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Octavian (Middle English Verse Romance)
''Octavian'' is a 14th-century Middle English verse translation and abridgement of a mid-13th century Old French romance (heroic literature)">romance of the same name. This Middle English version exists in three manuscript copies and in two separate compositions, one of which may have been written by the 14th-century poet Thomas Chestre who also composed Libeaus Desconus and Sir Launfal. The other two copies are not by Chestre and preserve a version of the poem in regular twelve-line tail rhyme stanzas, a verse structure that was popular in the 14th century in England. Both poetic compositions condense the Old French romance to about 1800 lines, a third of its original length, and relate “incidents and motifs common in legend, romance and chanson de geste.” The story describes a trauma that unfolds in the household of Octavian, later the Roman Emperor Augustus, whose own mother deceives him into sending his wife and his two newborn sons into exile and likely death. After many ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
British Library MS Cotton Caligula A Ii Folio 93v
British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture * British English, the English language as spoken and written in United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and, more broadly, throughout the British Isles * Celtic Britons, an ancient ethno-linguistic group * Brittonic languages, a branch of the Insular Celtic language family (formerly called British) ** Common Brittonic, an ancient language Other uses *People or things associated with: ** Great Britain, an island ** British Isles, an island group ** United Kingdom, a sovereign state ** British Empire, a historical global colonial empire ** Kingdom of Great Britain (1707–1800) ** United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (1801–1922) * British Raj, colonial India under the British Empire * British Hong Kong, colonial Ho ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Villain
A villain (also known as a " black hat", "bad guy" or "baddy"; The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) – p.126 "baddy (also baddie) noun (pl. -ies) ''informal'' a villain or criminal in a book, film, etc.". the feminine form is villainess) is a stock character, whether based on a historical narrative or one of literary fiction. '' Random House Unabridged Dictionary'' defines such a character as "a cruelly malicious person who is involved in or devoted to wickedness or crime; scoundrel; or a character in a play, novel, or the like, who constitutes an important evil agency in the plot". The antonym of a villain is a hero. The villain's structural purpose is to serve as the opposite to the hero character, and their motives or evil actions drive a plot along. In contrast to the hero, who is defined by feats of ingenuity and bravery and the pursuit of justice and the greater good, a villain is often defined by their acts of selfishness, evilness, arrogance, cruelty, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chrétien De Troyes
Chrétien de Troyes (; ; 1160–1191) was a French poet and trouvère known for his writing on King Arthur, Arthurian subjects such as Gawain, Lancelot, Perceval and the Holy Grail. Chrétien's chivalric romances, including ''Erec and Enide'', ''Lancelot, the Knight of the Cart, Lancelot'', ''Perceval, the Story of the Grail, Perceval'' and ''Yvain, the Knight of the Lion, Yvain'', represent some of the best-regarded works of medieval literature. His use of structure, particularly in ''Yvain'', has been seen as a step towards the modern novel. Life Little is known of his life, but he seems to have been from Troyes or at least intimately connected with it. Between 1160 and 1172 he served (perhaps as herald-at-arms, as Gaston Paris speculated) at the court of his patroness Marie of France, Countess of Champagne, daughter of Louis VII of France, King Louis VII and Eleanor of Aquitaine, who married Henry I, Count of Champagne, Count Henry I of Champagne in 1164. Later, he served t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sir Isumbras
''Sir Isumbras'' is a medieval metrical romance written in Middle English and found in no fewer than nine manuscripts dating to the fifteenth century. This popular romance must have been circulating in England before 1320, because William of Nassyngton, in his work '' Speculum Vitae'', which dates from this time, mentions feats of arms and other 'vanities', such as those found in stories of Sir Guy of Warwick, Bevis of Hampton, Octavian and Sir Isumbras.Hudson, Harriet. 1996. Unlike the other three stories, the Middle English ''Sir Isumbras'' is not a translation of an Old French original. Sir Isumbras is a proud knight who is offered the choice of happiness in his youth or his old age. He chooses the latter, and falls from his high estate by the will of Providence. He is severely stricken; his possessions, his children and, lastly, his wife, are taken away; and he himself becomes a wanderer. After much privation he trains as a blacksmith, learning to forge anew his armour, an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
William Of Palerne
''Guillaume de Palerne'' or in modern spelling '' Palerme'' ("William of Palerne" or "Palermo") is a French romance poem, later translated into Middle English where it is also known as ''William and the Werewolf''. The French verse romance is thought to have been composed anywhere from the late 12th to late 13th century (cf. ). The verse version in French survives in a single 13th century manuscript (l'Arsenal 6565 olim 178Bibliothèque de l'Arsenal "" '' Archives et manuscrits'' BnF. @ Gallica). The prose version of the French romance (created <1535) went through early printed editions. The edition from of Paris passed through several post- editions (c. 1550–1590?), into the 17th century. The English poem in |
Sir Tryamour
''Sir Tryamour'' is a Middle English romance dated to the late fourteenth century. The source is unknown and, like almost all of the Middle English romances to have survived, its author is anonymous. The 1,719-line poem is written in irregular tail rhyme stanzas composed in the Northeast Midlands dialect. There are textual ambiguities and obscurities that suggest corruptionFellows xvii. or "loose transmission." Consequently, interpretations, glosses and notes vary between editions, sometimes substantially. Plot summary King Ardus of Aragon and his wife, Margaret, have no children, so he pledges to go on crusade in the hope that God will grant him an heir. A son is conceived the night before he leaves for the Holy Land, though neither of them know it. During the king's absence his steward, Marrok, attempts to seduce the queen, who firmly rejects him. In retaliation, when the king comes home Marrok tells him that the queen was unfaithful while he was gone and that the child is not ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sir Eglamour Of Artois
