Charles Wickliffe Moorman III, (May 24, 1925 – May 3, 1996) was an American writer, and professor at the

University of Southern Mississippi The University of Southern Mississippi (Southern Miss or USM) is a public research university with its main campus located in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. It is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to award bachelor's, ma ...

from 1954 to 1990. He is notable for his writings on

Middle English Middle English (abbreviated to ME) is a form of the English language that was spoken after the Norman conquest of 1066, until the late 15th century. The English language underwent distinct variations and developments following the Old English p ...

medieval literature Medieval literature is a broad subject, encompassing essentially all written works available in Europe and beyond during the Middle Ages (that is, the one thousand years from the fall of the Western Roman Empire ca. AD 500 to the beginning of t ...

, the

Arthurian legends The Matter of Britain is the body of medieval literature and legendary material associated with Great Britain and Brittany and the legendary kings and heroes associated with it, particularly King Arthur. It was one of the three great Western ...

and the mythic elements in the writings of the

Inklings The Inklings were an informal literary discussion group associated with J. R. R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis at the University of Oxford for nearly two decades between the early 1930s and late 1949. The Inklings were literary enthusiasts who pra ...

Biography

Charles W. Moorman III, was born in

Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

in 1925. He graduated from

Kenyon College Kenyon College is a private liberal arts college in Gambier, Ohio. It was founded in 1824 by Philander Chase. Kenyon College is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. Kenyon has 1,708 undergraduates enrolled. Its 1,000-acre campus is se ...

in 1949. He then earned his Master's (1951), and PhD (1953), both in English from

Tulane University Tulane University, officially the Tulane University of Louisiana, is a private university, private research university in New Orleans, Louisiana. Founded as the Medical College of Louisiana in 1834 by seven young medical doctors, it turned into ...

. He spent a year as an assistant professor at

Auburn University Auburn University (AU or Auburn) is a public land-grant research university in Auburn, Alabama. With more than 24,600 undergraduate students and a total enrollment of more than 30,000 with 1,330 faculty members, Auburn is the second largest uni ...

before joining the

as an associate professor of English in 1954. He taught in the English department for twelve years, was Dean of the graduate school for two years, then academic vice president for twelve years. He stepped down from that post in 1980, to return to teaching. He retired in 1990. Moorman died in Fayetteville Arkansas in 1996. Throughout his career, and after, Moorman published regularly on a wide range of topics in medieval literature, Arthurian legends and Middle English. Two exceptions are his books; ''Arthurian Triptych: Mythic Materials in Charles Williams, C.S. Lewis, and T.S. Eliot'', and ''The Precincts of Felicity: The Augustinian City of the Oxford Christians''. These books deal with

C.S. Lewis CS, C-S, C.S., Cs, cs, or cs. may refer to: Job titles * Chief Secretary (Hong Kong) * Chief superintendent, a rank in the British and several other police forces * Company secretary, a senior position in a private sector company or public se ...

, Charles Williams and other

, and are on lists for Inkling studies. In all of his books Moorman used an informal style, making his books as accessible as he could to all. He considered himself “more an essayist than a scholar.”

Honors

The professorship, The Charles W. Moorman Distinguished Alumni Professor in the Humanities, awarded by the College of Arts and Letters, at the

, is named after him.

Bibliography

*1960. ''Arthurian Triptych: Mythic Materials in Charles Williams, C.S. Lewis, and T.S. Eliot''. *1965. ''The Book of Kyng Arthur: The Unity of Malory's Morte D'arthur'' *1966. ''The Precincts of Felicity: The Augustinian City of the Oxford Christians''. *1967. ''A Knyght There Was: The Evolution of the Knight in Literature''. *1968. ''The Pearl-Poet, Volume 64 Twayne's English authors series''. *1971. ''Kings & Captains: Variations on a Heroic Theme''. *1975. ''Editing the Middle English Manuscript''. *1977. ''The Works of the Gawain-Poet''. *1978.'' An Arthurian Dictionary''(with Ruth Minary). *1993. T''he Statistical Determination of Affiliation in the Landmark Manuscripts of the Canterbury Tales''. *1993. ''The Celtic literature of defeat: an extraordinary assortment of irregularities''.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Moorman, Charles W. 1996 deaths 1925 births University of Southern Mississippi faculty Arthurian scholars Auburn University faculty Kenyon College alumni Tulane University alumni 20th-century American historians 20th-century American male writers American male non-fiction writers