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The Wife's Lament
"The Wife's Lament" or "The Wife's Complaint" is an Old English poem of 53 lines found on folio 115 of the Exeter Book and generally treated as an elegy in the manner of the German '' frauenlied'', or "women's song". The poem has been relatively well preserved and requires few if any emendations to enable an initial reading. Thematically, the poem is primarily concerned with the evocation of the grief of the female speaker and with the representation of her state of despair. The tribulations she suffers leading to her state of lamentation, however, are cryptically described and have been subject to many interpretations. Indeed, Professor Stephen Ramsay has said, "the 'correct' interpretation of "The Wife's Lament" is one of the more hotly debated subjects in medieval studies." Genre Though the description of the text as a woman's song or ''frauenlied''—lamenting for a lost or absent lover—is the dominant understanding of the poem, the text has nevertheless been subject to a ...
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Anglo-Saxon Literature
Old English literature refers to poetry and prose written in Old English in early medieval England, from the 7th century to the decades after the Norman Conquest of 1066, a period often termed Anglo-Saxon England. The 7th-century work '' Cædmon's Hymn'' is often considered as the oldest surviving poem in English, as it appears in an 8th-century copy of Bede's text, the ''Ecclesiastical History of the English People''. Poetry written in the mid 12th century represents some of the latest post-Norman examples of Old English. Adherence to the grammatical rules of Old English is largely inconsistent in 12th-century work, and by the 13th century the grammar and syntax of Old English had almost completely deteriorated, giving way to the much larger Middle English corpus of literature. In descending order of quantity, Old English literature consists of: sermons and saints' lives; biblical translations; translated Latin works of the early Church Fathers; chronicles and narrative histor ...
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Exogamy
Exogamy is the social norm of marrying outside one's social group. The group defines the scope and extent of exogamy, and the rules and enforcement mechanisms that ensure its continuity. One form of exogamy is dual exogamy, in which two groups continually intermarry with each other. In social science, exogamy is viewed as a combination of two related aspects: biological and cultural. Biological exogamy is marriage of nonblood-related beings, regulated by forms of incest law. Cultural exogamy is marrying outside a specific cultural group; the opposite being endogamy, marriage within a social group. Biology of exogamy Exogamy often results in two individuals that are not closely genetically related marrying each other; that is, outbreeding as opposed to inbreeding. In moderation, this benefits the offspring as it reduces the risk of the offspring inheriting two copies of a defective gene. Increasing the genetic diversity of the offspring improves the chances of offspring reprod ...
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Old English Literature
Old English literature refers to poetry and prose written in Old English in early medieval England, from the 7th century to the decades after the Norman Conquest of 1066, a period often termed Anglo-Saxon England. The 7th-century work '' Cædmon's Hymn'' is often considered as the oldest surviving poem in English, as it appears in an 8th-century copy of Bede's text, the ''Ecclesiastical History of the English People''. Poetry written in the mid 12th century represents some of the latest post-Norman examples of Old English. Adherence to the grammatical rules of Old English is largely inconsistent in 12th-century work, and by the 13th century the grammar and syntax of Old English had almost completely deteriorated, giving way to the much larger Middle English corpus of literature. In descending order of quantity, Old English literature consists of: sermons and saints' lives; biblical translations; translated Latin works of the early Church Fathers; chronicles and narrative histor ...
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The Man Of Law's Tale
"The Man of Law's Tale" is the fifth of the ''Canterbury Tales'' by Geoffrey Chaucer, written around 1387. John Gower's "Tale of Constance" in ''Confessio Amantis'' tells the same story and may have been a source for Chaucer. Nicholas Trivet's ''Les chronicles'' was a source for both authors. Wurtele provides a detailed compilation of the differences between Trivet's Chronicle and the poems of Gower and Chaucer. Gower strove for vividness and shortened the tale in places. Chaucer expanded the tale and emphasizes the holiness of Constance and how she was favoured by heaven. Hagiographic motifs are most abundant in Chaucer's version, e.g. “the miracles God works though Custance and the way she is miraculously fed while at sea”. 2Wurtele observes that Chaucer makes frequent use of the adjective "hooly" but Gower never uses this word. Synopsis (References here are to line numbers in both Man of Law's Tale (MLT) and Confessio Amantis (CA).) Constance (Custance in Chaucer) is ...
