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Read the Classics 2008-2009: Middle Ages
This is the archive for the 2008-2009 reading, lecture and discussion series focused on literature of Ancient Greece and Rome that was led by Michael Faletra, Assistant Professor of English at Reed College. Includes the suggested readings about the books that were discussed.
At Central Library
The titles for the Middle Ages series
- Beowulf translated by Seamus Heaney
- Beowulf film. Old English text performed by Benjamin Bagby with modern English subtitles
- The History of the Kings of Britain by Geoffrey of Monmouth - note: We used the facilitator's translation.
- Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
- The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer
Printable Read the Classics, 2008-2009: Middle Ages flyer (pdf)
Meet your professor
Michael A. Faletra, Reed College, specializes in the literatures of medieval Britain. He teaches classical literature, medieval literature, and Shakespeare at Reed College and the University of Vermont and has written on Geoffrey of Monmouth, John of Cornwall, Gerald of Wales, Marie de France and the Middle English romances, and has edited and translated Geoffrey of Monmouth's The History of the Kings of Britain.
Overview
Beowulf
The oldest and arguably the greatest English epic, Beowulf stands at the dawn of the British literary tradition. With a unique presentation of the world of pagan heroism, this gripping tale of monsters and warriors, of peace and war, of loyalty and vengeance, has inspired countless writers, especially J. R. R. Tolkien, William Morris, John Gardner, Neil Gaiman, and W. H. Auden, and it has in recent years even spawned several feature-length films. There has never been a better time to dig in and study this moving and powerful poem.
Composed sometime between the 7th and 11th centuries, the story showcases the beautiful and energetic Old English alliterative style, with its repetition of initial sounds of stressed syllables, which translator Seamus Heaney captures marvelously. As all great epics do, Beowulf stands at a crucial historical threshold, straddling both the pagan world of the Germanic Anglo-Saxons and the Christian world of medieval Europe. The poem focuses on the exploits of the warrior Beowulf, who embodies all the positive traits of Anglo-Saxon culture: courage, steadfastness, loyalty, and a stoic acceptance of one's own death. Beowulf also presents to us three very problematic monsters: Grendel, who both hates and longs for the society of humans; Grendel's fearsome Mother, whose desire for vengeance throws light upon some of the weaknesses of Anglo-Saxon culture; and the ominous dragon, whose inhuman lust for gold mirrors a very human desire for treasure and honor. In this discussion we will examine many of the story's puzzles, contradictions, and preoccupations, especially its profoundly mixed feelings about the virtues of the old heroic warrior code.
Beowulf has survived to the present day in only a single, handwritten medieval manuscript, which dates from around 1015. (There is a digital image of one of the pages of the actual Beowulf manuscript in the British Library.) In other words, the poem comes down to us from the distant past hanging on a thread. The authorship and dating of Beowulf have never been definitively determined. Some believe that the poem was written by a cleric, while others consider it the work of a professional Anglo–Saxon bard, or scop. Likewise, the poem's date has been placed anytime between the 7th century (because of its archaic language and glorification of the pagan past) and the 11th century (the date of the actual manuscript). Scholars who argue for the earlier dating often associate the poem and its author with a specific archeological site, the magnificent pagan ship burial at Sutton Hoo in central England. Scholars who see the poem as a later work emphasize the Christian inflection of its author and its distance from the bygone Anglo–Saxon heroic age. (See a discussion of the dating controversy.) Read the poem, come to the Central Library to discuss it, and decide for yourself. We look forward to two great hours discussing a work that, in Prof. Tolkien's words, "glimpses the cosmic and moves with the thought of all men concerning the fate of human life and efforts." Prepare to be changed.
The History of the Kings of Britain by Geoffrey of Monmouth
By anyone's standards, Geoffrey of Monmouth's The History of the Kings of Britain (ca. 1136) was one of the most popular and widely–read books throughout Europe during the High Middle Ages. Though written originally in Latin, its influence was felt in locales as remote from England as Sicily and Poland. Geoffrey's book covers the nearly 2000 year–long history of the ancient Britons, the Celtic people who had populated the island before the Anglo–Saxon invasions of the fifth and sixth centuries; these Britons were the ancestors of the modern Welsh and Cornish. As Geoffrey narrates their legendary history, from the founding of Britain by exiles from Troy through the glorious reign of King Arthur and up to the fall of native rule in the face of encroaching Saxon forces, we are introduced to many familiar characters, some of them for the first time: King Arthur and Queen Guinevere, the prophet and magician Merlin, the bold Sir Gawain, the tragic King Lear, the wicked traitor Vortigern, and even the original Old King Cole! (To learn more about some of these colorful figures and the real history behind them, see Vortigern Studies)
Over a fifth of Geoffrey's book is occupied with the life and career of Britain's most famous king, Arthur. Geoffrey tells us of Arthur's meteoric rise to power, his victory over the pagan Saxons, his conquest of the Roman Empire, and his ultimate betrayal and death — or apparent death. And Geoffrey is the earliest writer on record to raise the possibility that Arthur may live on to return to aid England in a time of need: the once and future King. (If you want to know more about the literary and historical background of King Arthur, see Siân Echard's Medieval and Arthurian Pages.)
