Companion to Medieval English Literature
This Companion consists of slightly over 100 entries on some of the more important forms and conventions of Old and Middle English literature, especially as they are encountered in college classes and seminars. It is a Handbook that provides a short commentary on a range of items that include Alliteration, Cokayne, Demande D Amour, Exemplum, Flyting, Gentilesse, Kenning, Rhyme Royal, Senex Amans, Trivium, Ubi Sunt, Virgil, and Wyrd. There is information on classical figures like Aristotle, Alexander and Virgil about whom medieval literary legends were common, stories that portray them very differently from the way we usually think of them.Also biblical figures like Cain, Herod, Judas, and Pilate about whom various legends were current in the Middle Ages that are no longer well-known. The entries list the recurrence of a given topic in the literature as fully as is consistent with the size of the book. With most entries there is also a very brief bibliography of scholarly work. About the AuthorsMichael Murphy is Professor Emeritus of the City University of New York. James Clawson teaches in New York City.