Literary studies: ancient, classical Books
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC Euripides Children of Heracles
Book SynopsisThis book is an accessible guide through the many twists and turns of Euripides' Children of Heracles, providing several frameworks through which to understand and appreciate the play. Children of Heracles follows the fortunes of Heracles' family after his death. Euripides confronts characters and audience alike with an extraordinary series of plot twists and ethical challenges as the persecuted family of refugees struggles to find asylum in Athens before taking revenge on its enemy Eurystheus. It is a fast-paced story that explores the nature of power and its abuse, focusing on the appropriate treatment and behaviour of the powerless and the obligations and limitations of asylum. The audience must continually re-evaluate the play's moral dimensions as the characters respond to complications that range from the fantastic to the frighteningly realistic.Yoon situates Children of Heracles in its literary context, showing how Euripides constructs a unique kind of tragiTrade ReviewYoon opens up this play’s neglected riches in crisp, lucid, and precise prose. * Greece & Rome *With [an] earnest and well-executed plea for readers and theatre-goers to appreciate this relatively neglected play for what it has to offer rather than succumb to the weight of a long, but receding, history of negative critical reception, Yoon fulfils the aims of a Bloomsbury Companion admirably. * The Classical Review *Table of ContentsList of figures Preface Chapter 1: Action and expectation Chapter 2: Summing the parts Chapter 3: Heracles and other imagined figures Chapter 4: The power of the weak Chapter 5: Then and now Appendix: Fragments Selected chronology Guide to Further Reading Notes Bibliography Index
£23.74
Edinburgh University Press Theocritus and Things
Book SynopsisForegrounds underrepresented agents (women, nature and the nonhuman) in and through the poetry of TheocritusTrade Review"A brilliant reading of Theocritus that puts his poetry in conversation with new materialism, object-oriented ontology and material ecocriticism. Canevaro hears things in ancient pastoral that haven't been heard before and she voices them wonderfully well. This is a thoughtful, thought-provoking and beautifully written book that everyone working on ancient poetry should read. " -Mark Payne, University of Chicago
£76.50
John Wiley and Sons Ltd Virgils Aeneid
Book SynopsisWritten by eminent scholar David O. Ross, this guide helps readers to engage with the poetry, thought, and background of Virgil's great epic, suggesting both the depth and the beauty of Virgil's poetic images and the mental images with which the Romans lived. Guides readers through the complexity of Virgil's poetic style and imagery All extracts are translated, with original Latin given when necessary Provides useful historical and social context in which to understand the poem as it was viewed in its time Includes short introductions to important topics such as Roman religion and the Roman concept of character' Features a helpful appendix which clarifies how to read and hear the poem''s Latin hexameter Trade Review“I believe that everyone—professional academic, student, or layperson—will benefit from Ross's lyrical and insightful reading of Vergil's great poem.” (Bryn Mawr Classical Review, March 2009) “The book says a great many things that need to be said, or said again. It does not seek controversy and avoids much that is easily available elsewhere. What it does say is largely familiar, even comfortable, but it is well said, clear, detailed, moderate.” (New England Classical Journal, February 2009) “Beautifully conceived and nuanced guide…the depth, sensitivity, and accessibility of the volume make it worthy companion to its predecessors. Ross explicates…with exquisite care and clarity.” (Choice) "The ideas and arguments presented in this work are thought provoking." (Journal of Classics Teaching)Table of ContentsPreface vii Introduction 1 1 Virgil’s Hero 11 Three Scenes of Crisis 12 The Hero and Personal Loss 18 The Hero as Warrior (10.510–605) 24 Some Observations on Character 26 2 The Victims 32 Dido 32 Nisus and Euryalus 35 Pallas and Lausus 38 Some Aspects of Turnus 43 Camilla 52 Italy 54 3 Fate and the Gods 61 The Roman Gods 62 The Gods in the Aeneid 67 Fate in the Aeneid 74 4 Virgil’s Troy 77 The Roman Troy 77 The Destruction of Troy (Aeneid, Book II) 82 Other Images of the Destruction of Troy (6.494–547, 1.450–93) 86 Andromache’s Troy Restored (3.294–505) 90 The Trojan Games (5.104–544) 94 The Transformation of Troy (5.485–544) 100 The lusus Troiae (5.545–603) 102 5 Rome, the rerum imago 105 Jupiter’s Revelation (1.254–96) 107 Anchises’ Review (6.756–892) 109 The Shield of Aeneas (8.626–728) 113 6 Virgil, His Life and Works 120 His Life and Times 120 The Eclogues 125 The Georgics 133 Appendix: The Latin Hexameter 143 Word Accent 143 Verse Ictus 144 Accent and Ictus 144 Caesura and Diaeresis 145 The Third-Foot Caesura 145 The First Foot 146 The Hexameter Line 147 The Catullan Molossus 151 General Index 153 Index of Passages 155
£31.30
Pearson Education Paradise Lost York Notes Advanced everything you
Book Synopsis
£7.99
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC The Lost Plays of Greek Tragedy Volume 2
Book SynopsisThe surviving works of Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides have been familiar to readers and theatregoers for centuries; but these works are far outnumbered by their lost plays. Between them these authors wrote around two hundred tragedies, the fragmentary remains of which are utterly fascinating. In this, the second volume of a major new survey of the tragic genre, Matthew Wright offers an authoritative critical guide to the lost plays of the three best-known tragedians. (The other Greek tragedians and their work are discussed in Volume 1: Neglected Authors.) What can we learn about the lost plays of Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides from fragments and other types of evidence? How can we develop strategies or methodologies for reading' lost plays? Why were certain plays preserved and transmitted while others disappeared from view? Would we have a different impression of the work of these classic authors or of Greek tragedy as a whole if a different selectioTrade ReviewWright’s insightful analysis of nearly 200 fragmentary dramas by Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides will lead readers to re-assess not only their dramatic output, but the nature of Greek tragedy itself. -- Ian C. Storey, Professor Emeritus of Classics, Trent University, CanadaThe book will be of interest to all those working on Greek tragedy. * Revue des Etudes Anciennes (Bloomsbury Translation) *Table of ContentsAcknowledgements Introduction 1. Aeschylus 2. Sophocles 3. Euripides 4. Unfamiliar Faces 5. Lost Tragedies in Performance Bibliography and Abbreviations Index
£24.69
Edinburgh University Press Lucretius I
Book SynopsisThomas Nail argues convincingly and systematically that Lucretius was not an atomist, but a thinker of kinetic flux. In doing so, he completely overthrows the interpretive foundations of modern scientific materialism, whose philosophical origins lie in the atomic reading of Lucretius' immensely influential book 'De Rerum Natura'.
