Medieval Literature: A Very Short Introduction

Very Short Introductions #442

by Elaine M. Treharne

This Very Short Introduction provides a compelling account of the emergence of the earliest literature in Britain and Ireland, including English, Welsh, Scottish, Irish, Anglo-Latin and Anglo-Norman. Introducing the reader to some of the greatest poetry, prose and drama ever written, Elaine Treharne discusses the historical and intellectual background to these works, and considers the physical production of the manuscripts and the earliest beginnings of print culture. Covering both well-known texts, such as Beowulf, The Canterbury Tales and the Mabinogion, as well as texts that are much less familiar, such as sermons, saints' lives, lyrics and histories, Treharne discusses major themes such as sin and salvation, kingship and authority, myth and the monstrous, and provides a full, but brief, account of one of the major periods in literary history.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Medieval, Literature, Medieval History, Reference

160 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2015

Reviews

[Petruccio Hambasket IV · Rating 2 out of 5]

I will refrain from saying the title of this book is a flat out lie, but it is seriously misleading. You can tell, quite literally from the first page, that this is not a book on Medieval Literature at all. Rather, the title should be something like:

1. British Medieval Literature

or

2. English, Scottish, Irish, Welsh Medieval Literature

or

3. Medieval Literature in the British Isles

or even

4. The Literary Tradition of Medieval England

See what I'm getting at here? Elaine Treharne writes exclusively about Medieval Britain, except when she is briefly mentioning the outside influences from other writers. To put it simply, I felt a good deal cheated by this book. Treharne sees the Medieval Italian writers (Dante, Boccaccio, etc.) as basically all Renaissance men, who are outside the scope of this novel. Even Petrarch (who was born in 1304!) is overlooked because he is a flagrant early humanist, clearly unsuitable for a Medieval survey. This is without mentioning the less discussed literary medieval traditions which will receive absolutely no mention. Forget about Byzantine writing or Icelandic sagas or the Arabic tradition or Aquinas' Summa Theologica: this is not that kind of a survey.

If you want various information about the Arthurian tradition, Beowulf, Chaucer, the Mabinogion, and an assorted group of religious texts, this is the book for you.

(This was also my very read from the "AVSI" series and I will not be discouraged through this initial experience to keep trying them out).

[Illiterate · Rating 2 out of 5]

Stronger on the history of books than their content.

[Lara · Rating 4 out of 5]

A suitable introduction to the world of medieval literature, future knowledge can be built upon the knowledge gained from this book

[Erin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Whilst this book does discuss the history of Medieval Literature, it's a little misleading. As a short introduction, I was aware it was unlikely to explore every facet of medieval literature from c.410AD to the 15th and 16th centuries.

This text focuses specifically on the medieval literature of England, with brief forays into French influences, Welsh literature, Scottish literature and Cornish literature. Whilst it did an OK job of explaining some of the modern understandings of the medieval period, this text gave little to no detail other than a rehashing of plots and historiographies.

This might be a great text for a beginner, but for a book I borrowed from my university library it was extremely underwhelming.

[Alys · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yep, pretty good. My usual complaint with these (that they're not accessible enough) was true again but thankfully I've been studying medieval literature for the past year so I quite enjoyed it nevertheless.

[Richard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Apart from the misleading title (easily fixed, so come on, OUP), this is an excellent introduction to medieval literature in Britain: clear and readable, well-organized, and packed with examples of texts, writers, and genres that go beyond but do not neglect the usual big guns (Beowulf, Chaucer, the Matter of Britain), as well as being informative about the contexts of medieval life (religion, courts and households) and the circumstances of text production and reception that shaped medieval literature. Well-illustrated, too, and even the text boxes that can sometimes be random and/or redundant in books of this type are useful. Hands-down the best Very Short Introduction that I've read so far.

[Matthew Lloyd · Rating 4 out of 5]

This volume in Oxford University Press' Very Short Introductions series concerns Medieval literature - specifically, the literature of the British isles between the withdrawal of the Roman Empire ca. 410 and the introduction of the printing press in 1485. It begins with a somewhat chronological introduction and chapter one, which is followed by seven thematic chapters and a coda. I have some familiarity with Medieval British literature, although I am by no means an expert, and I found this little book largely insightful and informative, if brief (or very short).