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Emaré
''Emaré'' is a Middle English Breton lai, a form of mediaeval romance poem, told in 1035 lines. The author of ''Emaré'' is unknown and it exists in only one manuscript, Cotton Caligula A. ii, which contains ten metrical narratives. ''Emaré'' seems to date from the late fourteenth century, possibly written in the North East Midlands. The iambic pattern is rather rough.Emaré: Introduction', Edited by Anne Laskaya and Eve Salisbury, Originally Published in The Middle English Breton Lays, Kalamazoo, Michigan: Medieval Institute Publications, 1995 It tells a version of the popular "Constance-saga". Plot summary The text begins with a standard invocation to Christ, but one of uncommon length; it may be the longest one in English romance. We are then told of Sir Artyus, an Emperor. His wife gives birth to a beautiful baby girl but dies shortly afterwards. The daughter, Emaré, is sent to live with a lady named Abro who raises her and teaches her manners and sewing. Some years late ...
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Vitae Duorum Offarum
The '' Vitae duorum Offarum'' "The lives of the two Offas" is a literary history written in the mid-thirteenth century, apparently by the St Albans monk Matthew Paris; however, the most recent editor and translator of the work rejects this attribution and argues for an earlier date, in the late twelfth century. The earliest editor, William Wats, argues that the texts are older than Matthew's day but were revised by him; he bases this view on stylistic elements, such as the inclusion in the first ''Vita'' of a quotation from Lucan (''Pharsalia'' I. 92–3) which also appears repeatedly in Matthew's '' Chronica maiora''. Account The text concerns two kings, King Offa of the Angles, a fourth or fifth-century ancestor figure of the Mercians, and King Offa of Mercia (r. 757-796), through whose lives the text recounts the foundation of St Alban's Abbey: Offa of Angel made the vow to found a monastery, while several centuries later, his namesake Offa of Mercia executed this plan on dis ...
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Le Bone Florence Of Rome
''Le Bone Florence of Rome'' is a medieval English chivalric romance.Carol Falvo Heffernan, ''Le Bone Florence of Rome'', p vii , Featuring the innocent persecuted heroine, it is subcategorized into the Crescentia cycle of romances because of two common traits: the heroine is accused by her brother-in-law after an attempted seduction, and the story ends with her fame as a healer bringing all her persecutors to her.Laura A. Hibbard, ''Medieval Romance in England'' p12 New York Burt Franklin,1963 Synopsis Florence, daughter of King Otes of Rome, rejects Garcy, the king of Constantinople, because of his age. Garcy attacks Rome, and Mylys and Emere, sons of the King of Hungary, comes to its aid. Emere and Florence fall in love and are betrothed, but in his absence, Mylys tries to seduce her, and she imprisons him, but frees him when his brother returns. He attacks her again in forest. She is brought to a refuge but another rebuffed suitor kills her host's daughter and frames Flor ...
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Chivalric Romance
As a literary genre, the chivalric romance is a type of prose and verse narrative that was popular in the noble courts of High Medieval and Early Modern Europe. They were fantastic stories about marvel-filled adventures, often of a chivalric knight-errant portrayed as having heroic qualities, who goes on a quest. It developed further from the epics as time went on; in particular, "the emphasis on love and courtly manners distinguishes it from the ''chanson de geste'' and other kinds of epic, in which masculine military heroism predominates." Popular literature also drew on themes of romance, but with ironic, satiric, or burlesque intent. Romances reworked legends, fairy tales, and history to suit the readers' and hearers' tastes, but by c. 1600 they were out of fashion, and Miguel de Cervantes famously burlesqued them in his novel ''Don Quixote''. Still, the modern image of "medieval" is more influenced by the romance than by any other medieval genre, and the word ...