£20.89
Edinburgh University Press Lucretius III
Book SynopsisA guidebook to living in a world that's destined to die, through a new reading of Lucretius' De Rerum Natura
£15.19
Edinburgh University Press The Poetics of Spiritual Instruction
Book SynopsisExamines ?Attar's didactic poetry in historical context from a rhetorical, reader-centered perspectiveTrade Review"The Poetics of Spiritual Instruction provides a new perspective on the didactic poetry of 'Attar of Nishabur by looking at the textualisation of the ritualistic aspects of these poems. A welcome addition to the growing body of works on 'Attar. " -Fatemeh Keshavarz, University of Maryland
£81.00
Manchester University Press Affective Medievalism: Love, Abjection and
Book SynopsisThis book investigates the troubled relationship between medieval studies and medievalism. Acknowledging that the medieval and medievalism are mutually constitutive, and that their texts can be read using similar strategies, it argues that medieval writers offer powerful models for the ways in which contemporary desire determines the constitution of the past. This desire can not only connect us with the past but can reconnect readers in the present with the lost history of what may be called the ‘medievalism of the medievals’. In other words, to come to terms with the history of the medieval is to understand that it already offers us a model of how to relate to the past.Trade Review'In their project to legitimize affect in medieval studies, Prendergast and Trigg examine the dialectic between the medieval past and subsequent representations of that past. Their considerations weave a densely learned tapestry.'Studies in the Age of Chaucer -- .Table of ContentsIntroduction: Medieval and medievalist practice1 The space of time and the medievalist imaginary2 Wonderful things3 Fear, error and death: The abjection of the Middle Ages4 Loving the past5 Discontent in the age of mechanical reproductionBibliographyIndex
£63.75
Manchester University Press Dating Beowulf: Studies in Intimacy
Book SynopsisFeaturing essays from some of the most prominent voices in early medieval studies, Dating Beowulf playfully redeploys the word ‘dating’, which usually heralds some of the most divisive critical impasses in the field, to provocatively phrase a set of new relationships with an Old English poem. The volume argues for the relevance of the early Middle Ages to affect studies and vice-versa, offering a riposte to antifeminist discourse and opening avenues for future work by specialists in the history of emotions, literary theorists, students of Old English literature and medieval scholars alike. To this end, the essays embody a range of critical approaches from queer theory to animal studies and ecocriticism to actor-network theory.Trade Review'...the collection offers an opportunity to see the poem anew, from unexpected angles and in sometimes surprising contexts. At the same time, it models a kind of intellectual enterprise that welcomes new readers and encourages them to pay attention to where, how, and why they feel their own investments in the poem.'Modern Philology 'a delight to read. The quality of its fourteen essays is uniformly high, evidence of careful and thoughtful work on the part of both authors and editors.'Modern Philology 'One of the great delights of this book is how frequently contributors refer to other chapters and how many thematic clusters emerge. What really unites the collection is not a single definition of intimacy, but an attitude toward or orientation to the field of early medieval studies, one driven by a spirit of playfulness, openness, and accessibility. The fourteen essays sparkle with brilliant writing and a sense of shared joy in reading and writing about Beowulf.'Arthuriana -- .Table of Contents1 Getting intimate – Daniel C. Remein and Erica WeaverPart I: Beowulf in public2 Community, joy, and the intimacy of narrative in Beowulf – Benjamin A. Saltzman3 Beowulf and the intimacy of large parties – Roberta Frank4 Beowulf as Wayland’s work: thinking, feeling, making – James PazPart II: Beowulf at home5 Beowulf and babies – Donna Beth Ellard6 At home in the fens with the Grendelkin – Christopher AbramPart III: Beowulf outside7 Elemental intimacies: agency in the Finnsburg episode – Mary Kate Hurley8 What the raven told the eagle: animal language and the return of loss in Beowulf – Mo ParelesPart IV: Beowulf’s contact list 9 Men into monsters: troubling race, ethnicity, and masculinity in Beowulf – Catalin Taranu10 Sad men in Beowulf – Robin Norris11 Differing intimacies: Beowulf translations by Seamus Heaney and Thomas Meyer – David HadbawnikPart V: Beowulf in bed12 Beowulf and Andreas: intimate relations – Irina Dumitrescu13 Beowulf, Bryher, and the Blitz: a queer history – Peter Buchanan14 Dating Wiglaf: emotional connections to the young hero in Beowulf – Mary Dockray-MillerIndex
£25.00
Manchester University Press The Gift of Narrative in Medieval England
Book SynopsisThis invigorating study places medieval romance narrative in dialogue with theories and practices of gift and exchange, opening new approaches to questions of storytelling, agency, gender and materiality in some of the most engaging literature from the Middle Ages. It argues that the dynamics of the gift are powerfully at work in romances: through exchanges of objects and people; repeated patterns of love, loyalty and revenge; promises made or broken; and the complex effects that time works on such objects, exchanges and promises. Ranging from the twelfth century to the fifteenth, and including close discussions of poetry by Chaucer, the Gawain-Poet and romances in the Auchinleck Manuscript, this book will prompt new ideas and debate amongst students and scholars of medieval literature, as well as anyone curious about the pleasures that romance narratives bring.Trade Review'The depth of Perkins’s engagements with anthropological thought in particular should make the book of some interest to scholars who do not specialize in later Middle English, especially those curious to learn more about the intersection of anthropology and literature more broadly ... Perkins juggles an impressive number of very different disciplinary and otherwise theoretical apparatuses alongside his own consistent dedication to closely parsing the texts of medieval poems and their manuscript contexts, and his book will give all readers much matter to ponder in its own vibrant life in circulation. Its polish and wide ambit show it to be the product of long reflection, and I am sure it will prove newly productive and generative in the hands of readers.'The Medieval Review 'Perkins has written an engaging and well-informed study of the relationship between gift giving and reciprocity within Middle English romances. What sets this book apart from other scholarly endeavors on theories of the gift in medieval literature is its focus on genre and the ways in which the form of the text and the text's audience are inherently interconnected. Perkins's readings of the works that constitute the Horn legend are exemplary and add much to that tradition. Scholars of Chaucer's Troilus and Criseyde and The Franklin's Tale, Lydgate's Troy Book, and the Gawain-poet will find this volume to be indispensable.' CHOICEReprinted with permission from Choice Reviews. All rights reserved. Copyright by the American Library Association 'Nicholas Perkins’s book is itself a gift, in which the elusive phenomenon of the gifted object has found its ideal, answering intelligence: lucidly scrupulous; attuned as much to the book as gift as to the gift in books; and ready to draw as much on anthropology as on the material history of the book. Like all gifts, it’s radiant.'James Simpson, Donald P. and Katherine B. Loker Professor of English, Harvard University‘In this incisive study of the intricate patterns of narrative, selfhood, gifts, objects and bodies in medieval English romance, Nicholas Perkins develops the concept and practice of speculative anthropology, balancing theoretical insight with wonderful textual analysis. Perkins moves with grace and confidence between different layers of literary and social meaning, between text and manuscript context and between the constitution of objects and subjects through narrative exchange in romance texts. The gift of narrative is a wonderful exploration of the ways medieval romances circulate gifts, people, bodies and obligations that are both emotional and social.’Stephanie Trigg, Redmond Barry Distinguished Professor of English, University of Melbourne'In this remarkable study, the gift figures as nothing less than the founding gesture of romance and the impulse that drives these stories forward, in the process drawing readers themselves into the cycle of generosity and giving rise to responses in the form of new texts. Perkins’ writing is frequently delightful. It’s a daring project whose aim (in an image that recurs throughout the book) is to pry open the closed circle of self-interested exchange so a chink of refracted light can shine through, as if through a door that’s been opened just a crack, illuminating new possibilities for both reading and living. Even the most cynical readers of medieval romance will want to give their time to this book, a brilliant response to Derrida’s injunction that we try to ‘think the gift,’ and one that opens new avenues for appreciating all sorts of stories.'Arthuriana -- .Table of ContentsIntroduction1 The gift of narrative in the romances of Horn2 ‘Kepe þou þat on & y þat oþer’: giving and keeping in Middle English romances3 The traffic in people: Chaucer’s Knight’s Tale and Troilus and Criseyde4 Exchanging words and deeds: The Franklin’s Tale and The Manciple’s Tale5 Things fall apart: the narratives of gift in Lydgate’s Troy BookConclusionIndex
£63.75
Manchester University Press Painful Pleasures: Sadomasochism in Medieval
Book SynopsisThis timely volume ventures into the subject of sadomasochism in varied aspects of medieval life. Saint’s Lives and mystical treatises provide evidence of failed sadism and empowering masochism. Literary culture in the form of epics and courtly tales preserve stories of eroticised power. These exciting chapters join together to form a picture of medieval culture that is kinky in its practice and deeply psychological at its core.Table of ContentsIntroduction: the jouissance of medieval kink - Christopher VaccaroPart I: Spiritual and penitential (con)texts1 Humiliation as penance in some early penitentials - Erin Abraham2 Land of saints and sadists: the S&M scene(s) in medieval Ireland - Phillip A. Bernhardt-House3 Failed sadism and masochistic martyrdom in Christine de Pizan’s Livre de la Cité des Dames - Tina-Marie Ranalli4 The monastic pleasures of frustrated knowledge - Karmen MacKendrick5 The pains of being pure at heart: sadomasochism in Richard of St. Victor’s On the four degrees of violent love - Christopher Michael Roman6 Negotiating power and pleasure in the Book of Margery Kempe - Nicole SlippPart II: Courtly and secular (con)texts7 I am not having what she’s having: female sexual (un)pleasure medieval and modern - Juliana Dresvina8 Queer consolation: BDSM in Chaucer’s The Clerk’s tale, sadistic epistemology and the ends of suffering - Masha Raskolnikov9 Ideological sadism or cultural enhancement: thirteenth-century Mongols in Kievan Rus and Baghdad - Vicky Panossian10 Fetishizing the past: Troilus and Criseyde, sadomasochism, and the historophilia of modern BDSM - Kersti Francis11 ‘My warlike grip broke his beating heart’: masochism and the deadly embrace in Beowulf ll. 2501-2508a - Christopher Vaccaro12 Death drive and the maiden: the queerness of Hrotsvit of Gandersheim - Philip Liston-KraftIndex
£81.00
Manchester University Press The Narrative Grotesque in Medieval Scottish
Book SynopsisThe Narrative Grotesque examines late medieval narratology in two Older Scots poems: Gavin Douglas’s The Palyce of Honour (c.1501) and William Dunbar’s The Tretis of the Tua Mariit Wemen and the Wedo (c.1507). The narrative grotesque is exemplified in these poems, which fracture narratological boundaries by fusing disparate poetic forms and creating hybrid subjectivities. Consequently, these poems interrogate conventional boundaries in poetic making. The narrative grotesque is applied as a framework to elucidate these chimeric texts and to understand newly late medieval engagement with poetics and narratology.Table of ContentsIntroduction: the narrative grotesque Part I: The Palyce of Honour, Gavin Douglas1 ‘Overset with fantasyis’: grotesquing the dream vision 2 Identity crisis: temporal dissonance and narrative voice 3 Heavenly harmonies: classical and Christian divinity in Palyce Part II: The Tretis of the Tua Mariit Wemen and the Wedo, William Dunbar4 Making demandes: frame, form, and narratorial persona5 Flyte of fancy: the first wife’s Response6 Lovesick or sick of love?: The second wife’s Response 7 Bad romance: the widow as venerean preacher ConclusionIndex
£63.75
Manchester University Press Rereading Chaucer and Spenser
Book SynopsisRereading Chaucer and Spenser: Dan Geffrey with the New Poete offers dynamic new approaches to the relationship between the works of Geoffrey Chaucer and Edmund Spenser. Contributors draw on current and emerging preoccupations in contemporary scholarship and offer new perspectives on poetic authority, influence, and intertextuality. -- .