A problem I have found with many Very Short Introductions is that they tend to try to include too much and so just throw information at you with no comprehensive structure. There is a bit of that in this volume, but it does seem a little more measured on this count. It focuses almost exclusively on literature from the British isles, with a few references to particularly influential Scandinavian and European works when they affect the British traditions. It's a shame that the focus is so narrow, but even so the discussion of Welsh, Irish, and English literature is still quite limited. However, Treharne was usually quite clear about the texts she was discussing, so I felt like I understood what was there.

[Michiko · Rating 5 out of 5]

I got exactly what I was expecting from this book. I learned to better appreciate the handful of shorter works that I've read (Beowulf, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, some Arthurian legends) and now I feel ready to tackle something longer like The Canterbury Tales. Treharne did a great job of picking out excerpts for this book. Some of them are funny, some are moving, and all of them are shorter than half a page and show the original language along with a modern English translation. I've read about a dozen AVSI books, some that served their purpose well and others that didn't, and this one on medieval literature is my favorite by a long shot. It's a perfect topic for a series like this because the topic isn't too broad or too specific.

[Peter · Rating 3 out of 5]

English Professor Elaine Treharne published Medieval Literature: A Very Short Introduction in 2015. The Short Introduction series was published by Oxford University Press in 2015. Oxford University is in England, so this book is about Medieval British Isles Literature. It is still an excellent introduction to Medieval Literature in the British Isles. The book has a section of references and illustrations. The book has an index. The book has a section entitled “further reading” (Treharne 129-134). Trehane writes, "Medieval literature in Britain and Ireland spans over a thousand years from the Fall of Rome around 410 CE to the shifting tides of the Renaissance in the 15th and 16th centuries” (Treharne 1). I read the book on my Kindle. Different types of medieval literature are organized in the book in the British Isles, and the book describes how medieval literature was recorded in the British Isles. The book also covers how literature was performed in the Medieval Literature in the British Isles. The book briefly introduces Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (Trehane 52-54). The book offers an excellent introduction to many other works of the Medieval British Isles. The book also states where the source of the medieval work survives. Trehane’s book is a well-done introduction to Medieval Literature in the British Isles.

[Robert Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Good Overview

This book follows the objectives of the VSI series well, striking a balance between relevant detail and brevity. I agree with other comments that it is Anglo-centric, but given the challenge of writing a VSI, I think the bias is acceptable, given that it is intended for English speaking readers.

[Adnan Soysal · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is not a an introduction book.
Its language heavy, its style is academic.
And name of the book should have been Medieval Literature of British Isles.
Because it hardly mentions continental literature.

[Jacabaeus · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very good text that is easy to read, personable, and highly instructive for its size. However, there are many typos and errors of editing in the text, almost all of them appearing exclusively in italicized text. There are also some errors in quoted passages. I had to drop a star for these errors.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

A reasonably nourishing survey, neither too detailed nor too generalized, more anglocentric than I might have wished though. I also would have liked to know how to pronounce all of those Welsh and Gaelic names.

[Jonathan Walker · Rating 3 out of 5]

Informative, but not inspirational (the best titles in the VSI series, such as the one on tragedy, manage to be both). Rather dry summary and survey.

[Marjolein · Rating 2 out of 5]

Bit disappointed by the misleading title...

[Aimee · Rating 4 out of 5]

saving my degree xo

[A. B. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read as preparation for EBL class.

[julianna ☽ · Rating 3 out of 5]

more supplemental reading idc about personally

[aly ^_^ · Rating 4 out of 5]

read for class. euro-centric but good nonetheless.

[Ryan Patrick · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm sure I'm not the first person to point out that this book is mis-titled. Rather than 'Medieval Literature', it would be better entitled 'Medieval British Literature', since it only really deals with English, Irish, Welsh, and Scottish literature, and even then, it's mostly focused on the English--as per usual with all things 'British'. But, once that is accounted for, I think it does its job--it demonstrates a variety of ways for thinking about the act of reading and writing, and for approaching the wide variety of medieval literature, from poetry to romance to sermons to drama. And if one is looking for some new lit from the period to read, this covers all the major and most of the minor authors worth reading (again, from the British Isles at least). Perhaps most amazing of all, is that it is not dominated by Chaucer (or Beowulf), the man whom all medievalists attached to English departments tend to fixate upon; but he is covered well enough.

[Robyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very solid introduction to Medieval lit.

[Mills College Library]

820.9001 T7869 2015

[Harry Goodwin]

forgot to add this. Read it as a way to lie to myself that I was revising. Was actually very interesting!

[Elizabeth Morgan · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very readable style, and consequently a very quick read. Excellent introduction to medieval literature, how it developed, and the main different genres.