ENH2190

Gods and Fairies: an introduction to Middle English

(ART)

C Stevenson

8 points + 3 hours per week + Second semester + Clayton + Prerequisites/Corequisites: ENH2020 or permission

Synopsis: An examination of some of the ways in which a selection of Middle English narratives treat the supernatural (in particular, the form and function of gods and fairies) as subject matter and also of some of the ways in which these treatments reflect an aesthetic that conventionally assumes a desire in the audience for both "sentence and solas" - the medieval version of the classical demand that literature should both instruct and delight. The major authors, Chaucer and Malory, and a selection of anonymous Middle English "Breton Lays", will all be read in Middle English, while additional texts will be read in translation.

Assessment: Essay (2500 words): 40% + Essay (2500 words): 40% + Seminar assessment (1000 words): 20% + An optional examination (3 hours) may replace up to 40% of the written work