1

MMEEDDIIEEVVAALL LLIITTEERRAATTUURREE II

11.. TTHHEE MMIIDDDDLLEE AAGGEESS

The world of the Middle Ages is much more active and fascinating than it might appear at first

sight, disproving the name of “dark” ages.

Major changes occurring up to the 13th

century:

Stability of political conditions;

Development of trade and agriculture, development of towns and the gradual rise of the

bourgeoisie;

Chivalry, the knight‟s code, courtly literature with a taste for luxury and extravagance;

Gothic architecture;

New religious orders coming with a new religious sensibility (esp. expressed in the cult of

the Virgin Mary);

Revival in the taste for classical literature (the 12th

century Renaissance);

Development of education in cathedral schools and later in the first universities (Paris,

Oxford);

The Mediterranean Sea becomes more open to the Europeans (the beginning of the

Crusades) who become acquainted to the Muslim world and, through them, with the

Greek world, resulting in the rediscovery of Aristotle and the start of the age of

scholasticism.

22.. LLAANNGGUUAAGGEE AANNDD LLIITTEERRAATTUURREE:: GGEENNEERRAALL GGUUIIDDEELLIINNEESS

The Medieval period in England stretches from the Norman period (1100-1150) to the

end of the War of the Roses (1487). The Norman Conquest was a conquest of the land but also

one of the arts. The language of the Anglo-Saxons, especially in the realm of politics,

administration, law and culture was replaced by the French language spoken by the new king and

his lords and by Latin, the language of the church. Therefore, for several centuries, literature was

trilingual, as French, Latin and English were used. Many families were, for a while, bilingual, as

they needed to learn the language of the conquerors while they kept their own dialect.

By the second half of the fourteenth century the fusion between the Normans and the

English was already completed and English became official language of the court and parliament.

In 1362, for instance, the Parliament opened its session in English. The increasing use of the

English language also comes as a result of the growing hostility between England and France.

However, even if during the reign of Richard II (1372-1398) English gained equal literary

importance to French, there was still no fixed English standard. The great writers of the period:

William Langland, Geoffrey Chaucer and the Gawain poet, all three wrote in three dialects: the

Worcestershire English, the London dialect and that of the Stafford-Cheshire border, respectively.

There were also other dialects in use. Even London English was a mixture of dialects. The

introduction of the printing press in 1476 helped spread a literary standard, that of the London

English, under the Tudors (1485-1603). The “King‟s English” was disseminated through religious

boos, such as the authorized version of the Bible (King James‟ Bible, 1611), but the spelling was

fully standardized only after Dr. Johnson‟s Dictionary of 1755.

The Norman Conquest brought about a change in literary tastes as well. The new

aristocracy preferred a different type of literature, thus widening the cultural borders of the Anglo-

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Saxon world towards a modern literary model shared by other European cultures. There are

formal changes as well as thematic changes. Among the formal changes, the most evident is the

replacement of the old alliterative style with rhymed patterns, whereas the aristocratic character of

literature becomes evident in a different choice of themes and characters, replacing the heroic and

elegiac spirit of the Anglo-Saxons with a courtly literature, romances of chivalry, whose focus is on

love and adventure, or allegories, in the search of deeper meaning, of a moral or spiritual sort,

under the surface of things.

For a long time, especially during the Anglo-Norman period, literature was written mainly

in French or in Latin, since literature was either produced for the court, where French was used, or

in monasteries and religious centers, in which case Latin was favored.

It does not mean, however, that the Anglo-Saxon literary tradition disappears completely.

The Anglo-Saxon prose tradition represented by Aelfric and Wulfstan influenced the writing of the

Ancrene Wisse and alliterative poetry is still present in Layamon‟s Brut, for instance. The Anglo-

Saxon tradition survived, but it no longer occupied the central position.

