King Arthur's Knights and Middle English Prose

Study Notes

King Arthur's Knights

Legendary stories of King Arthur's knights, including Sir Gawain, in a struggle against an enemy with magic powers, great strength, and cunning.
Sir Gawain's adventure culminates in honor.
The author of Gawain may have also written Pearl and Patience, two notable alliterative poems of the time.
Pearl is about the poet's daughter, who passed away at the age of two..
Patience tells the story of Jonah, thrown into the sea and swallowed by a sea creature, eventually reaching his destination.

Middle English Prose

Much Middle English prose focused on religious themes.
The Ancren Riwle provided guidelines on proper conduct for anchoresses (religious women), including instructions on dress, work, and speech.
The Form of Perfect Living by Richard Rolle, a profound and influential text.

John Wycliffe

John Wycliffe, a priest, challenged religious ideas prominent in his time.
He faced strong opposition from the Church, leading him to leave Oxford.
Wycliffe believed that everyone should be able to read the Bible, challenging the custom that it was solely available in Latin.
He took it upon himself to translate the entirety of the Bible into English.
Notable translations from him include two versions from 1382 and 1388, with the 1388 translation considered the superior one.
Wycliffe was buried but later after his death, his bones were dug up, thrown into a stream, and carried to the River Avon, which in turn flows into the River Severn.

His legacy is expressed in the following lines:

The Avon to the Severn runs,
The Severn to the sea,
And Wycliffe's dust shall spread abroad,
Wide as the waters be

The Canterbury Tales

The pilgrims on their journey from London to Canterbury use storytelling to pass the time and to entertain each other.
The collection comprises more than 20 stories, mostly in verse form.
The characters in the stories are ordinary people with unique personalities.
Examples include the Merchant, Lawyer, Cook, Sailor, Ploughman, and Miller.
Some characters like the Wife of Bath are more memorable and have strong opinions about marriage.
The wife has had five husbands in the story.
A knight must answer a question to save his life, a question about what women love most.
The question is answered by an ugly witch who promises to tell him the answer in exchange for marriage, at which point she turns beautiful.
The description of the "knight" and the "witch" suggests they're important figures in the tales in line with the overall themes.

Description

Explore the legendary tales of King Arthur's knights, including the adventures of Sir Gawain, alongside significant Middle English prose works. Discover the depth of religious themes in texts like Ancren Riwle and the impact of John Wycliffe on religious thought. Test your knowledge on these influential literary figures and their writings.