£19.00
Manchester University Press Borrowed Objects and the Art of Poetry
Book SynopsisThis study uses examinations of Exeter riddles, Old English religious verse and Beowulf to formulate the poetics of spolia creative transformations of martial and architectural plunder serving to signal metatextual reflection. -- .
£19.00
Basic Books Aesops Fables
Book SynopsisFrom a renowned scholar and translator, the definitive translation of Aesop’s Fables Aesop’s fables are among the most familiar and best-loved stories in the world. Tales like “The Tortoise and the Hare,” “The Dog in the Manger,” and “Sour Grapes” have captivated us for generations. The fables delight us and teach timeless truths. Aesop’s tales offer us a world fundamentally simpler to ours—one with clear good and plain evil—but nonetheless one that is marked by political nuance and literary complexity. Newly translated and annotated by renowned scholar Robin Waterfield, this definitive translation shines a new light on four hundred of Aesop’s most enduring fables.
£22.50
Medieval Institute Publications Piers Plowman, a parallel-text edition of the A,
Book SynopsisThis work-a parallel-text edition that contains all four versions of Piers Plowman-constitutes a major enterprise of textual scholarship and will provide for students of Langland a modern equivalent to Skeat's standard edition of 1886. This revised and corrected three-volume set is specifically designed to facilitate study of the parallel text (Volume 1) alongside both the textual notes (Volume 2, part 1) and the commentary/glossary (Volume 2, part 2), and is intended to make the entire edition available to as many students of Langland as possible.Table of ContentsVolume I. Text Second Edition Editorial Preface to the First Edition of Volume I Preface to Second Edition AcknowledgementsList of Manuscripts Symbols and Abbreviations used in the Apparatus Abbreviations Note on Text and Apparatus Text Appendix to the Text Appendices to Apparatus
£17.50
Medieval Institute Publications The Lover's Confession: A Translation of John
Book SynopsisJohn Gower's Confessio Amantis (The Lover's Confession) is one of the most important English works of the Fourteenth Century. Within its frame of the lovesick lover's confession are well over a hundred stories, mainly derived from classical mythology, the Bible, and history which exemplify the Middle Ages. Echoing the octosyllabic line of the original, this is the first translation of the entire (33,000-line) poem, including its Latin verses and glosses.Table of ContentsAcknowledgements Introduction The Lover's Confession Prologue Book 1: Pride Book 2: Envy Book 3: Wrath Book 4: Sloth Book 5: Avarice Book 6: Gluttony Book 7: Education of the King Book 8: Lechery Appendix A: Confessio Amantis Ricardian Recensions Appendix B: Confessio Amantis Name Glossary Appendix C: Sources and Analogs of Confessio Amantis Tales
£36.57
Oneworld Publications Homer: A Beginner's Guide
Book SynopsisWidely revered as the father of Western literature, Homer was the author of the Iliad and the Odyssey, the epic poems which immortalised such names as Achilles, Cyclops, Menelaus, and Helen of Troy. In this vivid introduction, Elton Barker and Joel Christensen celebrate the complexity, innovation, and sheer excitement of Homer’s two great works. Investigating the controversy surrounding the man behind the myths, they ask who Homer was and whether he even existed. Making parallels between Homeric hexameter and rap, and between his battle scenes and The Lord of the Rings, the authors highlight how his hugely influential epics deal with ageless questions that still confront us today. Perfect for new readers of the great poet and full of insights that will delight Homeric experts, this book will inspire you to discover – or rediscover – his masterpieces first-hand.Trade Review"A really good introduction to the Iliad and Odyssey, wearing its learning lightly and conveying a sense of both the delights and the profundity of the Homeric poems." Christopher Pelling, Regius Professor of Greek, University of Oxford, UK "Provides readers with exactly what they need to know in order to read the epics with the greatest comprehension and enjoyment." Erwin Cook, T. F. Murchison Distinguished Professor of the Humanities, Trinity University, USA "Interesting, thoughtful, and well written. The book covers an admirably wide range of issues with clarity and assurance." Barbara Graziosi, Professor of Classics, Durham University, UK "A smart book and a stylish piece of writing." Bruce Heiden, Professor of Classics, The Ohio State University, USA "Barker and Christensen have written the best introduction I know to the Homeric poems. They explain the main themes, scenes, and characters in clear, jargon-free language that is a pleasure to read, whether for those new to Homer or advanced students." Pura Nieto, Senior Lecturer in Classics, Brown University, USA "Barker and Christensen make fantastic guides to understanding the master of story telling - an enjoyable and compelling read that is sure to get people hooked on Homer." Assistant Professor of Classics, University of Warwick, UK'Lively and wide-ranging... pulls readers right into the vast impace of Homer on our own world. Anyone needing to justify the reading and study of Homer should read this.' * Classical Journal *
£9.49
Unbound Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
Book SynopsisIt is New Year at Camelot and a mysterious green knight appears at King Arthur’s court. Challenging the knights of the Round Table to a Christmas game, he offers his splendid axe as a prize to whoever is brave enough to behead him with just one strike. The condition is that his challenger must seek him out in a year and a day to have the deed returned. Sir Gawain accepts and decapitates the stranger, only to see him pick up his head, walk out of the hall and ride away on his horse. Now Gawain must complete his part of the bargain, search for his foe and confront what seems his doom… Michael Smith’s translation of this magnificent Arthurian romance draws on his intimate experience of the North West of England and his knowledge of mediaeval history, culture and architecture. He takes us back to the original poetic form of the manuscript and brings it alive for a modern audience, while revealing the poem’s historic and literary context.The book is beautifully illustrated throughout with detailed recreations of the illuminated lettering in the original manuscript and the author’s own linocut prints, each meticulously researched for contemporary accuracy. This is an exciting new edition that will appeal both to students of the Gawain-poet and the general reader alike.
£15.29
Open Book Publishers Image, Knife, and Gluepot: Early Assemblage in
Book Synopsis
£56.95
Archaeopress A Bestiary of Monsters in Greek Mythology
Book SynopsisGreek myths abound in images of beauty and perfection: charming gods, attractive goddesses, and handsome heroes, all of them standards of physical and spiritual flawlessness. However, the ancient Greeks were not fond of absolutes. No god or hero is shown without blemishes in character and ethics, and some are even physically imperfect, like Hephaestus, who is ugly and lame. Another element that dominates Greek mythology is the idea of balance. Good and evil, light and darkness, hubris and punishment. What could not be missing from this world is the image of reversed beauty: monstrosity. The aim of this book is to explore the realm of the imaginary world of Greek mythology and present the reader with a categorization of monstrosity, referring to some of the most noted examples in each category.Table of ContentsPreface ; Introduction, by Richard Buxton ; Introduction ; Chapter 1 Humanoid Monsters ; Chapter 2 Serpentine Creatures ; Chapter 3 Partly Human ; Chapter 4 Monstrous Animals ; Chapter 5 Ghosts and Daemons ; Works Cited
£18.99
Canongate Books PARADISE: Dante's Divine Trilogy Part Three.