33.. TTHHEE AANNGGLLOO--NNOORRMMAANN PPEERRIIOODD

The early Middle Ages in England are marked by the coexistence of the Anglo-Saxon

culture with the Norman culture. It is usually referred to as the Anglo-Norman period, stretching

from the Norman Conquest to the beginning of the Hundred Years‟ War (1337) a period of

transition that is still extremely important because of: a) the language change and the passage from

Old English to what is known as Middle English, clearly influenced by the contact with the French

language spoken by the conquerors and with the Latin used by the Church; and b) the change in

artistic taste, again clearly influenced by the Norman and French aristocracy, with a stressed

impact, in literature, on the transformation of style, language, tone, themes and characters.

33..11.. TTHHEE NNOORRMMAANN CCOONNQQUUEESSTT AANNDD TTHHEE AANNGGLLOO--NNOORRMMAANN WWOORRLLDD

The Vikings had not attacked only England, but also France. They had already occupied the

territory of upper Normandy, and the Franks had to give them control over more land in present-

day France. Their king was converted to Christianity (912) and he adopted the language, customs,

laws, religion, political organization and war methods of the Franks. These Vikings started being,

henceforward, known as THE NORMANS, men of Normandy – “the land of the Nordmanni or

the Norsemen.” They were those who, a century later, would conquer England, subdue the Anglo-

Saxons, and exert a tremendous influence on all cultural, social and political aspects, from

language and literature to laws, administration, social structure. When they conquered England,

the Normans already had a hierarchical feudal system and a well-organized army.

TTHHEE FFEEUUDDAALL SSYYSSTTEEMM::

After the conquest, William was careful not to make the mistake of the King of France and

give too much land to the noblemen without keeping any of it to himself. The result, in France,

was that the lords, such as the duke of Normandy, were extremely powerful and the King found it

hard to control them. So, William divided the land of the territory he conquered between his lords

and the Church, keeping also land to himself. The political system that he introduced was

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relatively similar to the Anglo-Saxon system, since the feudal allegiance of the vassal to his lord was

in many ways similar to the loyalty pledged by the thane to his lord.

The medieval system was a hierarchical system, the society being divided in oratores, bellatores and laboratores, namely the clergy, the noblemen / warriors and those who work. This division of

the society and the justification for the unequal separation of people in social groups is given with

the help of religion, regarding social inequality as part of God‟s hierarchical ordering of the

universe from Him down to angels, men, women, animals, plants and minerals. In this system, the

King is the most important person, having the loyalty of this subjects and the support of the

Church that has the power to “ordain” him.

The feudal system introduced by the Norman conquerors is such a hierarchical system based

on two rules: 1. the ownership of land; and 2. the loyalty of vassals. The king was connected, as if

through a “chain” to all his people since, at each level of the society, a man had to promise loyalty

and service to a lord. This “homage” meant that, in return of the land given by the lord, the vassal

promises service and goods, namely military service or rent and products. The lowest group of

people were the serfs, who did not have any land and were bound to the land of their lord, being

little more than slaves.

William wanted to know exactly who owned the land and he had a complete economic survey

made regarding the ownership of land, the number of people, the livestock, and so on. This

document was called the Doomsday Book and is a valuable source of information about England

at that time.

The Anglo-Norman kings strengthened their power, keeping the noblemen under control and

they consolidated their influence in France as well, where they acquired even more territories,

through conquest, inheritance or marriage, up to the point when King Henry II controlled more

land in France and his lord, the King of France. Unfortunately, his followers were less worthy, and

his son, John Lackland, lost his father‟s possessions, including even Normandy. He was also forced

to sign, in 1215, the document called Magna Carta, through which the noblemen restricted the

absolute authority of the king marking the decay of the feudal system.

CCUULLTTUURRAALL AAUUTTHHOORRIITTYY

The culture and mentality of the time were dominated by a number of institutions: the King

and the noblemen, the Church and the Universities.

The King‟s court as well as the courts of some powerful noblemen became centers of culture.

