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| A figurative, usually compound expression used in place of a name or noun, especially in Old English and Old Norse poetry; for example, storm of swords is a kenning for battle. Ex. Blood = battle-sweat |
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| society, fundamental social unit or brotherhood of men who owed allegiance to a chieftain or Ring-giving lord and expected his benevolence in return. It is derived from a Roman term. Under the expectations, the men of the person would never allow the leader to suffer needlessly because they would protect him. |
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| (literally "where are...") is a phrase taken from the Latin Ubi sunt qui ante nos fuerunt?, meaning "Where are those who were before us?". Ubi nunc...? ("Where now?") is a common variant. Sometimes thought to indicate nostalgia, the ubi sunt motif is actually a meditation on mortality and life's transience. The most commonly cited example of this verse form is the poem “The Wanderer” as well as “The Seafarer”, “The Wife’s Lament”, also Beowulf |
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A powerful but not quite personified force; the closet parallel in modern English is “Fate”; it is useful to think of “wyrd” as “what happens,” usually in a negative sense.
alliterative revival – “Stoic resignation” – what happens/occurs “things which must be are fully decided””that which has come to pass” |
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| A form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads were particularly characteristic of British and Irish popular poetry and song from the later-medieval period. In theme and function they may originate from Scandinavian and Germanic traditions of storytelling that can be seen in poems such as Beowulf. |
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| - a rhyming stanza form that was introduced into English poetry by Chaucer and is a stanza that consists of seven lines, usually in iambic pentameter. The rhyme scheme is a-b-a-b-b-c-c. He used it for four of the Canterbury Tales, |
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| employs a narrative technique whereby an introductory main story is composed, at least in part, for the purpose of setting the stage for a fictitious narrative or organizing a set of shorter stories, each of which is a story within a story. The frame story leads readers from the first story into the smaller one within it. Frame stories are often organized as a gathering of people in one place for the exchange of stories. Each character tells his or her tale, and the frame tale progresses in that manner. Historically famous frame stories include Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, about a group of pilgrims who tell stories on their journey to Canterbury. |
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| is the common name for a metrical device most famously used by the Pearl Poet in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. The feature is found mainly in Middle English and Middle Scotspoetry, where the bob and wheel occur typically at the end of a stanza. The "bob" is a very short line, sometimes of only two syllables, followed by the "wheel," longer lines with internal rhyme. There are at least forty known examples of bob and wheel use, but the origin of the form is obscure. It seems to predate the Pearl Poet. |
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| narrative that serves as an extended metaphor. Allegories are written in the form of fables, parables, poems, stories, and almost any other style or genre. The main purpose of an allegory is to tell a story that has characters, a setting, as well as other types of symbols, that have both literal and figurative meanings |
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| birds and beasts of battle motif |
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| The Beasts of Battle theme was used in Germanic poetry not only to describe a battle scene to the audience, but also to add to or modify the meaning and emphasis of the work. One Old English poem which utilizes the theme is The Battle of Maldon, which concerns the historic defense by English forces under command of the nobleman Byrhtnoð, against an attack by Viking raiders. seen in The Wanderer (pg 26 lines 80-85ish), also seen in Beowulf |
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| animals are given human qualities, to illustrate a moral lesson; The Nun’s Priest’s Tale |
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| - a short, usually comic, frankly coarse, and often cynical tale in verse popular especially in the 12th and 13th centuries. short, funny stories. upper class tells them to make fun of lower class. lots of sex and violence. |
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| story with a quest (knight’s adventure to fulfill some sort of goal, like Sir Gawain and the Green Knight) |
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| - short tale originally incorporated by a medieval preacher into his sermon to emphasize a moral or illustrate a point of doctrine. Fables, folktales, and legends were gathered into collections. Such exempla often provided the germ or plot for medieval secular tales in verse or prose. The influence of exempla can be seen in Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales (1387-1400) in the haunting "The Pardoner's Tale." This tale is an exemplum on avarice (greed for wealth or materials). |
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| is sincere and complete remorse (i.e. regret with a sense of guilt) for sins one has committed. The remorseful person is said to be contrite. |
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| A miracle play presents a real or fictitious account of the life, miracles, or martyrdom of a saint. Almost all surviving miracle plays concern either the Virgin Mary or St. Nicholas, the 4th-century bishop of Myra in Asia Minor. Both Mary and Nicholas had active cults during the Middle Ages, and belief in the healing powers of saintly relics was widespread. In this climate, miracle plays flourished. |