Book Synopsis'Reveals Gray's powers of insight and invention' Guardian'One of the most vital retellings of the poem to date' SpectatorDante, now guided by Beatrice, faces the final third of his epic journey through the wheels of divine justice. Yet as he passes through the spheres of Heaven, he struggles with his faith, striving to understand the scales of good and evil that determine the fate of a human soul.The final book from Alasdair Gray, Paradise is a fitting conclusion to his own irreplaceable body of work, as well as to his masterful retelling of Dante's trilogy.Trade ReviewA work of taut cadence and vigour that captures the drum-beat rhythms and lyric beauty of Dante's original. Daringly, it draws on words and speech patterns of Gray's native Scotland ('bairns', 'midden', 'gloaming', 'blethering'), which accord well with Dante's everyday volgare and make for an adventurous rehabilitation . . . One of the most vital retellings of the poem to date * * Spectator * *A fitting finale. Published posthumously, the last of three Dante translations reveals Gray's powers of insight and invention . . . Unlike many other translators, [Gray] was rather like Dante: astonishingly inventive; an insider-outsider in his own land, who profoundly understood the relationship between language, dialect and power; a fearless iconoclast unafraid to combine historical and contemporary subjects in his work; a true geographer of the imagination -- Ian Sansom * * Guardian, Book of the Day * *Published posthumously, the third instalment of Alasdair Gray's "Englishing" of Dante's Divine Comedy is a welcome reminder of the brilliant strangeness of the original . . . Brisk, breezy and eminently readable -- Stuart Kelly * * Scotsman * *Will be relished by everyone who admired the artist and author. Beautifully bound in his unique style, his posthumously published vision of heaven would combine wonderfully with the previous volumes on Hell and Purgatory, making a welcome gift for lovers of art, poetry and the late, great Alasdair Gray * * Herald * *Praise for Dante's Divine Trilogy: Alasdair Gray has cast a spell over Dante's Hell, creating (and decorating) a verse translation that is modern, lyrical, yet faithful to the original * * New Statesman, Best Books of 2018 * *An ancient masterpiece glistens again as his lyricism takes flight, while keeping one foot balanced on solid ground . . . Gray turns Dante's language into clear English, sometimes with a playful comic turn . . . Remarkable * * i * *No other translator has made the narratives so clear or strong, and the distinctive power of the work lies in the clarity of the storytelling . . . This Hell is a magnificent feat of reimagining of one of the greatest of all human creations * * Herald * *This slim but handsome volume sees Glasgow author Gray complete part two of his translation of Dante's Divine Comedy . . . If you've ever wanted to try the classic, but have been daunted, now is your chance * * Sunday Post * *Powerfully conveys the appalling nature of a vision which has terrified and enthralled Western men and women down the centuries * * Times Literary Supplement * *Slick, easy to read . . . Gray is rather good at catching the colloquial nature of the poem . . . An excellent primer to Dante . . . In terms of verve, vim and vigour Gray has succeeded here. It is, if such a thing can be, an "easy" Dante, and one that does capture the comedy as well as the pathos and anguish of the poem * * Scotsman * *
£13.49
Canongate Books Dante's Divine Trilogy
Book SynopsisIn this masterful retelling of one of the greatest works of world literature, Alasdair Gray - in his last work - offers an original translation in prosaic English rhyme. Lyrical and modern, this complete edition brings all three parts of Dante's epic journey through Hell and Purgatory and on to Paradise together in a single volume for the first time.Trade ReviewOne of the brightest intellectual and creative lights Scotland has known in modern times -- NICOLA STURGEONA necessary genius -- ALI SMITHGray is a true original, a twentieth century William Blake * * Observer * *One of the most gifted writers to have put pen to paper in the English language -- IRVINE WELSHPraise for Dante's Divine Trilogy: Alasdair Gray has cast a spell over Dante's Hell, creating (and decorating) a verse translation that is modern, lyrical, yet faithful to the original * * New Statesman * *Lucid, lyrical, imaginative * * Times Literary Supplement * *An ancient masterpiece glistens again as his lyricism takes flight, while keeping one foot balanced on solid ground . . . Gray turns Dante's language into clear English, sometimes with a playful comic turn . . . Remarkable * * i * *No other translator has made the narratives so clear or strong, and the distinctive power of the work lies in the clarity of the storytelling . . . This Hell is a magnificent feat of reimagining of one of the greatest of all human creations * * Herald * *Powerfully conveys the appalling nature of a vision which has terrified and enthralled Western men and women down the centuries * * Times Literary Supplement * *
£13.49
The Choir Press Catullus: The poems of Gaius Valerius Catullus
Book SynopsisThe book is a translation into English verse of the poems of the Latin writer Catullus (first century BCE). Catullus's poems vary from two-line epigrams to much longer pieces, and they range in subjects from declarations of love (and celebrations of sex), to moving personal poems and also scurrilous attacks on others, including Julius Caesar himself. Although Catullus has often been translated very freely, this collection tries to balance formal poetic style with the sometimes very direct and deliberately startling vocabulary. An introductory essay, which acknowledges how often these poems have been put into English, concentrates not on Catullus himself (about whose life we know very little for sure), but on the general and specific problems of translating his work into poetic English. It also gives background details for some of the longer mythological poems.
£11.97
Liverpool University Press Sidonius Apollinaris Complete Poems
Book SynopsisSidonius Apollinaris was an inhabitant of southern Roman Gaul in the mid fifth century AD, when it was threatened by invasions from beyond the boundaries of the Roman Empire and by competing warlords. His many poetic works include three panegyrics to emperors at the beginnings of their reigns; these are carefully translated and annotated, and provided with comment and synopses. His multiple shorter poems, in a variety of metres, are translated into good and lively English and given separate introductions and notes of various kinds, historical and literary. There is an extensive and informative introduction to the whole work.This book by Roger Green, a lifelong expert in Late Antiquity, gives a firsthand account of the political strife and manoeuvring of the times but also a vivid picture of the lives of Sidonius’s like-minded friends in an almost post-Roman episode of Rome’s existence. Sidonius was read widely in the Middle Ages, with a golden age in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries and also in the fifteenth century revival of Late Antique literature. Today his poetry will awaken new study and interest, without the archaism of many older translations and with a fresh and updated approach to many issues.
£98.55
Liverpool University Press The Indiculus luminosus of Paul Alvarus
Book SynopsisPaul Alvarus wrote the Indiculus luminosus in 854 in response to the executions of a number of Córdoban Christians, beginning with the monk Isaac in 851, who had denounced Muhammad in public. The first half of the treatise offers an extended apologia in defence of the militant actions of these spontaneous blasphemers. In the second half, Alvarus argues at length, on the basis of key passages in Daniel and Job, that Muhammad was a precursor to Antichrist. Alvarus undertook this exegetical project not only to create a context within which the actions of the Córdoban blasphemers would make sense, but to criticize the Córdoban Christian leadership at the time for being too cosy with the local Islamic rulers. While Alvarus relied on Jerome’s Commentary on Daniel and Gregory’s Moralia in Iob, he transcended them, offering a truly novel exegesis. In the process, he shed important light on the nature of Christian life under Islamic rule and demonstrated a surprisingly deep knowledge of Islam. The Indiculus luminosus is the perfect complement to the writings of his friend, Eulogius, who may in fact have encouraged Alvarus to undertake this task.