The kings commissioned artists, poets, musicians to their court. Eleanor of Aquitaine (1122 or

1124 – 1204 ), king Henry II‟s wife or Richard II (1357 – 1400) were rulers who encouraged art,

their courts becoming cultural centers setting the trend in literature and art. The kings and the

noblemen became patrons of art and artists could create under their support and protection.

The Church was, however, the most influential institution in the promotion of literature and

art. The growth of literacy was dependent on the schools founded by monasteries, so learning was

mostly religious. Other branches of art such as architecture, sculpture, wood-carving, wall-painting,

stained glass, enamel, jewelry, embroidery, book production, writing, illumination and music could

develop under the patronage of the church. Medieval drama developed from the performances

destined to various church celebrations and they were reenactments of biblical tales meant to

spread the gospel to the laity. The chronicles were written by monks, keeping the record of the

historical events of their time. There is no wonder, therefore, that some of the best writers and

writings of the time were religious, such as Langland‟s Piers the Plowman, or Julian of Norwich.

Starting with the 12th

century, the intellectual initiative passes to Universities. Oxford university

was founded in 1167 and Cambridge around 1284.

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AA.. CCHHRROONNIICCLLEESS

The chronicles preserve their importance from Anglo-Saxon times. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, for instance, was still updated in the 12

th

century, in 1154. The Benedictine chroniclers

were the most active in writing chronicles, at least until the end of the 13th

century. Though many

remain unknown, history still preserved some names such as that of William of Malmesbury

(c.1196/96 – c.1143), author, among others, of the Gesta Regum Anglorum (449-1127). The

chronicler sees himself as a continuator of Bede, of whom he appears to be a great admirer and

takes into consideration, in writing his chronicle, both written sources and other types of evidence,

such as visual proof, material remains, architecture.

Another example is that of Matthew Paris (c. 1200-1259), who gave ample details about

contemporary life (he lived during the reign of Henry III: 1207-1272) in his Chronica Majora,

though imbued with his own personal ideas, which makes him rather unreliable, at times.

The last great Benedictine chronicles was Thomas Walsingham (d. 1422), covering mostly

the events connected with the reigns of Richard II (1367-1400) and Henry IV (1366-1413). In spite

of a biased attitude, he is still the major source of information on important events such as the

Peasants‟ Revolt.

Probably the most famous chronicler was Geoffrey of Monmouth (c. 1100 - 1154),

especially with his Historia Regum Britanniae (The History of the Kings of Britain), an extremely

famous history of England though, today, considered unreliable. This chronicle is rather a

compilation of various sources gathered by the cleric and imbued with his own fantasy and not a

translation of an “ancient book in the British language” as the author pretends. Whatever it might

be and however unreliable it may be considered nowadays, his text stands at the basis of other

literary works that drew inspiration from it (like those of Gorboduc, Lear and Cymbeline, for

instance). His greatest influence, however, remains in the creation of the Arthurian myth, of the

Round Table and of Merlin as well as of the legend that the founder of Britain is Brut, a

descendent of Aeneas.

B. MEDIEVAL ROMANCES AND COURTLY LITERATURE

The idea of “courtly love” was a widely-spread conception of the Middle Ages that

envisaged the love between the “chevalier” / the knight and the mistress as being led by a set of

complicated rules. In an aristocratic world in which marriage had nothing to do with love, being

often more influenced by politics, the fulfillment of these emotions would be possible only

between unmarried individuals.

The complicated behaviors required by courtly love are connected with the behavior

accepted within the feudal system between the lord and the knights. In other words, the

relationship of loyalty and obedience established between the lord and his knight is transferred to

the relationship between the knight and the lady he loves, the latter having the superior position of

the lord. The knight, therefore, has to demonstrate that he is worthy of the lady‟s love through

honorable and courageous deeds, and by doing whatever is required of him. The texts combine

love with the spirit of adventure. As far as the English literary context, the Arthurian legends are

the most popular texts connected to the spirit of love and adventure required by courtly literature.