Although The History of the Kings of Britain seems authoritative and thorough, many readers from the 12th century to the present have doubted the truthfulness behind Geoffrey's account. Geoffrey himself claims to be translating his story from "a certain very ancient book in the British tongue" — but this book probably never existed, and it seems that Geoffrey in fact stitched his history together from a whole array of different sources, patching bits of historical fact together with the offspring of his own fertile imagination. In this discussion, we will think about how we can evaluate Geoffrey's achievement. Is Geoffrey of Monmouth one of the most creative storytellers of the twelfth century and one of Britain's most important historians — or is he merely "the father of lies?" Join us for a jolly romp through ancient British past as we examine the work of England's liveliest historian.
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
For hundreds of years throughout Western Europe, the chivalric romance was the queen of literary genres. Medieval audiences would listen to or read about the deeds of knights in shining armor, of lofty quests, of daring rescues, and of the ennobling powers of courtly love. Of all these stories, the ones centering around the court of King Arthur and his noble knights were among the most beloved. In fact, many real medieval kings and nobles held "King Arthur" tournaments, emulating their favorite romance heroes.
The anonymous 14th century English poem Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (circa 1360–1380) is almost universally considered the finest and most complex of all the Arthurian romances. Its hero, Gawain, was the most beloved of all of Arthur's knights among medieval English audiences (to get a taste for these literary backgrounds, see Gawain). Yet, like the enigmatic five–pointed star on Gawain's shield, this story is riddled with paradoxes as both Gawain and the audience struggle to discern truth from reality: Who are the heroes and who are the villains? When is a game merely a game and when is it a matter of life and death? What makes King Arthur such a great king? What are the bounds of hospitality? Do knightly reputations always live up to reality? And what does it even mean to be a knight of the Round Table anyway? From its very first scene, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight unsettles all of our common and comfortable notions about the too-often idealized world of the Arthurian romance.
In Sir Gawain and the Green Knight we see the lofty ideals of the Arthurian court clash with the mystery of the Celtic Otherworld as Gawain struggles to maintain his honor — and his very identity — in the illusory Castle Hautdesert and the uncanny Green Chapel. As we read and investigate this compelling text, we will consider to what extent Sir Gawain sacrifices his own values and the honor of Arthur's court in pursuit of a seemingly unwinnable quest.
The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer
Before there was Shakespeare or Austen or Dickens or Joyce, there was Chaucer, one of the greatest writers of medieval Europe. The premise of his masterpiece, The Canterbury Tales, is simple. Twenty–nine pilgrims engage in a storytelling contest while on the road to the shrine of St. Thomas in Canterbury; the winner getting a free meal and all he or she can drink. Although the game seems straightforward, the stories the pilgrims tell as they try to out–narrate and outwit one another open up a myriad of perspectives on medieval English society, challenging the accepted social mores of the day and raising many profound questions about the oppressive English medieval class system, about the status of women, and about the power of stories to change our lives.
The enigmatic Geoffrey Chaucer (1343–1400) led a life full of contradictions. He was a man of humble origins (his father was a vintner), but he rose through the ranks of the English bureaucracy to become an important diplomat, customs officer, and perhaps even the confidante of kings. He certainly knew most of the powerful Englishmen of his day. On the other hand, he was intimately familiar with the lives of the peasantry and the middle classes and was a keen observer of naturalistic detail: Chaucer's pilgrims, more than any other characters in medieval literature, feel like real people. Despite the fact that Chaucer's day jobs were dependent on maintaining the status quo, his Canterbury Tales explores many radical ideas. In fact, some scholars believe that Chaucer wrote The Canterbury Tales while lying low in Canterbury after political intrigue forced him to temporarily flee his home in London. (See Chaucer's biography.)
Chaucer lived in an age of turbulent change, coming in the wake of the Black Plague, peasant rebellions, religious heresies, and the Hundred Years' War, and his work raises many thorny issues for audiences who were seeking new answers to old questions. How can one live an admirable life when all human beings are so flawed? Can an evil person tell a good, morally instructive story? What sorts of stories do we tell about ourselves? How do stories get out of our control? Does personal experience count more than the religious authorities of the Church? Can stories change the way we think about the world — or even about reality itself? To what extent do our individual personalities and temperaments infiltrate the types of stories we tell and enjoy?
The Canterbury Tales was fortunately preserved for us in many handwritten medieval manuscripts, but the two earliest and most famous, the Hengwrt manuscript and the Ellesmere manuscript, were copied by Chaucer's personal scribe, Adam Pinkhurst, shortly after Chaucer died, probably as a tribute to his dead master. The Ellesmere manuscript is particularly beautiful and has illustrations of most of the Canterbury pilgrims. To view some of these images online, see Ellesmere Chaucer.