£104.50
Boydell & Brewer Ltd Robin Hood: Legend and Reality
Book SynopsisDetailed research into documentary sources offers an exciting new identification of the "real" Robin Hood. For over a century and a half scholars have debated whether or not the legend of Robin Hood was based on an actual outlaw and, if so, when and where he lived. One view is that he was not a legend as such but a myth: an idea, rather than a person who could possibly be identified in historical records and placed in a real historical and geographical context. Other writers have gone even further, arguing that he is a literary concoction, with no traceable original, and that seeking to pin him down to a particular time and location is futile and unnecessary. This survey begins by tracing the development of the legend, and contemporary views about it, between the thirteenth and early twenty-first centuries, taking account both of new interpretative literature on the subject and fresh discoveries from the author's own research in the early records of the English royal administration and common law. It then gives a detailed account of the places that came to be associated with the legend, and of evidence illustrating the importance of the outlaw's name in the development of English surnames. The concluding chapters deal with the administration of criminal law in medieval England, and the evidence that points to the possible origins of the legend in the activities of a notorious Yorkshire criminal, tracked down and beheaded in the county in 1225.Trade Review[Essential] reading for anyone interested in the matter of greenwood. * THE RICARDIAN *[R]einjects a much-needed dose of reality into the academic study of the Robin Hood legend. . . Crook's monograph should be standard reading for any scholar who is interested in the origins of the historical Robin Hood. * THE MEDIEVAL REVIEW *[An] excellent reference and bibliography for the primary material that makes up the Robin Hood canon, Cook has presented an approach that takes joy in the process of investigation [...]. -- COMITATUSDavid Crook's new study is probably the fullest account of the development of the legend of Robin Hood, and of its sundry interpreters, ever attempted. [...] Crook, then, has achieved considerable success in his quest for the historical Robin Hood -- SPECULUMThis is more than just a detailed survey; it is an overview of the entire culture of Robin and who he might have been...This book is a delight. * INTERNATIONAL TIMES *[Crook] provides a significant contribution to the ongoing scholarship and scholarly debates regarding the "real" Robin Hood(s) and persons associated with him that are found within historical records. Crook places that archival material in dialogue with the extant literature and other late-medieval historical sources, especially those on crime and criminality in Yorkshire. In doing so, he reveals two strong contenders for the "original" Robin Hood and Sheriff of Nottingham. * CHOICE *The bibliography is impressive. Crook plumbs the depths of archival sources to uncover various place and personal names, criminal accounts, and outlaw activities that provide context for the evolution of Robin's story. A useful resource for those new to the field and for those well versed in the critical historical materials. * JOURNAL OF BRITISH STUDIES *This elegantly written and informative monograph is an essential read for anyone interested in the legend of Robin Hood. The author, a distinguished archivist [...] demonstrates both an unrivalled knowledge of the sources for Hood's historicity and a thorough understanding of the existing corpus of scholarship. Attractively produced and well-indexed, the volume also contains several useful maps and illustrations. -- Adrian Jobson * NORTHERN HISTORY *Table of ContentsList of Illustrations Preface and Acknowledgements List of Abbreviations Introduction The Medieval Tales of Robin Hood Chroniclers, Revellers, Playwrights and Antiquarians, c1420-1765 Editors, The Folklorist and The Archivist, 1765-1889 Folklorists, Literary Scholars and Historians: Robin Hood in the Twentieth Century The Robin Hood Places The Robin Hood Names Robin Hood and Criminality Law and Disorder in Yorkshire, 1215-1225 The Sheriff, The Fugitive and The Civil Servant Conclusion Bibliography Index
£24.29
University of Wales Press Memory and Nation
Book SynopsisWritten in honour of Professor Huw Pryce, this volume brings together exciting new research on writing and performing the history of Wales, from the Middle Ages to the modern period. Each chapter offers a different perspective on the theme of historical writing and remembrance. The first section (Texts and their Histories) focuses on the creation and function of medieval historical texts; a wide range of texts are investigated here, including chronicles and narrative histories, charters, and the Welsh triads. The second section (History and Identity) concerns the relationship between writing history and identity construction; chapters consider different aspects of this theme, including the role of bishops in writing history and the use of names to construct ethnic identities. The third and final section (Memory and Nation) widens the lens to investigate strategies of remembrance and the performance of history; this includes essays on the Eisteddfod, tattoos of historical individuals and the role of historical pageants in twentieth-century nation building. Taken together, the contributions to the volume offer new insights into Welsh historical writing and perceptions of the past throughout the ages.
£23.74
Boydell & Brewer Ltd The Book of Margery Kempe: Annotated Edition
Book SynopsisFully-annotated edition of English mystic Margery Kempe's life and divine revelations [dated 1436-8]. [This edition previously published by Longman.] The Book of Margery Kempe, the earliest surviving autobiography in English (dated 1436-8), is a unique account of the extraordinary life, travels and revelations of a fifteenth-century Norfolk housewife and mother, pilgrim,prophet and visionary; it is one of the most compelling and significant English texts of the middle ages. This volume presents the original text in accessible form for modern readers, with on-page glossing and a glossary of common words. It is accompanied by on-page annotation of and commentary on the Book, bringing together scholarship on Kempe and setting her life in the social, political and spiritual context of her time. An introduction provides information on and context for the further interpretation of the text, and the volume is completed by a chronology of Kempe's life. [This edition previously published by Longman.] Professor BARRY WINDEATT is a Fellow of Emmanuel College, Cambridge.Trade Review[Kempe] bursts from the pages of this careful and sober critical edition like Molly Bloom. Windeatt's introduction and detailed notes help to place her in a cultural context. [...]In terms of comparison and allusion to Middle English Texts and provision of a helpful glossary, this edition is exemplary. * ENGLISH HISTORICAL REVIEW *
£26.99
Boydell & Brewer Ltd The High Book of the Grail: A translation of the
Book SynopsisVivid translation of one of the earliest and most important Grail romances. The High Book of the Grail (Perlesvaus) is one of the most fascinating of medieval Arthurian romances, standing apart from the main tradition represented by the great romance cycles on which Malory based his work. Written in the first half ofthe thirteenth century, it represents a totally different view of the legend of the Holy Grail from that found in Wolfram von Eschenbach or the French Quest of the Holy Grail, though all derive from Chrétien's Perceval; the unknown author adds a much greater religious emphasis, and a desire to glorify crusading chivalry for the secular adventures of Arthur, Perceval, and Lancelot. The framework of the romance is the struggle of Arthur and his knights to impose - by force - the New Law of Christianity in place of the Old Law. Unusually, Arthur's knights are seen collectively as members of a kingdom, rather than as individual knights on quests, defending the land against treason and paganism, and advancing to convert the heathen of other lands. This unique view of the Arthurian world is now made accessible to students of medieval literature, Arthurian enthusiasts, andto historians interested in the world of chivalry and its attitudes. NIGEL BRYANT's previous Arthurian books include The Legend of the Grail, Chretien de Troyes' Perceval and its Continuations, and Robert de Boron's Merlin and the Grail.
£23.74
Boydell & Brewer Ltd Magic and the Supernatural in Medieval English
Book SynopsisThe themes of magic and the supernatural in medieval romance are here fully explored and put into the context of thinking at the time in this first full study of the subject. The world of medieval romance is one in which magic and the supernatural are constantly present: in otherwordly encounters, in the strange adventures experienced by questing knights, in the experience of the uncanny, and in marvellous objects - rings, potions, amulets, and the celebrated green girdle in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. This study looks at a wide range of medieval English romance texts, including the works of Chaucer and Malory, from a broad cultural perspective, to show that while they employ magic in order to create exotic, escapist worlds, they are also grounded in a sense of possibility, and reflect a complex web of inherited and current ideas. The bookopens with a survey of classical and biblical precedents, and of medieval attitudes to magic; subsequent chapters explore the ways that romances both reflect contemporary attitudes and ideas, and imaginatively transform them. Inparticular, the author explores the distinction between the `white magic' of healing and protection, and the more dangerous arts of `nigromancy', black magic. Also addressed is the wider supernatural, including the ways that ideasassociated with human magic can be intensified and developed in depictions of otherworldly practitioners of magic. The ambiguous figures of the enchantress and the shapeshifter are a special focus, and the faery is contrasted with the Christian supernatural - miracles, ghosts, spirits, demons and incubi. Professor CORINNE SAUNDERS Saunders teaches in the Department of English, University of Durham.Trade ReviewSaunders has done scholars of medieval magic a great service in exploring the literary sources in great detail. [This] is a fascinating and important work, useful to scholars and students working on the medieval supernatural and accessible for non-specialist readers. * FOKLORE *A major work on a central subject and deserves to be widely read. * MEDIUM AEVUM *Corinne Saunders succeeds in portraying the richness of this second or other world of romance. [...] She does so within the larger context of philosophy, religion, law, and folklore [...] magic and the supernatural play an important role in romance, a role expertly analyzed by Corinne Saunders. * JOURNAL OF ENGLISH AND GERMANIC PHILOLOGY *Well written, wide-ranging and provides an exemplary introduction to thinking about magic in the medieval period. [...] It will be indispensable for the study both of medieval romance and of magic and learning in the English literary context. * ARTHURIANA *This is a major work on a central subject and deserves to be widely read. * MEDIUM AEVUM *Lively, engaging and well researched. [...] A valuable resource for those interested in medieval literature and culture. * CHOICE *[A] rich and illuminating book, a book that should become standard reading on any of the various aspects of the supernatural in medieval romance for many years to come. * REVIEW OF ENGLISH STUDIES *Table of ContentsIntroduction Classical and Biblical Precedents The Middle Ages: Prohibitions, Folk Practices and Learned Magic White Magic: Natural Arts and Marvellous Technology Black Magic: The Practice of 'Nigromancy' Otherworld Enchantments and Faery Realms Christian Marvel and Demonic Intervention Malory's Morte Darthur Epilogue: Towards the Renaissance Bibliography
£80.75
Boydell & Brewer Ltd Lancelot-Grail: 3. Lancelot part I and II: The
Book SynopsisLancelot is the central romance of the Vulgate Cycle, in which the chivalric elements in Arthur's court come to the fore. These chivalric elements contain the seeds of Arthur's destruction and the dissolution of the Round Table, as Lancelot's love for Guinevere undermines his bond to Arthur; the tension between love, prowess and loyalty is the undercurrent of the long romance which describes the exploits which he performs in her service. It also includes many stories which are chivalric adventures largely unrelated to the main theme, and uses the device of interweaving these stories to form a huge stream of narrative. This series of episodic pictures leads ultimately to the birth of Lancelot's son Galahad, who is destined to become the hero of the Grail. Parts one and two of Lancelot cover Lancelot's boyhood and his admission to Arthur's court, where he falls immediately in love with Guinevere. The adventures and quests which follow take us to the point where he becomes a companion of the Round Table. For a full description of the Vulgate Cycle see the blurb for the complete set.
