ABSTRACT
The purpose of this collection is to present a number of less well-known Middle English alliterative poems that have been overshadowed by the three masterpieces, Pearl, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and Piers Plowman. The Arthurian poems and the works of Langland’s followers are reserved for other volumes in this series, and so are not included in this anthology. There has in consequence been room for a varied collection of alliterative poems of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, all of which are worthy of more attention than they generally receive. By concentrating on the shorter pieces it has been possible to present most works complete, though I have also included selections from three long alliterative histories, which in some ways actually benefit from being presented in extract.
