Dedalus Book of Medieval Literature (Paperback)

Brian O. Murdoch

ISBN 10: 187398202X / ISBN 13: 9781873982020

Published by Dedalus Ltd, Cambs, 1995

About this Item

Paperback. Brian Murdoch provides an alternative view of the Middle Ages, showing the anarchy and decadence which lurked below the surface of a devout and conformist society. The grinning gargoyle, which mocked the solemnity of Gothic cathedrals, symbolises the violence, depravity and irreverence inherent in man which could not be suppressed by the church. Brian Murdoch provides an alternative view of the Middle Ages, showing the anarchy and decadence which lurked below the surface of a devout and conformist society. The grinning gargoyle, which mocked the solemnity of Gothic cathedrals, symbolises the violence, depravity and irreverence inherent in man which could not be suppressed by the church. Shipping may be from multiple locations in the US or from the UK, depending on stock availability.

Seller Inventory # 9781873982020

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Dedalus Book of Medieval Literature (Paperback)
• Publisher: Dedalus Ltd, Cambs
• Publication Date: 1995
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 187398202X
• ISBN 13: 9781873982020
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition: 2nd Edition
• Condition: new

About this title

Synopsis

Brian Murdoch provides an alternative view of the Middle Ages, showing the anarchy and decadence which lurked below the surface of a devout and conformist society. The grinning gargoyle, which mocked the solemnity of Gothic cathedrals, symbolises the violence, depravity and irreverence inherent in man which could not be suppressed by the church.
Texts translated from the prose, chronicles and verse of the period, such as the Trial of Gilles de Rais, Boccaccio's Decameron, I Have a Gentil Cok,A Black Mass and Metrical Verses on the Subject of his Prick, reveal the wilder aspects of medieval man.
Brian Murdoch has assembled and translated texts from Medieval Latin, Old French, Italian, Scots Gaelic, Cornish, Old and Middle English, Old Irish and Welsh which will redefine the Middle Ages for the modern reader.

About the Author

Brian Murdoch is Professor of German at the University of Stirling and a former Visiting Fellow of Trinity Hall, Cambridge, and of Magdalen College, Oxford, where he delivered the Waynflete Lecture in 1994. Primarily a specialist in medieval and renaissance literature (German, Latin, Celtic), he has also written on the literature of the world wars, and has translated classical and medieval Latin as well as medieval and modern German texts. He is the editor of The Dedalus Book of Medieval Literature and has translated for Dedalus, with his son Brian, the texts of The Dedalus Book of Roman Decadence.