Cursor Mundi

The Cursor Mundi is a long religious epic of 25 000 lines, a survey of man's view of the world as it appeared to an anonymous cleric living in the fourteenth century. The poem is unique in that it is the first work of this kind written in the English language since the Norman Conquest. It is also the most comprehensive treatment in the vernacular during the Middle Ages, of all the most important events in the religious history of the world. The purpose of Dr. Mardon's study is to show the artistic unity, achieved by skillful blending of prophecy and legend, of one of the most remarkable pieces of medieval literature. The book provides an eminently readable and interesting introduction to the longer poem, the author quoting generously from the original Early English text. A useful addition to the book list of the student dealing with the literature of this important period.

Reprint of the original, first published in 1874.

Unique in combining a comprehensive and comparative study of genre with a study of romance, this book constitutes a significant contribution to ongoing critical debates over the definition of romance and the genre and artistry of Malory's Morte Darthur. K.S. Whetter addresses the questions of how exactly romance might be defined and how such an awareness of genre impacts upon both the understanding and reception of the texts in question.

"This practical and informative course book is a fascinating, visual volume which leads the student through the development of the language from Old English, through Middle and Early Modern English to the establishment of Standard English in the eighteenth century." "At the core of this substantially expanded second edition lies a series of nearly 200 historical texts, of which more than half are reproduced in facsimile, and which illustrate the progressive changes in the language. The book is firmly based upon linguistic description, with commentaries which form a series of case studies demonstrating the evidence for language change at every level - handwriting, spelling, punctuation, vocabulary, grammar and meaning." "Such a wealth of texts, as well as the structured activities and the various case studies, allow the volume to be used not only as a stimulating course text, guiding students through the analysis of data, but also as a comprehensive resource book and invaluable reference tool for teachers and students at all levels."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved

The medieval poem Cursor Mundi is a biblical verse account of the history of the world, offering a chronological overview of salvation history from Creation to Doomsday. Originating in northern England around the year 1300, the poem was frequently copied in the north before appearing in a southern version in substantially altered form. Although it is a storehouse of popular medieval biblical lore and a fascinating study in the eclectic use of more than a dozen sources, the poem has until now attracted little scholarly attention. This five-part collaborative edition presents the Arundel version of the poem with variants from three others. In addition it provides a discussion of sources and analogues, detailed explanatory notes, and a bibliography.