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Crescentia (romance)
''Crescentia'' is an Early Middle High German language chivalric romance, included in the '' Kaiserchronik'' about 1150. Other versions appeared in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, in prose and verse. Numerous romances, such as ''Le Bone Florence of Rome'', are classified as belonging to the "Crescentia cycle" because of the common plot; it is the oldest known variant of it.Laura A. Hibbard, ''Medieval Romance in England'' p. 12 New York Burt Franklin,1963 Romance Crescentia is approached by her brother-in-law, in her husband's absence, with offers of love. She tricks him into a tower imprisonment, but frees him out of joy at her husband's imminent return. He accuses her of adultery to his brother, and she is thrown in the Tiber by her husband and saved by St. Peter. She finds refuge in a court, where she rebuffs another lover, who frames for murder of her fosterling by a bloody dagger, and she is thrown in the water again. St. Peter grants her healing powers. Her p ...
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Gnomic Literature
: ''For the map projection see Gnomonic projection; for the game, see Nomic; for the mythological being, see Gnome.'' Gnomic poetry consists of meaningful sayings put into verse to aid the memory. They were known by the Greeks as gnomes (c.f. the Greek adjective γνωμικός (''gnomikos'') "appertaining to an opinion or aphorism"). A ''gnome'' was defined by the Elizabethan critic Henry Peacham as "a saying pertaining to the manners and common practices of men, which declareth, with an apt brevity, what in this our life ought to be done, or not done". It belongs to the broad family of wisdom literature, which expresses general truths about the world. Topics range over the divine and secular, from moral aphorisms to hierarchical social relationships. Ancient Greek gnomic literature The gnomic poets of Greece, who flourished in the 6th century BC, were those who arranged series of sententious maxims in verse. These were collected in the 4th century, by Lobon of Argos, an orato ...
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Stanley B
Stanley may refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Stanley'' (1972 film), an American horror film * ''Stanley'' (1984 film), an Australian comedy * ''Stanley'' (1999 film), an animated short * ''Stanley'' (1956 TV series), an American situation comedy * ''Stanley'' (2001 TV series), an American animated series Other uses in arts and entertainment * ''Stanley'' (play), by Pam Gems, 1996 * Stanley Award, an Australian Cartoonists' Association award * '' Stanley: The Search for Dr. Livingston'', a video game * Stanley (Cars), a character in ''Cars Toons: Mater's Tall Tales'' * '' The Stanley Parable'', a 2011 video game developed by Galactic Cafe, and its titular character, Stanley Businesses and organisations * Stanley, Inc., American information technology company * Stanley Aviation, American aerospace company * Stanley Black & Decker, formerly The Stanley Works, American hardware manufacturer ** Stanley knife, a utility knife * Stanley bottle, a brand ...
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Exeter Book
The Exeter Book, also known as the Codex Exoniensis or Exeter Cathedral Library MS 3501, is a large codex of Old English poetry, believed to have been produced in the late tenth century AD. It is one of the four major manuscripts of Old English poetry, along with the Vercelli Book in Vercelli, Italy, the Nowell Codex in the British Library, and the Junius manuscript in the Bodleian Library in Oxford. The book was donated to what is now the Exeter Cathedral library by Leofric, the first bishop of Exeter, in 1072. It is believed originally to have contained 130 or 131 leaves, of which the first 7 or 8 have been replaced with other leaves; the original first 8 leaves are lost. The Exeter Book is the largest and perhaps oldest known manuscript of Old English literature, containing about a sixth of the Old English poetry that has come down to us. In 2016, UNESCO recognized the book as "the foundation volume of English literature, one of the world's principal cultural artefac ...
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