Favorite Medieval Tales

A collection of well-known tales from medieval Europe, including "Beowulf," "The Sword in the Stone," "The Song of Roland," and "The Island of the Lost Children."

Presents traditional stories about the Middle Ages along with tips for storytellers.

Wide-ranging stories offer glimpse into witchcraft, magic, Crusaders, astrology, alchemy, pacts with the Devil, chivalry, trial by torture, church councils, mercantile life, other elements of Middle Ages.

First published in 2003, this is the first encyclopedic work to focus exclusively on medieval Jewish civilization, from the fall of the Roman Empire to about 1492. Based on the research of an international, multidisciplinary team of specialist contributors, the more than 150 alphabetically organized entries, written by scholars from around the world, include biographies, countries, events, social history, and religious concepts. The coverage is international, presenting people, culture, and events from various countries in Europe, Africa, and the Middle East.

This book examines popular preaching and religious storytelling in the medieval Islamic Near East. It argues that popular preaching and storytelling reflect the persistent flexibility of the Islamic understanding of religious authority.

The Middle English popular romances enjoyed a wide appeal in later medieval Britain, and even today students of medieval literature will encounter examples of the genre, such as Sir Orfeo, Sir Tristrem, and Sir Launfal. This collection of twelve specially commissioned essays is designed to meet the need for a stimulating guide to the genre. Each essay introduces one popular romance, setting it in its literary and historical contexts, and develops an original interpretation that reveals the possibilities that popular romances offer for modern literary criticism. A substantial introduction by the editors discusses the production and transmission of popular romances in the Middle Ages, and considers the modern reception of popular romance and the interpretative challenges offered by new theoretical approaches. Accessible to advanced students of English, this book is also of interest to those working in the field of medieval studies, comparative literature, and popular culture.