£37.99
Boydell & Brewer Ltd Medieval English Lyrics and Carols
Book SynopsisA new and comprehensive anthology of medieval lyrics and carols, in new editions, with introduction and commentary. Lyrics and carols are two of the most important types of medieval literature. This anthology provides a generous and wide-ranging selection, beginning with the first lyrics in English to celebrate love as romantic devotion to a woman, and including all pre-Chaucerian love lyrics (other than a few brief snatches). Poems by Chaucer and his successors present the courtly game of love in its sophisticated later medieval form, while devotional lyrics portray the tenderness of the later medieval response to Christ as lover and beloved and to the Virgin Mary with the infant Jesus, Mary as sorrowing mother and as Queen of Heaven. Fully represented also are lyrics on characteristically medieval moral and penitential themes, alongside miscellaneous lyrics such as drinking and dancing songs, ballads, satires, poems of wit, humour and sexual innuendo, accounts of lecherous priests, minstrels mocking their audiences, and women vividly listing their lovers' inadequacies. The texts are edited anew, accompanied with a textual apparatus detailing manuscript readings where emendations have been made to restore sense, metre and rhyme. The language of pre-Chaucerian poems has been normalised to accord with the dialect of late fourteenth-century London ("Chaucerian English"), and unfamiliar spellings in later lyrics have been regularized. Readability is further aided by line-by-line glosses. An extensive introduction offers an appraisal of the forms, themes and contexts of the lyrics and a full discussion of their language and metre, while a comprehensive commentary gives further essential information. Thomas G. Duncan is an Honorary Senior Lecturer in the School of English at St Andrews University.Trade ReviewThe anthology's greatest strength is its accessibility.... The abundant modern English glossing makes it well suited to the student or non-specialist. * FOLKLORE *A most welcome addition to the study of medieval English literature. * MEDIAEVISTIK *A welcome addition to the literature of the genre. * PARERGON *A welcome addition to the bookshelf of any serious scholar of the medieval period ... indispensable ... refreshing ... an excellent overview [and] resource for those wishing to go deeper into the field of early music. * THE CONSORT *It is a well-chosen and enjoyable collection, conveniently organized and with an excellent introduction. * FOLK MUSIC JOURNAL *Table of ContentsIntroduction Preface to Text Lyric Texts Commentary Appendix A: Music and Metre Appendix B: The Syllabic Analysis of Middle English Verse Bibliography
£26.99
Boydell & Brewer Ltd A Conspectus of Scribal Hands Writing English,
Book SynopsisComprehensive, annotated list of over a thousand Anglo-Saxon scribal hands, linking them to place and manuscript. This book documents the entire corpus of scribal hands writing in the vernacular from the eighth century to post-Conquest. More than a thousand hands are listed, together with details of their work, which ranges from a few words or sentences in marginalia to multiple volumes; glosses and marginalia are included, together with Latin charters containing some English. Overall, it offers a comprehensive view of the scale of literacy in early medieval England, locating the familiar material produced in Alfred's day in a significantly wider context, and providing an invaluable starting point for a variety of manuscript studies.Trade ReviewDonald Scragg's A Conspectus of Scribal Hands Writing English, 700-1100 provides a welcome update to his earlier volume of the same title spanning the years 960-1100. -- William Brockbank * TOEBI Newsletter *
£72.00
Boydell & Brewer Ltd New Medieval Literatures 22
Book SynopsisAnnual volume showcasing the best new work in this field. New Medieval Literatures is an annual of work on medieval textual cultures, aiming to engage with intellectual and cultural pluralism in the Middle Ages and now. Its scope is inclusive of work across the theoretical, archival, philological, and historicist methodologies associated with medieval literary studies, and embraces the range of European cultures, capaciously defined. Essays in this volume engage with widely varied themes, from confession in the domestic household to international politics and statecraft; experimental scientific knowledge, and the supernatural world of demons; canonical Arthurian romance, and scholastic theology in the vernacular; monastic historiographical visions, and geographies of pilgrimage. Investigations range from the twelfth to the fifteenth centuries, and from England to the Holy Land. Chrétien de Troyes's Le chevalier de la charrette and Geoffrey Chaucer's Friar's Tale are examined in new ways, and with new conclusions for their engagements with technologies of embodiment and the hermeneutics of bodily contact; Laȝamon's Brut is shown to bring the expectations of monastic historiography into the vernacular, while Reginald Pecock's radical and sophisticated vernacular theology is explicated in all its dangerous heterodoxy. Multiple narratives converge and are occluded at the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron; Albert the Great experiments with animals and reorients humans in the natural world; Alain Chartier strives to build a united French state. Finally, domestic, familial, and civic bonds of obligation emerge in the shared textual communities of anonymous, late-medieval confessional forms. CONTRIBUTORS: ROBYN A. BARTLETT, KANTIK GHOSH, AYLIN MALCOLM, ALASTAIR MINNIS, LUKE SUNDERLAND, JAMIE K. TAYLOR, HANNAH WEAVER, LUCAS WOOD.Table of Contents1 Touch and Movement in Chrétien de Troyes's Chevalier de la Charrette - Luke Sunderland 2 Cavernous Charisma: The Caves of the Patriarchs at Hebron - Jamie K. Taylor 3 Lawman's Vision of History: Sources and Figuration in the Brut - Hannah Weaver 4 What the Mole Knows: Experience, Exempla, and Interspecies Dialogue in Albert the Great's De animalibus - Aylin Malcolm 5 Demonic Prosthesis and the Walking Dead: The Materiality of Chaucer's Green Yeoman - Alastair Minnis 6 Learning to Live in Communities: Household Confession and Medieval Forms of Living - Robyn A. Bartlett 7 Alain Chartier's Quadrilogue invectif and the Poetics of Political Community - Lucas Wood 8 Reginald Pecock's moral philosophie and Robert Holcot O.P.: Faith, Probabilism, and 'Conscience' - Kantik Ghosh
£71.25
Boydell & Brewer Ltd Poetry in Sagas of Icelanders
Book SynopsisFirst full analysis of the skaldic verse appearing in the family sagas of Icelanders, considering why and how it is deployed. Sagas of Icelanders, also called family sagas, are the best known of the many literary genres that flourished in medieval Iceland, most of them achieving written form during the thirteenth and early fourteenth centuries. Modern readers and critics often praise their apparently realistic descriptions of the lives, loves and feuds of settler families of the first century and a half of Iceland's commonwealth period (c. AD 970-1030), but this ascription of realism fails to account for one of the most important components of these sagas, the abundance of skaldic poetry, mostly in dróttkvætt "court metre", which comes to saga heroes' lips at moments of crisis. These presumed voices from the past and their integration into the narrative present of the written sagas are the subject of this book. It investigates what motivated Icelandic writers to develop this particular mode, and what particular literary effects they achieved by it. It also looks at the various paths saga writers took within the evolving prosimetrum (a mixed verse and prose form), and explores their likely reasons for using poetry in diverse ways. Consideration is also given to the evolution of the genre in the context of the growing popularity in Iceland of romantic and legendary sagas. A final chapter is devoted to understanding why a minority of sagas of Icelanders do not use poetry at all in their narratives.Trade ReviewReplete with tables summarizing a wealth of data, Poetry in Sagas of Icelanders will be of great interest to readers of this little-studied but fascinating group of poems, and of the artful prosimetra that contain them. -- Kate Heslop * Times Literary Supplement *Table of ContentsIntroduction 1. The Poetic Corpus 2. Poetry in an Icelandic Environment 3. The Authenticity Question 4. Strategies of Poetic Communication 5. Subjects of Poetry in Sagas of Icelanders 6. A Suitable Literary Style 7. New Emphases in Late Sagas of Icelanders 8. Sagas without Poetry Conclusion Glossary of Old Norse Terms Bibliography
£71.25
Boydell & Brewer Ltd Animal-Human Relationships in Medieval Iceland:
Book SynopsisA multi-disciplinary investigation of the links between people and animals, in reality and representation. Domestic animals played a range of roles in the imaginative world of medieval Icelanders: from partners in settlement and household allies, to violent offenders, foster-kin and surrogate wives, they were vital and effective members of the multispecies communities established from the ninth century onwards. This book examines the domestic animals of early Iceland in their physical and textual contexts, through detailed analysis of the spaces and places of the Icelandic farm and farming landscape, and textual sources such as The Book of Settlements, the earliest Icelandic laws, and various episodes from the Sagas and Tales of Icelanders. Taking a multidisciplinary approach to animal-human relationships, it sees animals not solely as symbols, metaphors, or objects, but as subjects in affective relationships with their human co-settlers who become the focus of intense exploration, delight, anxiety and condemnation in later textual narratives. By inviting readers to question how these sources form, embrace, or reject animal-human relationships, it provides a resource for understanding these archaeological sites and textual narratives differently: as products of multispecies communities in which animals and humans lived, worked, and died together.Trade ReviewThe book offers a rich array of evidence for the varied interactions between humans and multiple domestic animals, with horses playing a significant and distinctive part among other non-human species. -- Anastasija Ropa * Cheiron *Table of ContentsThe Animal Acts... An Animal-Human Settlement Home, Sweet Home: Meeting Points on the Animal-Human Farm The Animal-Human Community: Legal Tradition in Iceland Fostering Relations: The Animal-Human Home in the Íslendingasögur The Negative Animal: Absence, Precarity, and Danger ... and the Man Responds Bibliography
£71.25
Boydell & Brewer Ltd Studies in Medievalism XXXII: Medievalism in Play
Book SynopsisThough manifestations of play represent a burgeoning subject area in the study of post-medieval responses to the Middle Ages, they have not always received the respect and attention they deserve. This volume seeks to correct those deficiencies. Though manifestations of play represent a burgeoning subject area in the study of post-medieval responses to the Middle Ages, they have not always received the respect and attention they deserve. This volume seeks to correct those deficiencies via six essays that directly address how the Middle Ages have been put in play with regard to Alice Munro's 1977 short story "The Beggar Maid"; David Lowery's 2021 film The Green Knight; medievalist archaisms in Japanese video games; runic play in Norse-themed digital games; medievalist managerialism in the 2020 video game Crusader Kings III; and neomedieval architectural praxis in the 2014 video game Stronghold: Crusader II. The approaches and conclusions of those essays are then tested in the second section's six essays as they examine "muscular medievalism" in George R. R. Martin's 1996 novel A Game of Thrones; the queering of the Arthurian romance pattern in the 2018-20 television show She-Ra and the Princesses of Power; the interspecies embodiment of dis/ability in the 2010 film How to Train Your Dragon; late-nineteenth and early twentieth-century nationalism in Irish reimaginings of the Fenian Cycle; post-bellum medievalism in poetry of the Confederacy; and the medievalist presentation of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's 2020-21 Covid inoculation.Table of ContentsPreface - Karl Fugelso I: Medievalism in Play Sexual Play and Medievalism: Alice Munro's "The Beggar Maid" - M. J. Toswell Spoiling the Sport, Upping the Ante, and Calling His Bluff: Why St. Winifred Appears in David Lowery's 2021 Film The Green Knight - Kevin J. Harty "My guise doth not incur thy trust": Translating English Medievalism and Archaism to and from Japanese in a Video Game Context - Jacob W. Runner "Boy, what do those runes say?": Runic Play in Norse-Themed Digital Games - Tom Birkett Middle (Ages) Managers: Crusader Kings III as Medievalist Managerialism - Andrew Baerg "Castles are like possessions: merely temporary!": Neomedieval Architectural Praxis in Stronghold: Crusader II - Kevin Moberly and Brent Moberly II: Other Responses to Medievalism George R. R. Martin's "Muscular Medievalism" in A Game of Thrones: Masculinity, Violence, and Fantasy - Steven Bruso Big Sword-in-the-Stone Energy: Queering the Arthurian Romance Pattern in She-Ra and the Princesses of Power - Jessica Stanley Interspecies Embodiment of Dis/Ability in How to Train Your Dragon - Leah Haught Fenian Medievalisms, from Imperialist to Insurrectionist: Reimagining the Fenian Cycle and the Future of Ireland, 1878-1916 - Vanessa K. Iacocca Medievalism and the Old South: Metaphors and References in the Works of Poets of the Confederacy - Michel Aaij From Holy Lance to Covid-19 Syringe: Benjamin Netanyahu as Curator and Saint - Galit Noga-Banai
£71.25
Boydell & Brewer Ltd Medievalist Traditions in Nineteenth-Century
Book SynopsisA survey of the rituals of the year in Victorian England, showing the influence of the Middle Ages. What does a maypole represent? Why eat hot cross buns? Did Dick Whittington have a cat? All these questions are related to a larger one that nineteenth-century Britons asked themselves: which was more fun: living in their own time, or living in the Middle Ages? While Britain was becoming the most industrially-advanced nation in the world, many vaunted the superiority of the present to the past-yet others felt that if shadows of past ways of life haunted the present, they were friendly ghosts. This book explores such ghosts and how real or imagined remnants of medieval celebration in a variety of forms created a cultural idea of the Middle Ages. As Britons found, or thought that they found, traces of the medieval in traditions tied to times of the year, medievalism became not only the justification but also the inspiration for community festivity, from Christmas and Boxing Day through Maytime rituals to Hallowe'en, as show in the writings of amongst many others Keats, Browning and Dickens.Trade Review[The] book is awash with fascinating and understudied examples of nineteenth-century medievalism, and is thus a valuable work of scholarly recovery and a thoroughly enjoyable and interesting read. -- PARERGON[An] interesting and very relevant contribution to any study of invented medievalisms. -- FOLKLORETable of ContentsIntroduction: Medievalizing Time 1. The Christian and Not-so-Christian Year 2. Medievalist Calendar Experiments 3. Christmas Becomes a Season 4. Winter Love: St. Agnes and St. Valentine 5. Rites of Spring: Imagining Origins 6. Summer Festivals: Religion in Performance 7. Fragmented Autumn: Harvest-Home to Lord Mayor's Show Epilogue: Christmas Ghosts
£18.74
Vintage Publishing Orpheus: The Song of Life
Book SynopsisFor at least two and a half millennia, the figure of Orpheus has haunted humanity. Half-man, half-god, musician, magician, theologian, poet and lover, his story never leaves us. He may be myth, but his lyre still sounds, entrancing everything that hears it: animals, trees, water, stones, and men.In this extraordinary work Ann Wroe goes in search of Orpheus, from the forests where he walked and the mountains where he worshipped to the artefacts, texts and philosophies built up round him. She traces the man, and the power he represents, through the myriad versions of a fantastical life: his birth in Thrace, his studies in Egypt, his voyage with the Argonauts to fetch the Golden Fleece, his love for Eurydice and journey to Hades, and his terrible death. We see him tantalising Cicero and Plato, and breathing new music into Gluck and Monteverdi; occupying the mind of Jung and the surreal dreams of Cocteau; scandalising the Fathers of the early Church, and filling Rilke with poems like a whirlwind. He emerges as not simply another mythical figure but the force of creation itself, singing the song of light out of darkness and life out of death.Trade ReviewThis insightful and visionary study, treading a perfect line between imagination and scholarship, is as readable and necessary as a fine novel. Ted Hughes, another mythographer, would have loved it * Independent *Ann Wroe has an acute eye for pastoral detail...and takes a novelist's care in exploring character and evoking atmosphere... [Orpheus] will leave you dancing * New Statesman *This is a most remarkable book... most rewarding... [a book] that will surely enhance Ann Wroe's already considerable reputation * Irish Times *Orpheus: The Song of Life is a book of wonders, learned, playful and passionate...For all her studies, her wide reading, her historical dilligence, Wroe's method is instinctive, as she searches for inspirations and connections across the millennia -- John Banville * Guardian *Curious... there are moments of sublime writing * Scotland on Sunday *
£15.29
Four Courts Press Ltd The Early Finn Cycle
Book Synopsis
£21.38
Medieval Institute Publications Sir Gawain: Eleven Romances and Tales
