The Broadview Anthology of Medieval Arthurian Literature

Book excerpt: This teaching anthology collects texts from the vast archive of medieval Arthurian literature. It includes selections from mainstream canonical authors, such as Geoffrey of Monmouth and Malory, and more peripheral works, such as the Melech Artus (a 12th-century Hebrew text) and the Dutch Morien (featuring a black knight). Characters and authors showcase the diversity of race, religion, gender, and gender orientation of the Arthurian tradition. The anthology and its accompanying website offer a variety of genres, ranging from visual art to historical chronicles and from romance to drama. Arthurian works, while concentrated in England, France, and Wales, are found across medieval Europe, and thus this anthology includes texts from Iceland to Greece. The Broadview Anthology of Medieval Arthurian Literature is ideally suited to teaching: it includes full texts, such as Chrétien de Troyes’ Knight of the Cart, Chaucer’s Wife of Bath’s Tale, and the anonymous Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, for classes that wish to study a whole work in depth; it also includes shorter excerpts of parallel incidents, such as the Uther and Igraine story, so that students can compare a story’s treatment by different authors. Marginal glosses assist students with the Middle English texts, while introductory notes and explanatory footnotes give students necessary background information.