Join us at the Central Library for a fun and engaging exploration of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, the most modern (and even post–modern!) work of the Middle Ages. The main focus of our discussion will be on The General Prologue, The Knight's Tale, The Miller's Tale, The Wife of Bath's Tale, and The Pardoner's Tale. If we have time we may discuss The Clerk's Tale (called The Oxford Scholar's Tale in the Oxford edition), The Franklin's Tale, and The Nun's Priest's Tale.
Further reading about the literature of the Middle Ages
About Beowulf
- Benjamin Bagby
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(2007)Benjamin Bagby performs/sings Beowulf in Old English with modern English subtitles while playing the Anglo-Saxon harp. This stunning performance of the first 1062 lines of Beowulf shows how powerful and vastly entertaining the poem is. There is no better way to "get" Beowulf as the early Anglo-Saxons experienced it, sung and enacted by a "scop" or bard.
- Stenton, Frank
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(2001)"Discussing the development of English society, from the growth of royal power to the establishment of feudalism after the Norman Conquest, this book focuses on the emergence of the earliest English kingdoms and the Anglo-Norman monarchy in 1087. It also describes the chief phases in the history of the Anglo-Saxon church, drawing on many diverse examples; the result is a fascinating insight into this period of English history."
- Baker, Peter
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(2000)"Gathering some of the most important studies from the past 25 years of Beowulf scholarship, The Beowulf Reader offers essential insights both to scholars in the field and to readers coming to this Old English literary masterpiece for the first time. The carefully selected essays in this volume represent the various approaches that have dominated recent Beowulf studies and illustrate the evolution of Old English literary criticism, from New Critical formalism to recent trends in critical theory and a resurgent historicism."
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(2003)Beowulf and the history of the early Anglo-Saxons is examined using 3D animation, archival materials, location footage and interviews with experts. It includes segments about Sutton Hoo and West Stow – two important Anglo-Saxon archeological sites, as well as insights into the religion and daily life of the Anglo-Saxons at the time of Beowulf.
About The History of the Kings of Britain and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
- Geoffrey of Monmouth
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(1149–1151?)The Life of Merlin is included as an appendix to Michael Faletra's translation of The History of the Kings of Britain. It follows on the prophecies of Merlin, which is part of the History and is where we get the character of Merlin.
- Ashe, Geoffrey
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(2005)"Scholars, students, and general readers of all ages have wondered for centuries about whether Britain was ever really ruled by an Arthur who held court at a place called Camelot. In The Discovery of King Arthur the distinguished scholar Geoffrey Ashe offers convincing proof that King Arthur not only existed, but was more like the Arthur of legend than historians have previously suspected. Throughout the book, the sweep and grandeur of a tumultuous era in British and European history is vividly recounted as Ashe describes the origins and development of the Arthurian legend that seems to grow ever more enchanting and spellbinding."
- Warren, Michelle
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(2000)"The Arthurian legends are history written on the edge; stories whose changing shape reflects the contested borders of medieval Britain. Medieval history through the lens of postcolonial theory."
- Ingledew, Francis
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(2006)"Many critics situate the medieval poem Sir Gawain and the Green Knight in the alliterative revival of the late 14th century, during the reign of Richard II. Ingledew associates the poem with the military events, chivalric aspirations, and sexual rumors of the reign of Edward III (1327-77). The author cites historical and cultural contexts in support of his view, among them Edward's intent to institute his own Round Table, the supposed rape of the Countess of Salisbury, and Edward's founding of the Order of the Garter. All these Ingledew presents as parallel to the adventures of Gawain in the poem."
- Loomis, Roger Sherman
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(2000)"This masterly study examines the evolution of fiction surrounding the Arthurian legend, from Geoffrey of Monmouth's History of the Kings of Britain to Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and Le Morte d'Arthur."
About The Canterbury Tales
- Jones, Terry
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(2004)"In this work of historical speculation Terry Jones (and yes, this is by Terry Jones of Monty Python) and a team of international scholars investigate the mystery surrounding the death of Geoffrey Chaucer. An important public figure, a diplomat and the brother-in-law to John of Gaunt, one of the most powerful men in the kingdom, Chaucer was celebrated as his country's finest living poet, rhetorician and scholar: the pre-eminent intellectual superstar of his time. We have a great deal of information about his life. And yet nothing at all is known of his death.What if he was murdered? What if he and his writings had become politically inconvenient in the seismic social shift that occurred with the overthrow of the liberal Richard II by the reactionary, oppressive regime of Henry IV? This hypothesis is interwoven with a portrait of one of the most turbulent periods in English history, its politics and its personalities."
- Astell, Ann W.
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(1996)"The order of the fragments making up the Canterbury Tales and the structure of that collection have long been questioned. Ann W. Astell proposes that Chaucer intended the order that is preserved in what is known as the Ellesmere manuscript. In supporting her claim, Astell reveals a wealth of insights into the world of medieval learning, Chaucer's expected audience, and the meaning of the Canterbury Tales."
- Strohm, Paul
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(1994)"This text analyzes the effect of Chaucer's poetry on his contemporary readers, examining how he and his audience understood their society and how this is reflected in the works."
Made possible by the National Endowment for the Humanities Fund of The Library Foundation.
