of Norwich's Revelations of Divine Love
...and, of course, Chaucer (the Prologue, Miller, Merchant, Wife of Bath, or Nun's Priest would all be excellent starting points in the Canterbury Tales).

This is a list simply off the top of my head - there are, of course, masses more of texts out there. If you want any further advice, or have any questions, do feel free to post them - I'm always happy to discuss all things medieval!

Oh, and on the subject of Milton - we know that he was well acquainted with Franciscus Junius, who was the 17th century owner of the Junius 11 manuscript. This means that Milton may have seen the manuscript, in which case he may have been able to make sense of the poem nowadays called Genesis B - a poem of startling originality that presents Satan in the manner of a medieval lord whose vendetta against God, whilst not worthy, is at least held in manner that would elict sympathy from a contemporary audience. The poem also does its best to exculpate Eve from the burden of original sin, and does rather paint God as an absent landlord. The parallels between Genesis B and Paradise Lost are very interesting, though it is still very much conjecture to assume that Milton had both read and understood the older poem.

[JBI]

The list in Chinese is quite exhaustive in everything but the performing arts (specifically dramatic arts, as Ancient Chinese poetry was almost all accompanied by music until the end of the Han, and then again toward the mIddle of the tang). The premier book would be Wen Xuan or Selections of Refined literature, which with the four histories (Records of the Grand Historian, Records of the former Han, Records of the Latter Han and Records of the 3 Kingdoms) constituted the foundation of non-Confucian learning, in terms of the belle arts. The first three parts have been rather scholarly translated though the other parts lack completion. General lack of western interest in the field has led to the books being hard to come by.

For Tang dynasty stuff, this is where most of our translated poetry in English from the Chinese comes from. Wang Wei, Li Bai, and Du Fu being the most available. There are also lots of collections of Tales scattered around, which constitute the great achievement in prose of the period (as far as casual readers are concerned).

I will ignore religious work of the area except to suggest the Lotus Sutra as a sort of core text of medieval Chinese thought.

As for the most practical way to approach Chinese works, well, read sunflower splendor as it I'd the best collection of Chinese poems in any genre and from a large historical survey period.

As for Japanese, I annoy as familiar with those works, however the Columbia anthologies would be a terrific place to start.

If someone could forgive me hijacking the thread for a moment, could we come out with a core of scholarly materials on the subject, or could someone direct such a search toward a rather exhaustive bibliography? Not so much philologically rooted from my end anyway as sociological, historical and archaeological.

I am especially interested in formal studies of love and society, but with less pomp and more critical views than found in Lewis.

[lawpark]

If someone could forgive me hijacking the thread for a moment, could we come out with a core of scholarly materials on the subject, or could someone direct such a search toward a rather exhaustive bibliography? Not so much philologically rooted from my end anyway as sociological, historical and archaeological.

What is the subject you are really referring to here?

On Chinese Buddhist text - I personally like Vimalakirtinirdesa Sutra more, but in the Chinese context yes the Lotus sutra is more canonical.

To the thread-starter Patrick Bell, for English medieval literature - the starting point to search further probably is The Cambridge History of Medieval English Literature (published 2002)

http://www.amazon.com/Cambridge-History-Medieval-English-Literature/dp/0521890462/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1375259571&sr=1-1&keywords=cambridge+history+of+medieval+english+lit erature

In the appendix there is a chronological outline - if you have access to a good library, just flipping through that would give you a good starting point to search further.

[JBI]

What is the subject you are really referring to here?

On Chinese Buddhist text - I personally like Vimalakirtinirdesa Sutra more, but in the Chinese context yes the Lotus sutra is more canonical.

To the thread-starter Patrick Bell, for English medieval literature - the starting point to search further probably is The Cambridge History of Medieval English Literature (published 2002)

http://www.amazon.com/Cambridge-History-Medieval-English-Literature/dp/0521890462/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1375259571&sr=1-1&keywords=cambridge+history+of+medieval+english+lit erature

In the appendix there is a chronological outline - if you have access to a good library, just flipping through that would give you a good starting point to search further.

Medieval Europe, as a general subject or "area" of study, and then "medieval studies" as a general area of inquiry. Here I am restricted to only Chinese works, so I have not had time to do a proper comparison between forms and such in Europe compared to Asia (China, Korea, Japan).

[lawpark]

Medieval Europe ... reminds me of a book I have (that I never read): The Central Middle Ages 950-1320, edited by Daniel Powers, part of the series called "Short Oxford History of Europe"

http://ukcatalogue.oup.com/product/9780199253128.do

3-4 years ago there was the 3-volume series translated into Chinese that I was very tempted to buy - Cambridge Illustrated History of the (European) Middle Ages.

For me, starting points of research is usually something published by Cambridge or Oxford ... in 2 or 3 steps these will yield a comprehensive bibliography.

[WICKES]

One of the Monty Python team, Terry Jones, is a Medievalist (all the Pythons were Oxford and Cambridge graduates). I remember flicking through a book he wrote on Chaucer which seemed both fun and intelligent. He might be worth checking out.

Has anyone mentioned Pearl and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight?

[Patrick Bell]

Thank you very much for the responses; I have my work cut out for me!

Looking through the 'Oxford Book of English Medieval Verse' a lot of the poems all begin with a two-line stanza with rhyming couplet. Why is this so common? Have I come across a type of poem here where this is a standard?

Also, if anyone has read the "Sparrow-Hawk's Complaint" when the narrator refers to the bird first they say: "I herd a bird both weep and sing; / This was the tenor of her talking: / Timor mortis conturbat me."

Then in the following stanza the gender seem to change, strangely: "I asked this bird what he ment. / He said..."

Why does the gender change from one line to the next when referring to the same thing?

Edit: My guess is that they are songs or carols, the first stanza being a chorus that is repeated throughout.

[lawpark]

Looking through the 'Oxford Book of English Medieval Verse' a lot of the poems all begin with a two-line stanza with rhyming couplet. Why is this so common? Have I come across a type of poem here where this is a standard?


I wonder if it is somehow backdoor influence of the Arabic ghazal form - it definitely did influenced some poetic practices in the Iberian peninsular and probably Provencal poetry in the middle ages ... just a random guess though