Dimensions
129 x 198 x 14mm
'The Sege Of Melayne' - 'Emare' - 'Octavian' - 'Sir Isumbras' - 'Sir Gowther' - 'Sir Amadace'.
This selection contains, for the first time in one volume, the complete texts of six romances belonging to the central tradition of English romance-writing in tail-rhyme stanzas. All the works show a peculiarly English concern with piety, heroism and suffering. They are relatively short and share certain story patterns, themes, motifs and character types.
The full introduction discusses these representative features, as well as the relation of the romances to both the heroic poetry of the chansons de geste and the pious legends of the saints. The texts provided are transcriptions with minimum emendation of the most interesting manuscript copies that have come down to us. Ample textual and explanatory notes are provided, together with a marginal glossary.
