Introduction to Medieval Literature, Chiefly in England: A Reading List and Bibliography

36 Pages·1949·2.986 MB·English

by  Roger Sherman Loomis

INTRODUCTION TO
MEDIEVAL LITERATURE
CHIEFLY IN ENGLAND
A Reading List and Bibliography
SECOND EDITION
ROGER SHERMAN LOOMIS
New York: Morningside Heights
COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY PRESS
COPYRIGHT, 19Ì9, 1948
COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY PRESS, NIT YORK
First Edition 1939
Second Edition 1948
First printing 1948
Second printing 1949
Published in Great Britain, Canada,
and India by Geoffrey Cumberlege,
Oxford University Press,
London, Toronto, and Bombay
MANUFACTURED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
PREFACE
THIS READING LIST, with the accompanying bibliography,
is designed to meet the needs of undergraduate or graduate
students who wish to become acquainted at first hand with
the literature of England between the years 600 and 1500
and with the literature of France, which after 1066 set the
patterns which English writers tended to follow. Chaucer's
works are omitted from the reading list, since they are often
dealt with in a separate course and many bibliographical
guides are available. But a brief list of the most important
editions of the poet and of selected commentaries will be
found on page 28.
The readings are arranged in a roughly chronological
order, following the sequence of the lectures. Any other order
seems to leave many students, even after they have memorized
columns of dates, without any sense of development or of the
significance of periods. At the same time it should be under-
stood that the century divisions should not be interpreted too
strictly. Not all chansons de geste and Goliardie songs were
chanted in the twelfth century; though both these types are
listed under that heading, they existed before 1101 and after
1200. The twelfth century should be remembered, however,
as the period of florescence for French epics of Charlemagne
and his peers and for Latin lyrics of wine and love. Likewise,
though ballads are assigned to the thirteenth and fifteenth
centuries, no one should think that ballad-makers were mute
between 1300 and 1400. The fact is that there were ballads of
Robin Hood in the fourteenth century, but, like a vast deal
of medieval composition, either they were not committed to
writing at all or the early manuscripts have perished.
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Under each topic in this reading list there are three
numbered divisions. The first indicates a minimum of essen-
tial reading, most of it from translations of texts or from the
originals. It cannot be emphasized too strongly that literature
is to be read, not merely read about. The next section,
numbered 2, consists of works which a student who finds the
subject interesting or who is specializing in the Middle Ages
would find it profitable to consult. The section numbered 3
lists standard original texts and such scholarly treatments of
the subject as the advanced student would turn to for further
guidance.
Following the reading list is a classified group of bibliogra-
phies and works of reference in the various fields of medieval
history, culture, literature, and language.
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READING LIST
THE READINGS under each topic are grouped in three classes:
1, 2, and 3. Class 1 includes the essential minimum; 2,
optional reading for the interested student; 3, standard ref-
erence works and texts for advanced students engaged in
research. Books (not periodicals) listed in the first two
classes may be found in the Carpenter Library. Citations
merely by author's name refer to books listed alphabetically
below.
Adams, J. Q., ed., Chief Pre-Shakespearean Dramas ( 1924).
Baugh, A. C, Literary History of England (1948).
Benham, A. R., English Literature from Widsith to the
Death of Chaucer (1916).
Bennett, H. S., Chaucer and the Fifteenth Century (1947).
Chambers, E.K., English Literature at the Close of the Middle
Ages (1945). Cited as Ε. K. Chambers, English Literature.
Cook, A. S., ed., Literary Middle English Reader (1915).
French, W. H., and C. B. Hale, Middle English Metrical
Romances (1930).
Gordon, R. K., Anglo-Saxon Poetry (Everyman Library).
Hodgkin, R. H., History of the Anglo-Saxons (1935).
Holmes, U. T., History of Old French Literature to 1300
(1937).
Kennedy, C. W., Earliest English Poetry (1943).
Lewis, C. S., Allegory of Love ( 1936).