5

Henry II‟s wife, Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine, was the one who brought this conception to

the English court, by encouraging the presence of poets and “troubadours” to sing these love

romances. It is very likely, therefore, that French writers such as Marie de France and Chretien de

Troyes might have written some of their texts in England. Marie de France wrote one text explicitly

referring to the Arthurian cycle, entitled Lanval, whereas Chretien de Troyes‟ Yvain, Lancelot, Perceval or Le Conte du Graal, became so famous that they were translated in English and

influenced later writers of the Middle Ages, such as Chaucer, Gower, or Thomas Malory.

The English romances are visibly influenced by the literary conventions brought to England

by the Norman and French noblemen and their artists, but the most famous are connected to

stories about the birth of the nation: the legendary king Brutus, descendant from Aeneas and

founder of Britain and King Arthur and his knights.

LITERARY TERMS

ROMANCE. In OF romaunt/ roman meant approximately, 'courtly romance in verse' or any

„popular book'. Thus romances in verse (and to start with most of them were in verse) were works

of fiction, or non-historical. In the 13th

c. a romance was almost any song of adventure story be it

of chivalry or of love. Gradually more and more romances were written in prose. Whatever else a

romance may be (or have been) it is principally a form of entertainment. It may also be didactic

but this is usually incidental. It is usually concerned with characters (and thus with events) who live

in a courtly world somewhat remote from the everyday. This suggests elements of fantasy,

improbability, extravagance and naivety. It also suggests elements of love, adventure, the

marvelous and the 'mythic'. For the most part the term is used rather loosely to describe a

narrative of heroic or spectacular achievements, of chivalry of gallant love, of deeds of derring-do.

In medieval romance there were three main cycles:

(a) the matter of Britain, which included Arthurian matter derived from Breton lays;

(b) the matter of Rome, which included stories of Alexander, the Trojan wars and Thebes;

(c) the matter of France, most of which was about Charlemagne and his knights.

(J.A. Cuddon, The Penguin Dictionary of Literary Terms)

The genre of romance is resistant to definition, nowhere more so than in its manifestation in

medieval England. „Gestes‟, if the term refers to epic narratives, can be seen as too heroic, the

„layes‟ of the Breton tradition too lyrical. It is not the purpose of this chapter to adopt any

demarcation that excludes such important contributions to the narrative literature of the period;

rather we will work with a recent definition that is also one of the simplest, „the principal secular

literature of entertainment of the Middle Ages‟. (The Cambridge History of Medieval English Literature)

LAY/ LAI. A short narrative or lyrical poem intended to be sung. The oldest narrative lays are

the Contes of Marie de France (c. 1175). They were stories of romance believed to have been

based on Celtic legends. The lyric lays were Provencal and usually had love themes. The term

'Breton lay' was applied to 14th

c. English poems with a Breton setting and similar to those by

Marie de France. A dozen or more are extant in English, the best known being Sir Orfeo,

Haveloc the Dane, Sir Laanval and Chaucer's Franklin's Tale.) (J.A. Cuddon, The Penguin Dictionary of Literary Terms)

The Lais of Marie de France were economically enigmatic tales of love and magic, focusing on

female action. They created in the Breton lai an alternative to the long narratives of war and

chivalry. (The Cambridge Companion to Medieval Literature)

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The preference for romance characterizes the passage from the Anglo-Saxon world, with its

heroic epics to the Norman civilization. The epic describes heroic battles and the heroes need to

fight monsters to save their kingdoms/communities. The idea of the hero includes that of savior of

his nation or tribe or clan. He needs to be valiant, skilful, honorable, just and loyal and he fights

because he must; there is no other choice to save his nation. The romances pertain to a more

refined age in which the quest, the adventure and the danger in facing supernatural beings is a

matter of choice not of instinct of survival. The romance is a form of entertainment of the

aristocracy, and the hero no longer fights for his nation, but for an ideal.