Book SynopsisThis volume is the first affordable, modern collection of all eleven of the known Middle English Gawain tales, and aims to make these texts accessible to a wider, contemporary audience. These poems-The Wedding of Sir Gawain and Dame Ragnelle, Sir Gawain and the Carle of Carlisle, The Avowyng of Arthur, The Awyntrs off Arthur, The Knightly Tale of Gologras and Gawain, The Greene Knight, The Turke and Sir Gawain, The Marriage of Sir Gawain, The Carle of Carlisle, The Jeaste of Sir Gawain, and King Arthur and King Cornwall-are united by their common concern with the theme of chivalry. Sir Gawain was by far the most popular of Arthur's knights in medieval England, and the verses collected here offer a window not only into English views on Gawain but also attitudes towards the knightly ideal and chivalry. Incorporating glosses and introductions for each text as well as an extensive glossary, this edition is excellent for students of Middle English romance.Table of ContentsAcknowledgments Abbreviations Introduction Bibliography of Editions and Works Cited The Wedding of Sir Gawain and Dame Ragnelle Sir Gawain and the Carle of Carlisle The Avowyng of Arthur The Awntyrs off Arthur The Knightly Tale of Gologras and Gawain The Greene Knight The Turke and Sir Gawain The Marriage of Sir Gawain The Carle of Carlisle The Jeaste of Sir Gawain King Arthur and King Cornwall Glossary
£33.25
Liverpool University Press Statius: Achilleid
Book SynopsisStatius' Achilleid is perhaps the most remarkable of all Latin epic poems. Its project - to tell the whole life of Achilles - was cut short by the poet's untimely death. Yet the completed first book and the earliest part of the second have a charm and freshness matched only in some of Ovid's most lively and engaging work. The poem tells how the sea-nymph Thetis, in a vain attempt to save her son from his destined end in the Trojan war, hid him on the island of Scyros, disguised as a girl. There he fell in love with the beautiful Deidamia, but at the same time, with the idea of glory in war. His feminine disguise was eventually penetrated by Ulysses and Diomedes, who tricked him into exposure of his truly warlike aspirations. In relating this story Statius explores the nature of gender and the limits of the epic genre, while playfully and wittily positioning himself in the epic - and wider - poetic tradition. These themes are explored in a new introduction by Robert Cowan, which surveys the latest research on the poem. Its assessment, very much in the modern critical manner, contrasts with and complements the traditional textual and philological commentary by O.A.W. Dilke. The combination of these two distinct approaches will assist undergraduates and postgraduates in reading the text, and, at the same time, it will provide a valuable resource for the more advanced scholar.Trade ReviewThis slim volume contains far more than its size suggests; the Latin text of Statius’ Achilleid, an introduction and a learned commentary by D., and an additional introduction and bibliography to this revised edition by C. In a work of commendable philological knowledge, D. provides insightful comments on Statius’ use and manipulation of the Latin language… C.’s new introduction and bibliography enhance an already accomplished volume… the new introduction taken on its own as a source of basic information on Statius and the Achilleid, recommends this book to undergraduates, if only because of the clarity and tone with which C. presents his information.JACT, Summer... there has also been a recent reissue in paperback of O. A. W. Dilke’s commentary on Statius’ Achilleid, with a new introduction by Bob Cowan. Armed with Dilke in paperback and H’s excellent monograph, university teachers will now be able to consider offering the Achilleid, a manageable text of a little over 1100 lines, to their students.Journal of Classics Teaching, Vol. 10Table of Contents INTRODUCTION TO NEW EDITION Statius and the 'Achilleid' Gender Genre Intertexuality Notes Select Bibliography ORIGINAL PREFACE ORIGINAL INTRODUCTION 1. Life of Statius 2. Date of Composition of the 'Achilleid' 3. Theme of the 'Achilleid' 4. Synopsis 5. Sources 6. Language and Style 7.Grammar and Syntax 8. Character-drawing 9. Influence of Statius 10. Manuscripts 11. Bibliography THE TEXT Book I Book II NOTES
£29.70
Temple Lodge Publishing Parzival: An Introduction
Book SynopsisAs a naive and innocent young man, Parzival encounters a group of noble knights in the forest. Overcome by the leading knight's shining armour, he assumes that the man must be a God. This key turning point in Parzival's life inspires him to seek to become a knight himself, and immediately he embarks upon a quest to find King Arthur's court and ultimately the Holy Grail. Through his journeys Parzival is to learn many unexpected lessons, discovering qualities of empathy, humility, compassion and ultimately true and selfless love. Filled with spiritual wisdom and artistic beauty, Parzival is one of the greatest works of world literature. In this concise, accessible introduction to the central Gail story, Eileen Hutchins describes the key characters, including Parzival's father Gamuret and mother Herzeleide, and relates the tale in outline. Her classic study also features commentary on the book's historical background, essays on its significance today, and a comparison with other Grail Romances. Eschenbach is the first medieval poet to represent a character who has to win his way through trial and error, from ignorance to wisdom, and from fascination with the world of the senses to recognition of higher realms of experience. In this sense he is representative of modern man.' - from the Introduction
£10.44
Cambridge Philological Society Sensing Greek Drama
Book Synopsis_Sensing Greek Drama_explores ancient Greek tragedy and comedy through the lens of the senses. It works within and beyond a number of recent developments in the scholarship of Classics and related fields. The essays within the volume engage with the senses in drama in manifold ways: through various theoretical frameworks borrowed from kindred fields in the humanities and sciences - postmodernism, humanism, feminism, phenomenology, cognitive theory and neuroscience, to name a few - as well as through the more traditional approaches within Classics of philology, historicism, performance studies and reception. The essays cover a relatively narrow range of tragic and comic plays, instead of encompassing the entirety of ancient drama, in order to foster meaningful links throughout the volume and to exemplify the value of engaging with the senses to produce new understandings of drama - and of the senses themselves.As a result of the volume, the study of Greek drama will be opened up for fur
£54.00
York Medieval Press Piers Plowman and its Manuscript Tradition
Book SynopsisThe first full survey of crucial witnesses to the reception of Piers Plowman. The fifty-plus surviving manuscripts of William Langland's Piers Plowman cast important light on the early public life of this central Middle English work, but they have been relatively neglected by scholarship. This first full study of the subject examines the textual variants, marginal rubrics and companion texts in the manuscripts. It illuminates a reception quite distinct from the reformist poems written by Langland's imitators in "the Piers Plowman tradition". It reveals how the earliest scribes devised various traditional forms of presentation that proved remarkably durable in the poem's subsequent reception, even surviving into the age of print. Exploring Piers Plowman's appearances in the manuscripts, paired unexpectedly with such genres as romance, hagiography and travel literature, the book demonstrates the surprisingly affective responses of medieval readers to the represented lives of the narrator Will and the title figure Piers the Plowman. At the same time, it shows that the evidence for individual scribal agendas in particular copies is more ambiguous than often assumed, with each book reflecting the activities of an unknown number of hands and an uncertain mixture of design and accident. By drawing on evidence from textual scholarship as well as codicological and literary approaches, the author offers fresh insight into Piers Plowman's place in literary history and proposes new ways of understanding the late medieval manuscript as a multi-layered, collaborative product. Sarah Wood is Associate Professor of Medieval English Literature at the University of WarwickTrade ReviewThe book's strength lies in Wood's ability to reconstruct textual possibilities, whether from omissions in manuscripts hitherto believed to be accidental or from larger-scale, contested theses about the "usual suspects." * STUDIES IN THE AGE OF CHAUCER *
£66.67
FreeLance Academy Press The Peter von Danzig Fight Book: The Complete
Book SynopsisNoted medieval combat authorities Dierk Hagedorn and Christian Henry Tobler join forces to present a transcription, translation and analysis of the Peter von Danzig Fight Book, one of the finest manuscripts of the 15th century devoted to the fencing tradition of German grandmaster Johannes Liechtenauer. The codex features anonymous commentaries on Liechtenauer's own mnemonic verses, as well as treatises by other masters of his circle: Masters Lignitzer, Huntfelt, Ott and Peter von Danzig himself. A compendium of teachings for how to fight with the long sword, spear, sword and buckler, dagger, as well as unarmed grappling, both in and out of armour, this volume is a valuable resource for historical martial artists, historians and medieval re-enactors.
£40.38