Loomis, R. S., and H. W. Wells, Representative Medieval
and Tudor Plays (1942).
Loomis, R. S., and R. Willard, Medieval English Verse and
Prose in Modernized Versions (1948).
MacCulloch, J. Α., Medieval Faith and Fable (1932).
Mâle, E., Religious Art in France, 13th Century, trans. D.
Nussey (1913).
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Neilson, W. Α., and Κ. G. T.Webster, The Chief British Poets
of the 14th and 15th Centuries (1916).
Oakden, J. P., Alliterative Poetry in Middle English, a Survey
of the Traditions (1935).
Owst, G. R., Literature and Pulpit in Medieval England
(1933).
Schlauch, M., Medieval Narrative (1928).
Shackford, M. H., Legends and Satires (1913).
Spaeth, J. D., Old English Poetry (1921).
Taylor, H. O., Medieval Mind.
Weston, J. L., Chief Middle English Poets (1914).
Wilson, R. M., Early Middle English Literature (1937).
THE ANGLO-SAXON PERIOD
I. The Germanic Peoples. "Widsith" and "Deor."
1. Benham, 1-3, 7-19- Kennedy, 3-7, 18-35. Gordon, 75-80.
2. W. W. Lawrence, Beowulf and Epic Tradition (1928),
ch. 2. Baugh, 45-49, 53-55.
3. F. B. Gummere, Founders of England (1930). R. W.
Chambers, Widsith (1912). W. H. French, "Widsith
and the Scop," PMLA, LX (1945), 623-30. Texts:
Exeter Book, ed. G. P. Krapp, E. V. Κ. Dobbie (1936),
149-53, 178f.; Widsith, ed. K. Malone (1936) ; Deor,
ed. Malone (1933).
II. "Beowulf," "Waldere," and "The Fight at
Finn's Borough."
1. Kennedy, 35-45, 53-91. Beowulf, trans. C. W. Kennedy
(1940), 3-101. Gordon, 71-74.
2. Lawrence, Beowulf and Epic Tradition, ch. 3-8. Hodg-
kin, I, ch. 7.
3. Texts: Beowulf and the Fight at Finnsburg, ed. F. Klae-
ber, ed. 3 (1936); Waldere, ed. F. Norman (1933) ;
Anglo-Saxon Minor Poems, ed. E. V. Κ. Dobbie
(1942), 3-6.
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III. The Anglo-Saxon Charms, Elegies, and
Riddles.
1. Kennedy, 7-11, 101-26, 131-46. Gordon, 81-101, 329-
2. Old English Elegies, trans. C. W. Kennedy (1936).
3. Texts: Exeter Book, ed. Krapp, Dobbie; F. Grendon,
Anglo-Saxon Charms (1930).
IV. Bede.
1. Ecclesiastical History (Everyman Lib.), introd.; Bk. I,
preface, ch. 1-16, 22-26; Bk. II, ch. 1-3, 9-14; Bk. Ill,
ch. 1-6, 9-13, 19, 25; Bk. IV, ch. 23, 24; Bk. V, ch. 12,
15-18, 23, 24.
2. Hodgkin, I, 245-355.
3. Bede, His Life, Times, and Writings, ed. A. H. Thomp-
son (1935).
Text and commentary: Bedae opera histórica, ed. C.
Plummer (1896).
V. Gaedmon and His School.
1. Gordon, 105-46. Kennedy, 158-97.
2. The Caedmon Poems, trans. C. W. Kennedy (1916).
3. Texts: Junius Manuscript, ed. G. P. Krapp (1931).
VI. Cynewulf and His School.
1. Spaeth, 95-117, 119-40, 231-34, 239-45. Baugh, 70-80.
2. Poems of Cynewulf, trans. C. W. Kennedy (1910).
3. K. Sisam, "The Poetry of Cynewulf," Proceedings of the
British Academy, XVIII (1932), 303-31. Texts: Ver-
celli Book, ed. G. P. Krapp (1932) ; Exeter Book, ed.
Krapp, Dobbie; Dream of the Rood, ed. Β. Dickins,
A. S. C.Ross (1934).
VII. Alfred.
1. A. S. Cook, C. B. Tinker, Select Translations from Old
English Prose (1908), 68-71, 87-146.
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2. Hodgkin, II, 608-31, 670-87. Baugh, 96-99-
3. A. Bowker, Alfred the Great (1899). C. Plummer, Life
and Times of Alfred the Great (1902). Assers Life of
King Alfred, trans. A. S. Cook (1906).
VIII. "Judith," "Brunanburh," and "Maldon."
1. Gordon, 352-58. Spaeth, 162-74, 262-65.
2. Kennedy, 282-89, 332-51.
3. Texts and commentary: Judith, ed. A. S. Cook (1904) ;
Battle of Brunanburh, ed. A. Campbell (1938); The
Battle of Maldon, ed. E. V. Gordon (1937).
IX. Aelfric. The Anglo-Saxon Annals.
1. Baugh, 99-103. Benham, 25-34, 95-102, 132-39. Anglo-
Saxon Chronicle (Everyman Lib.), 25-26, 50-55, 90-
112, 130-34.
2. R. W. Chambers, On the Continuity of English Prose
(1932), lxi-lxiv. Cook, Tinker, Select Translations from
Old English Prose (1908), 149-218.
3.C. L. White, JEiíúc (1898). M. Dubois, yElfric, ser-
monnaire, docteur, grammairien (1942). Joseph A.
Robinson, Times of St. Dunstan (1923). Text of An-
nals: Two of the Saxon Chronicles Parallel, ed. C.
Plummer (1892-99) ; Parker Chronicle, ed. A. H. Smith
(1935).
X. The Norman Conquest.
1. Benham, 140-57. R. W. Chambers, On the Continuity
of English Prose, lxiv-lxxviii. C. H. Haskins. Normans
in European History (1915), 26-35, 48-58, 66-83.
THE TWELFTH CENTURY
XI. The Heroic Epic of France; "La Chanson de
Roland."
1. The Song of Roland, trans. Merriam Sherwood (1938).
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