''Sir Eglamour of Artois'' is a Middle English verse romance that was written sometime around 1350. It is a narrative poem of about 1300 lines, a tail-rhyme romance that was quite popular in its day, judging from the number of copies that have survived – four manuscripts from the 15th century or earlier and a manuscript and five printed editions from the 16th century. The poem tells a story that is constructed from a large number of elements found in other medieval romances. Modern scholarly opinion has been critical of it because of this, describing it as unimaginative and of poor quality. Medieval romance as a genre, however, concerns the reworking of "the archetypal images of romance" and if this poem is viewed from a 15th-century perspective as well as from a modern standpoint – and it was obviously once very popular, even being adapted into a play in 1444 – one might find a "romance hatis carefully structured, the action highly unified, the narration lively." The actio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Crescentia (romance)
''Crescentia'' is an Early Middle High German language chivalric romance, included in the '' Kaiserchronik'' about 1150. Other versions appeared in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, in prose and verse. Numerous romances, such as '' Le Bone Florence of Rome'', are classified as belonging to the "Crescentia cycle" because of the common plot; this is the oldest known variant of the tales.Laura A. Hibbard, ''Medieval Romance in England'' p. 12 New York Burt Franklin,1963 Romance Crescentia is approached by her brother-in-law, in her husband's absence, with offers of love. She tricks him into a tower imprisonment, but frees him out of joy at her husband's imminent return. He accuses her of adultery to his brother, and she is thrown in the Tiber by her husband and saved by St. Peter. She finds refuge in a court, where she rebuffs another lover, who frames for murder of her fosterling by a bloody dagger, and she is thrown in the water again. St. Peter grants her healing powe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Emaré
''Emaré'' is a Middle English Breton lai, a form of mediaeval romance poem, told in 1035 lines. The author of ''Emaré'' is unknown and it exists in only one manuscript, Cotton Caligula A. ii, which contains ten metrical narratives. ''Emaré'' seems to date from the late fourteenth century, possibly written in the North East Midlands. The iambic pattern is rather rough.Emaré: Introduction', Edited by Anne Laskaya and Eve Salisbury, Originally Published in The Middle English Breton Lays, Kalamazoo, Michigan: Medieval Institute Publications, 1995 It tells a version of the popular "Constance-saga". Plot summary The text begins with a standard invocation to Christ, but one of uncommon length; it may be the longest one in English romance. We are then told of Sir Artyus, an Emperor. His wife gives birth to a beautiful baby girl but dies shortly afterwards. The daughter, Emaré, is sent to live with a lady named Abro who raises her and teaches her manners and sewing. Some years ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Canterbury Tales
''The Canterbury Tales'' () is a collection of 24 stories written in Middle English by Geoffrey Chaucer between 1387 and 1400. The book presents the tales, which are mostly written in verse, as part of a fictional storytelling contest held by a group of pilgrims travelling together from London to Canterbury to visit the shrine of Saint Thomas Becket at Canterbury Cathedral. The ''Tales'' are widely regarded as Chaucer's '' magnum opus''. They had a major effect upon English literature and may have been responsible for the popularisation of the English vernacular in mainstream literature, as opposed to French or Latin. English had, however, been used as a literary language centuries before Chaucer's time, and several of Chaucer's contemporaries— John Gower, William Langland, the Gawain Poet, and Julian of Norwich—also wrote major literary works in English. It is unclear to what extent Chaucer was seminal in this evolution of literary preference. ''The Canterbury Tale ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Medieval Romance
As a literary genre, the chivalric romance is a type of prose and verse narrative that was popular in the noble courts of high medieval and early modern Europe. They were fantastic stories about marvel-filled adventures, often of a chivalric knight-errant portrayed as having heroic qualities, who goes on a quest. It developed further from the epics as time went on; in particular, "the emphasis on love and courtly manners distinguishes it from the ''chanson de geste'' and other kinds of epic, in which masculine military heroism predominates." Popular literature also drew on themes of romance, but with ironic, satiric, or burlesque intent. Romances reworked legends, fairy tales, and history to suit the readers' and hearers' tastes, but by they were out of fashion, and Miguel de Cervantes famously burlesqued them in his novel ''Don Quixote''. Still, the modern image of "medieval" is more influenced by the romance than by any other medieval genre, and the word ''medieval'' e ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Breton Lays
A Breton lai, also known as a narrative lay or simply a lay, is a form of medieval French and English romance literature. Lais are short (typically 600–1000 lines), rhymed tales of love and chivalry, often involving supernatural and fairy-world Celtic motifs. The word "lay" or "lai" is thought to be derived from the Old High German and/or Old Middle German ''leich'', which means play, melody, or song, or as suggested by Jack Zipes in ''The Oxford Companion to Fairy Tales'', the Irish word ''laid'' (song).Zipes, 62 Zipes writes that Arthurian legends may have been brought from Wales, Cornwall and Ireland to Brittany; on the continent the songs were performed in various places by harpists, minstrels, storytellers.Zipes, Jack, ''The Oxford Companion to Fairytales''. Oxford UP. 2009 62-63 Zipes reports the earliest recorded lay is Robert Biker's Lai du Cor, dating to the mid- to late-12th century. The earliest of the Breton lais to survive are probably ''The Lais of Marie de Fr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