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| A drama in the 15th and 16th centuries using allegorical characters to portray the soul's struggle to achieve salvation. Something viewed as exhibiting a struggle between good and evil and offering a moral lesson. |
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| The Millers Tale “Of derne love he coude and of solas;” (forbidden love) |
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| Summoners were officials in ecclesiastical courts who summoned people to attend and worked in a similar way to ushers. The Summoner (a man paid to summon sinners for a trial before a church court) had a fire-red complexion, pimples and boils, a scaly infection around the eyebrows, and a moth-eaten beard. Children were afraid of his looks. He treats his sores as leprosy. To make matters worse, he loved to eat garlic, onions, leeks, and drink strong wine. He could quote a few lines of Latin which henused to impress people. Chaucer calls him a gentil harlot (genteel fellow) and implies it would be difficult to find a better fellow because, for a bottle of wine, the Summoner would often turn his back and let a sinner continue living in sin. He was also well acquainted with "ladies of questionable reputation." The Friar had accused them of corruption and taking bribes and the Summoner seeks redress through his own story. |
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| The Pardoner was a church official who had authority from Rome to sell pardons and indulgences to those charged with sins. He had just returned from Rome with a bagful of pardons which he planned to sell to the ignorant at a great profit to himself. He had a loud, high-pitched voice, yellow, flowing hair, was beardless and furthermore would never have a beard. Chaucer believes he was a "gelding or a mare." But there was no one so good at his profession as was this Pardoner. He knew how to sing and preach so as to frighten everyone into buying his pardons at a great price |
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| The Manciple was a steward for a law school (a dormitory for lawyers) in London and was in charge of purchasing the food. He was not as learned as the lawyers, but was so shrewd in buying that he had been able to put aside a tidy little sum for himself. |
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| The Franklin was a large landowner with a certain amount of wealth, but he was not of noble birth. He spent his money freely, enjoying good food, wine, and company. His house was always open and he was a true epicurean, devoting his energies to fine living and was generally liked by the other pilgrims. |
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| The Sergeant of Law was an able attorney who could recall every word and comma of every judgment, a feat which earned him high distinction and handsome fees. But he makes people think that he is busier and wiser than he really is. There is an implication that he has perhaps used his position to attain wealth without ever actually violating the letter of the law. |
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| The Clerk, who was a student at Oxford, was extremely thin, rode a very thin horse, and his clothes were threadbare because he preferred to buy books rather than clothes and food. He did not talk often, but when he did, it was with great dignity and moral virtue. |
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| Most monks of the Middle Ages lived in monasteries according to the Rule of Saint Benedict, which demanded that they devote their lives to “work and prayer.” This Monk cares little for the Rule; his devotion is to hunting and eating. He is large, loud, and well clad in hunting boots and furs. |
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| Roaming priests with no ties to a monastery, friars were a great object of criticism in Chaucer’s time. Always ready to befriend young women or rich men who might need his services, the friar actively administers the sacraments in his town, especially those of marriage and confession. However, Chaucer’s worldly Friar has taken to accepting bribes. Basically, both take vows of poverty and chastity, however monks stay in a monastery and friars go out in the world. |
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| Difference between monks and friars and secular clergy |
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| - take vows of celibacy and obedience, they live in the world, not part of a religious order |
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| In the Battle of Maldon, the Vikings are raiding the village, burning monasteries, destroying books, basically threatening stability. People thought it was God’s punishment for the sinning of England. The Anglo-Saxon kingdom was very unstable and couldn’t come together |
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| began on 28 September 1066 with the invasion of England by William, Duke of Normandy. William became known as William the Conqueror, The Norman conquest was a pivotal event in English history. It largely removed the native ruling class, replacing it with a foreign, French-speaking monarchy, aristocracy, and clerical hierarchy. |
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| plague wiped out 1/3 of England, 1348-1350 |
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| England and France, late 14th-15th century |
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| followers of John Wiclaf, drastic positions that argued that Sacraments were undermined if the priest was a bad man, Scriptures shouldn’t be available just in Latin, number of Sacraments |
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| Jack Cade and the Peasants Rising |
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| 1391, working classes feeling they deserved more, raised an army, killed noblemen, scared upper classes |
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| Babylonian Captivity of the Papacy |
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| Pope was driven out of Rome by uprising of Roman people, forced into France, tension because people thought it was a political advantage for France |
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| The only thane to stand with Beowulf against the dragon, he is the Geats’ future king and a symbol of loyalty within the social/political structure of the comitatus. |
