The stories of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table are some of the most popular in medieval Europe: how did this tradition arise, and why did it flourish?  Why does it continue to inspire books and films today?  This course will introduce students to the Middle English language through a study of some examples of Arthurian Romance, including works by Chaucer and Malory, as well as the Breton lay Sir Launfal and and the anonymous Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.  Consideration will be given also to European analogues and sources, particularly in French romance, but the primary texts studied will be Middle English. Assessment by PS paper.

Draft Schedule:

17.09    Intro to Arthur, Geoffrey of Monmouth

24.09    Layamon’s Brut I: The beginnings, the Court

01.10    Breton Arthur: Sir Launfal 1

08.10    Sir Launfal contd.

15.10    Arthur’s Knights: Gawain and the Green Knight

22.10    Gawain and the Green Knight II

29.10    The Green Knight on film

05.11    Continental analogues: Chrétien de Troyes and Marie de France

12.11    Chaucer: The Wife of Bath's Tale

19.11    Chaucer: The Tale of  Sir Thopas

26.11    Malory’s Launcelot and Guinevere

03.12    Malory’s Arthur: The King’s Death

10.12    Victorian Arthur: Tennyson’s The Passing of Arthur

17.12    Grail quest in the 1990s: The Fisher King film

• Knowledge of basic grammar of Middle English language
• Basic training in reading Middle English
• Broad appreciation of the development of written English in manuscript and the beginning of print
• Understanding of post-Conquest English literature and culture
• Appreciation of importance of the medieval world in the modern English imagination, and sense of ‘Englishness’