The French chanson de geste stands at the basis of the later English romances. The

chanson de geste (song of deeds) describes the adventures of the Carolingian noblemen, their wars

with the Saracens or among themselves, intrigues and rebellion. They are all based on a code of

chivalry reflecting the age‟s conception of the ideal relationship between the lord and the knights

connected with both social and religious duties. The medieval romances are closely connected with

the “chansons de geste”, and are stories of adventure or of love including real and supernatural

elements.

The first Middle English writing to discuss the legend of King Arthur and the Knights of

the Round Table is Layamon‟s Brut (c. 1200). Layamon, an English clergyman, was influenced by

the French Roman de Brut composed by the Norman poet Wace, who, in turn, based his text on

Geoffrey of Monmouth‟s History of the British Kings. The poem is named after the legendary

Brutus of Troy, grandson of Aeneas and founder of Britain, allegedly named after himself. A part

of the poem is dedicated to the life and exploits of King Arthur, a courageous and noble warrior,

defender of Christianity, of law and order, generous, courteous and sensible, with a “wondrous

birth” and a “mysterious death”. Layamon tries to unite the old and the new, adapting the sound of

the Old English verse to the new requirements of rhyme and rhythm. He retains the Old English

tradition being also, the first one to make extensive use of the French material.

In general, however, English romances, which are, in general, translations, adaptations,

rewritings and copies of French romances are simpler and more direct. They are closely connected

to the French lays. The first one that survived the test of time is King Horn (c. 1225), followed by

Floris and Blanchefleur (early 13th

century), Haveloc the Dane (c. 1300), Bevis of Hampton, Guy of Warwick and Sir Orfeo.

SIR GAWAIN AND THE GREEN KNIGHT (late 14th

century)

Four texts are attributed to a poet whose name is not known, but who seems to have composed

four exquisite works: Pearl, Purity or Cleanness, Patience and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Nothing is known of the life of the poet, but his works are considered some of the finest English

literary pieces of the period, Pearl, an elegy, Purity and Patience, verse homilies or religious

meditations and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, a romance belonging to the Arthurian cycle.

Due to his knowledge of aristocratic literary conventions as well as details of the life of the

noblemen, from clothing, armors and weapons, architecture, dishes and entertainment such as

hunting, hawking or chess, it is believed to be close to a nobleman‟s court. He also knew the Bible

and was familiar to the language of the lawyer, courtier, priest, or lover. The imagery that he uses

in his poems is complex and sophisticated, sometimes employing concrete images for abstract

ideas (like the hunted animals in Sir Gawain as symbolic for the three qualities of his souls). He

also alludes to allegory, drawing on the allegorical religious writings. His symbols are sophisticated

and complex, like Gawain‟s shield that does not point only to Gawain‟s virtues but calls to mind

the virtues of chivalric life and the conflict between Christian virtues and love depicted in the

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poem. There are several conjectures about his profession, from priest or chaplain to lawyer, but

nothing is certain except the fact that he had a daughter who died and which prompted the writing

of the poem Pearl. The poems belong to the alliterative renaissance, which was a fourteenth century revival of

the old Anglo-Saxon alliterative poetic tradition. In fact, the lack of manuscripts might suggest that

the tradition of alliterative poetry might have never disappeared in the Midlands (Northeast) and it

was only in the 14th

century that it was written down. The very existence of such poems is seen by

some critics as a proof of the continuation of the Anglo-Saxon tradition. The existence of other

alliterative 14th

century texts suggests that the alliterative conventions used by the Gawain-poet are

not unique, but part of the tradition. However, his works also testify of a remarkable talent and

subtlety: “The Gawain-poet‟s work abounds with sharply defined images, powerfully conceived

scenes, richly sensuous details colors, scents, textures. He is a master of suspense, irony, humor.

