Medieval English Literature

by Thomas J. Garbaty

Here is the fascinating mirror of an age that was cruel and charitable, violent and courtly, bawdy and devout. Chronicle, burlesque, ballad, fable, debate, lyric, legend, lore, and drama follow one another in rich variety--"huge cloudy symbols of a high romance." In this comprehensive collection, editor Thomas J. Garbaty makes accessible to readers the landmarks of English prose, poetry, and drama for the years 1100 through 1500. For the most part, these vital works are presented complete in middle English. Readers are aided by an extensive system of margin glosses, supplemented by footnotes, a brief linguistic introduction to each work, and an authoritative General Introduction that places every selection within a medieval perspective. Title of related interest from Waveland de Troyes, The Knight of the Lion (ISBN 9780881337167).

Genres: Reference

974 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1984

Reviews

[Melanti]

Putting this on my "Reference" shelf rather than my "To Read" shelf, since frankly I'm not sure I'll ever have the balls to attempt to tackle the whole volume. It's been decades since I took that class on English and I'm not sure how much I remember and reading it is going to be a challenge. With the amount of words noted in the glosses and annotations, I'm sure I can handle at least portions of it. I hope.


But look at that gorgeous cover! How could I have left something this interesting and pretty sitting there in the book store? (I apologize for the bad picture. I'll try to scan this in ASAP, cause the amount of detail in it is amazing. If you want to see an in-focus pic, google Bedford Hours)

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

Also, an anthology I read for Middle English at UNLV. Love it. Arthurian legends are a favorite of mine.

[C.E. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Found it at the used bookstore, great find for a nerd like me, love to see things we didn't get in the survey courses. (And they stopped offering medieval lit at my college before I could take it!)