MEDIEVAL
LITERATURE
INTRODUCTION
Have you ever had stories
told to you, at night, by the
fireside?
Examples of present day epic
singers and tribal storytellers

INDIA
Hindu Temple Fire Dance Storytelling about the Hindu
Monkey King God Hanuman
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nt0erfEThNw

TIBET
Epic storytelling about the hero Gesar
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kv8IxLw3NWs&feature=related

AUSTRALIA
Storytelling during a coming-of-age ceremony
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VwR8BA_5Sd4
THE THREE RAVENS
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dv19-vagxuI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wsv2S63HYqM&playnext=1&list=PL6A0179BE603E9B95&feature=results_video
Image source: http://dvd.ign.com/articles/735/735583p1.html
Medieval
Literature
The formal tradition, the
courtly tradition and the
popular tradition side by
side… or…
Hand in hand?
A Medieval Epic
in Old English:
Beowolf
A hero
His brave deeds
His superhuman power
A monster
The monster’s mother
Beowulf
2007
In 6 minutes
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mX--9m-OvoI
Beowulf
2007
Trailer
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oyAanB83Ke0
Performer Benjamin Bagby,
with his Anglo Saxon harp,
narrating the beginning of
Beowulf in Old English..
In the old way…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y13cES7MMd8
And here is an amusing,
simple summary of Beowulf.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4gGkf5_NQNY&feature=related
THE CANTERBURY TALES in
Chaucer’s Middle English
French fabliaux, which are comic stories in verse, the Roman de
la Rose, one of the most influential and famous poems of the
Middle Ages, and Boccaccio’s Decameron, a long work with
many tales, were some of the important influences on Chaucer’s
genius when composing the Canterbury Tales—his portrayal of
the tale telling game that went on during pilgrimages in his times.
The question is, who is telling the tale? Chaucer? His characters?
And, does he really mean it, or is it a tongue-in-cheek message?
Source:
William, Robert. Chainani, Soman ed. *The Canterbury Tales Study Guide : Literature in the Middle
Ages*. GradeSaver, 30 November 2008 Web. 18 March 2012.
Here is
Chaucer,
telling
a story…
…to
King
Richard III…
…in
1415.
Source:
http://www.luminarium.org/me
dlit/chaucerport.htm
A video peek:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_SRQxGq0m3c
Some great websites:
http://www.canterburytales.org/
http://www.gradesaver.com/the-canterbury-tales/study-guide/section26/
http://www.siue.edu/~ejoy/eng404syllabusfall03.htm
Listen to Middle English:
The prologue to The
Canterbury Tales.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QE0MtENfOMU
And read, side by side, Middle
English and Modern English
versions.
http://www.canterburytales.org/canterbury_tales.html
Next to the word EDITION you must select ENFACE ME-MO
(Middle English next to Modern English).
And what about the patient
chronicler, the Venerable
Bede, who lived around the
year 700?
A two-minute video about Saint Bede´s life an d work.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f5O0v3Rkeg0
Take a look inside this Amazon book about St. Bede´s times.
http://www.amazon.com/The-Age-Bede-Penguin-Classics/dp/014044727X/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1332533353&sr=8-7
A video about THE ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH PEOPLE,
by Venerable Bede
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I9u243QirRY