His castles are the noblest, most dazzling in English poetry; his gloomy woods are the gloomiest;

his ladies are the most alluring. In addition to all this, his poetry is the most ornamental successful

poetry in English. In Pearl, lines both alliterate and rhyme, and verbal echoes link the stanzas. In

all his poems he echoes his opening lines in his closing lines; and his alliteration within individual

lines or groups of lines is ingenious. His organization of each poem is remarkably complex, yet

flawless, scene balanced against scene, image balanced against image.” (John Gardner)

Sir Gawain, King Arthur‟s nephew is, probably, alongside Perceval, the most famous knight

in the Arthurian cycle. In Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, he appears as an ideal knight, an

embodiment of chivalric values, loyal, honest and courteous. During the story, Sir Gawain needs to

past through a series of trials that test different virtues that a knight is supposed to possess.

The story begins with Gawain proving his loyalty to king Arthur, by accepting, in the place

of his king, a game set by a mysterious Green Knight and thus save the kings life while putting his

own in danger.

Would you grant me the grace, To be gone from this bench and stand by you there, If I without discourtesy might quit this board,... I am the weakest, well I know, and of wit feeblest; And the loss of my life would be least of any; That I have you for uncle is my only praise; My body, but for your blood, is barren of worth;

And for that this folly befits not a king, And 'tis I that have asked it, it ought to be mine, And if my claim be not comely let all this court judge, in sight. (Norton Anthology)

This is the first glimpse of his character, in which he demonstrates his loyalty to the lord as

well as his modesty.

The year passes quickly and saddened by the prospect of going to death, he takes his horse

and armor. He is given a shield: “on the outside it has a five-pointed star, the “Pentangle,” or

“endless knot,” a symbol perfectly appropriate for Gawain. Each point represents five virtues: he is

faultless in his five senses, unfailing in his five fingers, devoted to Christ‟s five wounds (received on

the Cross), and supported by the five joys of Mary, and he is a master of five virtues generosity,

good fellowship, purity, courtesy, and charity. (The pentangle is also, traditionally, a symbol used

to ward off black magic.) On the inside of the shield he has an image of the Virgin, who gives him

strength in battle.” The shield becomes one of the controlling symbols of the poem: “The outside

of the shield the side others see shows the virtues and talents with which he defends social and

8

religious order; the inside the side Gawain sees is a reminder of that humility and otherworldliness

which ought to preserve him from involvement in the worldly order he defends.” (Don Howard).

He roams the country in search of the Green Chapel and he fights monsters and foes, but

the worst foe is winter as he needs to sleep in his armor. He prays to the Virgin Mary to guide him

to a resting place and soon he sees a castle on a hill. It is strange and mysterious, all white as if cut

from a piece of paper. He is welcomed by the lord of the Castle, given clothes and invited to the

table. He also meets the two ladies of the castle: one is extremely beautiful and the other is very

ugly. The old ugly lady is a witch (Morgan le Fay) and the young is the castle‟s lady, Lord Bercilak‟s

wife. Bercilak tells him the Green Chapel is nearby and he can stay till the New Year. In the

meantime, being tired, Gawain can remain in the castle to keep the lady‟s company while Bercilak

rides out to hunt. However, he has to accept a game of exchanging gifts with Bercilak – whatever

each wins in his adventures must give it freely to the other. There are three days and tests, and

while the host hunts deer, boar and fox, the lady tempts Gawain. First, lured by the lady, receives a

kiss, then two, then three. When the host returns, he exchanges the kiss(es) but does not tell how

he got it. As the test is continued, the advances of the lady are bolder. Gawain resists out of respect

for the host and concern for his good name (obeying the knightly virtues). The lady persuades him

to accept a gift, a magical sash or green girdle who is supposed to protect the wearer. Even if he

swore to exchange gifts, Gawain does not give Bercilak the green girdle, thus failing to keep his

oath. There is a parallelism between the three hunted animals and Gawain‟s behavior, first he is

scared like a deer, then he is bold like the boar in resisting the lady, and then he is cunning like the

fox.