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| One of Hrothgar’s top retainers, Unferth insults Beowulf after dipping too deeply into the mead bowl at the first banquet. He later lends Beowulf a sword for a crucial battle. |
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| Hrothgar’s queen welcomes Beowulf and is the embodiment of charm and hospitality. |
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| King of the Geats and uncle to Beowulf, his death in battle (c. 520) is recorded historically, unlike most of the events in the poem. |
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| The poet juxtaposes this virtue with the vice of Queen Modþryð or Thryth (who appears in line 1932). Beowulf gives her three horses and a magnificent torc (the Brosing, i.e. Brisingamen, the necklace of the goddess Freyja) that he received from Wealhþeow. |
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| A patron of the poet Geoffrey Chaucer who recorded much of the mores of England at the time of John in The Canterbury Tales. Near the end of John's life, they were brothers-in-law |
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| The first hand written English langauga Bible manuscripts were produced in 1380’s AD. He was an Oxford professor, scholar and theologian. He was well known throughout Europe for his opposition to the teaching of the organized Church, which he believed to be contrary to the Bible. |
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| is the earliest English poet whose name is known. An Anglo-Saxon who cared for the animals and was attached to the double monastery of Streonæshalch (Whitby Abbey) during the abbacy (657–680) of St. Hilda (614–680), he was originally ignorant of "the art of song" but learned to compose one night in the course of a dream, according to the 8th-century monk Bede. He later became a zealous monk and an accomplished and inspirational religious poet |
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| was a monk at the Northumbrian monastery of Saint Peter at Monkwearmouth. Bede's monastery had access to a superb library which included works by Eusebius and Orosius among many others.He is well known as an author and scholar, and his most famous work, Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum (The Ecclesiastical History of the English People) gained him the title "The Father of English History". |
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| Alfred is noted for his defense of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of southern England against the Vikings, becoming the only English monarch still to be accorded the epithet "the Great".[1] Alfred was the first King of the West Saxons to style himself "King of the Anglo-Saxons". |
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| He died as the leader of the Anglo-Saxon forces in the Battle of Maldon against the Vikings in 991, the subject of a famous Old English poem. As presented there, his decision to allow the Vikings to move to a better position was heroic but fatal, |
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a medieval poet who was probably born in France and lived in England during the late 12th century. She lived and wrote at an undisclosed court, but was almost certainly at least known about at the royal court of King Henry II of England. Virtually nothing is known of her life; both her given name and its geographical specification come from her manuscripts, though one contemporary reference to her work and popularity remains.
Marie de France wrote a form of Anglo-Norman French, and was evidently proficient in Latin and English as well. She is the author of the Lais of Marie de France. |
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| is a powerful sorceress in the Arthurian legend. Early works featuring Morgan do not elaborate her character beyond her role as a fay or magician. She became much more prominent in the later cyclical prose works such as the Lancelot-Grail and the Post-Vulgate Cycle, in which she becomes an antagonist to King Arthur and Queen Guinevere. She is said to be the daughter of Arthur's mother, the Lady Igraine, and her first husband, Gorlois, Duke of Cornwall, so that Arthur (son of Igraine and Uther Pendragon) is her half brother. |
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| The Green Knight - mysterious, supernatural. Green pallor, can survive beheading. Represents wildness, fertility and death. Strongly advocates law and justice. Green Knight is also the host the Gawain stayed with. As a host, Bertilak is a courteous, jovial man who enjoys hunting. |
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| Alisoun is the sexy young woman married to the carpenter in the Miller’s Tale. She is bright and sweet like a small bird, and dresses in a tantalizing style—her clothes are embroidered inside and outside, and she laces her boots high. She willingly goes to bed with Nicholas, but she has only harsh words and obscenities for Absolon. |
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| The local parish clerk in the Miller’s Tale, Absolon is a little bit foolish and more than a little bit vain. He wears red stockings underneath his floor-length church gown, and his leather shoes are decorated like the fanciful stained-glass windows in a cathedral. He curls his hair, uses breath fresheners, and fancies Alisoun. |
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| The Wife of Bath’s fifth husband, Jankyn, was a twenty-year-old former student, with whom the Wife was madly in love. His stories of wicked wives frustrated her so much that one night she ripped a page out of his book, only to receive a deafening smack on her ear in return. |
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| In the Miller’s Tale, Nicholas is a poor astronomy student who boards with an elderly carpenter, John, and the carpenter’s too-young wife, Alisoun. Nicholas dupes John and sleeps with Alisoun right under John’s nose, but Absolon, the foppish parish clerk, gets Nicholas in the end. |
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| He recognized them as young men of noble birth and was informed they were royal knights named Arcite and Palamon. In appearance, the two knights were very similar, being the sons of two sisters. Theseus ordered that they be returned to Athens as prisoners who could not be ransomed for any sum. They were, he said, to be his prisoners in perpetuity. |
