Landscape in Middle English Romance
The Medieval Imagination and the Natural World

Explores the landscapes, waterscapes, and ecological perspectives of popular Middle English romances at the onset of the Little Ice Age.

Andrew M. Richmond (Author)

9781108926669, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 27 July 2023

304 pages
22.8 x 15.1 x 1.6 cm, 0.45 kg

'… this study will reward anyone working in Middle English romance, whether or not they think landscape is important in those texts. Details regarding the material concerns of British landscape management, techniques, and physical challenges will reward anyone seeking knowledge of those practices.' Laura L. Howes, Studies in the Age of Chaucer

Our current ecological crises compel us not only to understand how contemporary media shapes our conceptions of human relationships with the environment, but also to examine the historical genealogies of such perspectives. Written during the onset of the Little Ice Age in Britain, Middle English romances provide a fascinating window into the worldviews of popular vernacular literature (and its audiences) at the close of the Middle Ages. Andrew M. Richmond shows how literary conventions of romances shaped and were in turn influenced by contemporary perspectives on the natural world. These popular texts also reveal widespread concern regarding the damaging effects of human actions and climate change. The natural world was a constant presence in the writing, thoughts, and lives of the audiences and authors of medieval English romance – and these close readings reveal that our environmental concerns go back further in our history and culture than we think.

Digging into Romance: An introduction
1. A (disappearing?) world of opportunity
2. Chasing the surf
3. Across the sea
4. 'In his contrie at hame'
Conclusion: The singing bonkes of Britain.

Subject Areas: Environmentalist thought & ideology [RNA], Medieval history [HBLC1], Literary studies: classical, early & medieval [DSBB]