On the New Year‟s Day, Gawain leaves the castle to go to the Green Chapel. He wears the

girdle not out of vanity, but to save his life. If the shield symbolized his virtues, the girdle

symbolizes the fall, “It represents worldliness (the medieval sash or belt is used to carry money

bags, keys, and the like), and it probably also represents secrecy, Gawain‟s loss of that openness

and courtesy which formerly distinguished him. But Gawain‟s worldliness, the poet insists, is

tempered: he is not proud in the sense that he craves worldly glory but only in the sense that,

valuing his own life above all other things, he forgets his higher nature.” (John Gardner)

The Green Knight seems to but does not cut his throat, only scratches his skin. Eventually,

Bercilak reveals himself as the Green Knight and says that the girdle was his property. However, he

forgives Gawain for failing the test, saying that he is an honorable man and that he was only trying

to do whatever he could to save his life. However, Gawain is devastated and ashamed. The whole

trick was planned by Morgan le Fay, the old lady, who wanted to frighten lady Guinevere by

sending the Green Knight to Camelot.

Upon his return home, King Arthur and the other knights do not condemn him for this

failure, considering that he emerged victorious from the tests. However, Gawain holds the standard

of knightly perfection extremely high, and he is unable to forgive himself and to be rid of the sense

of shame and of failure. The green girdle that he received as a sign of Bercilak‟s forgiveness for his

trespassing is, for him, a symbol of his failure:

"But your girdle, God love you! I gladly shall take

And be pleased to possess, not for the pure gold, Nor the bright belt itself, nor the beauteous pendants, Nor for wealth, nor worldly state, nor workmanship fine, But a sign of excess it shall seem oftentimes When I ride in renown, and remember with shame the faults and frailty of the flesh perverse, How its tenderness entices the foul taint of sin;

9

And so when praised and high prowess have pleased my heart, A look at this love-lace will lower my pride. But one thing would I learn, if you were not loath, Since you are lord of yonder land where I have long sojourned With honor in your house-may you have His reward That upholds all the heavens, highest on throne! How runs your right name?-and let the rest go."

In the reader‟s eyes, it is only meant to make him more human. The Gawain poet,

however, does not make him err beyond pardon, since his mistake is not committed for lust, but

for the love of life, “the less, then, to blame.” In the end, he is the one who cannot forgive himself,

while, going home, he presents the girdle as a sign of shame, the sin once committed, will never be

forgiven.

It is interesting to notice how the story is drawn in such a way as to question the validity of

ready-made ideals and constructions. The real test for Sir Gawain is not the test that one knight

would expect, a test in courage and valor; he would have passed such a test. It is a test of his

virtues, a moral dilemma that he needs to solve: remain true to the promise made to his lord or

honor the requests of the noble lady, both being rules in the chivalric code that he is supposed to

obey. His failure suggests the frailty of human constructions, Sir Gawain being disillusioned not

only by his own reactions and mistakes, but also learning that everything was a ruse set by Arthur‟s

step-sister and enemy, Morgan le Fay, who created a test for King Arthur‟s court. So, in the end,

everything was a game, but that game revealed to himself his weakness and made it impossible for

him to forget his own transgression. By losing his blind trust that the chivalric code will always

support him and help him find a solution to any danger or dilemma, Gawain loses his innocence.

The laughter of the King and of the knights at the end, when he presents the girdle and confesses

his sin as well as their decision to all wear green girdles sound rather ironic and seem to contradict

Gawain‟s sincere distress and loss of faith in his own worth.

CC.. MMEEDDIIEEVVAALL LLYYRRIICCSS

Poetry was the genre in which the linguistic change as well as that in artistic taste was the

most evident. The old alliterative style was replaces by regular lines, containing a precise number

of syllables and an end-rhyme.

As far as the tone and atmosphere are concerned, the somber, melancholic vision of the

Anglo-Saxons was replaced by a more joyful spirit, a brighter view of life indebted to the French

love and adventure poems.

The hundreds of poems that remained in manuscripts can be only roughly dated, but the

authors are unknown. In general, they are popular songs and poems on different topics

The poem The Cockoo‟s Song (c. 1250) is believed to be the earliest English lyric and it is

a good example of the shift in tone and atmosphere from Anglo-Saxon poetry to medieval lyrics.