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| Emelye is the sister to Hippolyta, Theseus’s domesticated Amazon queen in the Knight’s Tale. Fair-haired and glowing, we first see Emelye as Palamon does, through a window. Although she is the object of both Palamon’s and Arcite’s desire, she would rather spend her life unmarried and childless. Nevertheless, when Arcite wins the tournament, she readily pledges herself to him. |
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| a Duke who was the Lord and Governor of Athens. He was also a great soldier who vanquished every foe he met. Among his victims was a realm once known as Scythia, ruled by women called Amazons. |
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| Chanticleer’s favorite wife in the Nun’s Priest’s Tale. She is his equal in looks, manners, and talent. When Chanticleer dreams of the fox, he awakens her in the middle of the night, begging for an interpretation, but Pertelote will have none of it, calling him foolish. When the fox takes him away, she mourns him in classical Greek fashion, burning herself and wailing. |
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| Marie de France's Lanval - Sir Launfal is propelled from wealth and status – the steward at King Arthur's court – to being a pauper and a social outcast. he meets with two damsels who take him to their mistress, the daughter of the King of Faerie. She gives him untold wealth and a magic bag in which money can always be found, on the condition that he becomes her lover. She will visit him whenever he wants and nobody will see her or hear her. But he must tell nobody about her, or her love will vanish at that instant. |
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| Sir Gawain's horse. A sturdy charger, Gringolet was known far and wide for his ability in combat. |
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| He was a cleric and one of the major figures in the development of British historiography and the popularity of tales of King Arthur. He is best known for his chronicle Historia Regum Britanniae ("History of the Kings of Britain"), which was widely popular in its day and was credited uncritically well into the 16th century, being translated into various other languages from its original Latin. |
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Book of Judith Holofernes was an invading general of "Nebuchadnezzar". "Nebuchadnezzar" dispatched Holofernes to take vengeance on the nations of the west that had withheld their assistance to his reign. Holofernes occupied all the nations along the sea coast and destroyed all the gods of the nations, so that all nations would worship Nebuchadnezzar alone. Holofernes was warned by Achior, the leader of the children of Ammon, against attacking the Jewish people. Holofernes and his followers were angered by Achior. They rebuked him, insisting that there was no god other than Nebuchadnezzar.
The general laid siege to Bethulia, commonly believed to be Meselieh, and the city almost surrendered. Holofernes' advance stopped the water supply to Bethulia. The people lost heart and encouraged Ozias and their rulers to give way. The leaders vowed to surrender if no help arrived within five days.[1]
Bethulia was saved by Judith, a beautiful Hebrew widow who entered Holofernes's camp and seduced him. Judith then beheaded Holofernes while he was drunk. She returned to Bethulia with the severed head, and the Hebrews defeated the enemy. |
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| "Allas! Allas! that ever love was sinne!" |
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| Canterbury Tales: The Wife of Bath’s Prologue = “It’s too bad that sex is such a sin!” |
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| Canterbury Tales: The Millers Tale = “God’s private affairs” John tells Nicholas that human's should know of God's private affairs. |
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"Experience, though noon auctoritee
Were in this world, is right ynough for me . . . .” |
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| The Canterbury Tales The Wife of Bath’s Tale = “My life experiences qualify me to talk about the strife of marriage” |
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"For, also siker as In principio,
Mulier est hominis confusio;
Madame, the sentence of this Latin is--
Womman is mannes joye and al his blis" |
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| Canterbury Tales – The Nun’s Priests Tales = Chaunticleer translates the Latin phrase incorrectly. He translates it as meaning that "woman is man's joy and bliss." But it actually means that woman is the downfall of man. And since Pertelote does not want to believe in Chaunticleer's dream, she is ironically contributing to his and ultimately her downfall |
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| "Taketh the fruyt, and lat the chaf be stille." |
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| Canterbury Tales – The Nun’s Priest’s Tale = “This was a story about morality and not about barnyard animals.” |
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| “He was a verray, parfit gentil knight.” |
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| Canterbury Tales – The General Prologue = “He was truly the most perfect knight in every way.” |
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| "Radix malorum est cupiditas" |
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| Canterbury Tales - The Pardoner’s Tale = “The love of money is the root of all evil.” |
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| "Jankyn's Book of Wicked Wives" |
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| Canterbury Tales - The Wife of Bath’s Prologue - This book contained the stories of the most deceitful wives in history. It began with Eve, who brought all mankind into sin by first taking the apple in the Garden of Eden; from there, it chronicled Delilah’s betrayal of Samson, Clytemnestra’s murder of Agamemnon, and other famous stories. Jankyn would torment the Wife of Bath (whom we learn in line 804 is named Alisoun) by reading out of this book at night. |
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