SUMER is icumen in,

Lhude sing cuccu!

Groweth sed, and bloweth med,

And springth the wude nu--

Sing cuccu!

Awe bleteth after lomb,

Summer has come in,

Loud sing cuckoo!

Grows seed and blows mead

And blossoms the wood now –

Sing cuckoo!

The ewe bleats after the lamb,

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Lhouth after calve cu;

Bulluc sterteth, bucke verteth,

Murie sing cuccu!

Cuccu, cuccu, well singes thu, cuccu:

Ne swike thu naver nu;

Sing cuccu, nu, sing cuccu,

Sing cuccu, sing cuccu, nu!

The cow lowes after the calf;

The bullock leaps, the buck jumps,

Merily sing cuckoo!

Cuckoo, cuckoo, well singeth thou,

cuckoo:

Never cease now;

Sing, cuckoo, now sing, cuckoo,

Sing, cuckoo, sing, cuckoo, now

The change in the spirit of the poem is evident, the dark view of nature that was visible in

poems such as The Seafarer, is replaced here with the beauty of spring and of the rebirth of

nature, the joy produced by the blossoming of woods and meadows, the spirit of youth and the

energy transmitted through the presence of playful animals and the regeneration of nature with the

mention of sheep and cow with their babies.

Formally, the drop of inflections allows the possibility of end-rhymes, whereas the poem is

organized in stanzas, with lines of approximately equal number of syllables.

The poems had different topics. The Song of the Husbandman (c. 1350), for instance, is a

satire against lords that own the land and impoverish the country. It was probably connected to the

spirit around the Peasants‟ Revolt (1381).

For might is right, Light is night, And fight is fight, For might is right, the land is lawless, For light is night, the land is loreless, For flight is fight, the land is nameless.

The Owl and the Nightingale an anonymous poem from the middle of the 13

th

century (c. 1250)

epitomizes the medieval spirit, with its scholastic philosophy, based on debate and analysis, the

preference for allegory and the beast-fable form. The debate between an owl and a nightingale is a

debate between the old and the new, asceticism and joie de vivre, isolation and social life.

However, it is quite difficult to see it simply as an allegory, since the two sides represented in the

poem are just characters, neither one being placed in a central and commanding position but

merely exposing its side of the story and so they function more like characters than emblems.

In a valley, in springtime, a poet once heard a quarrel between an own and a nightingale.

The owl, sitting on a bough covered in ivy appears to the nightingale that sits on a blossomed

branch, as an ugly, gloomy, pompous, dirty, nasty creature with a wretched howling that frightens

all the other birds. The poem ends with the decision of the two birds to find an arbitrator of their

dispute, one Nicholas of Guildford, since the owl refuses to engage in useless verbal attacks against

the nightingale, but the author of the poem breaks of before we manage to find out the result, so,

the dispute remains opened to further debate.

DD.. PPOOPPUULLAARR BBAALLLLAADDSS

Fundamentally, the ballad is a song that tells a story. They are oral compositions composed in

an unaffected, simple, straightforward style to be enjoyed by the simpler audiences. The medieval

English ballads are popular creations, anonymous and they were probably accompanied by music.

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Though ballads have been composed through centuries, there are some elements that are

maintained: a) the beginning is often abrupt and, in general, they deal with a single episodes, the

events leading to the crisis adding up swiftly; b) the story is usually dramatic: revenge, murder, war,

tragic love; c) the language is simple, the story is usually rendered through dialogue and action and

there is often a refrain; d) they are usually structured in four-line stanzas.

There are different types of ballads, but Medieval English ballads can be grouped in fie main

categories:

1. Ballads of love and jealousy (The Nut-Brown Maid)

2. Ballads bout religious subjects (Judas) 3. Ballads about the supernatural events (The Wife of Usher‟s Well) 4. Ballads about outlaws (the Robin Hood ballads)

5. Ballads about the rivalry between the English and the Scots - the Border Ballads (Chevy Chase)