Make We Merry More and Less: An Anthology of Medieval English Popular Literature

doi:10.11647/obp.0170

Make We Merry More and Less: An Anthology of Medieval English Popular Literature - cover image

DOI

https://doi.org/10.11647/OBP.0170

License

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/

Copyright

Douglas Gray; Jane Bliss

Published On

2019-08-06

ISBN

Paperback978-1-78374-710-8

Hardback978-1-78374-711-5

PDF978-1-78374-712-2

HTML978-1-80064-585-1

XML978-1-78374-715-3

EPUB978-1-78374-713-9

MOBI978-1-78374-714-6

Language

English

Print Length

418 pages (xx + 398)

Dimensions

Paperback156 x 22 x 234 mm(6.14" x 0.86" x 9.21")

Hardback156 x 24 x 234 mm(6.14" x 0.94" x 9.21")

Weight

Paperback1294g (45.64oz)

Hardback1684g (59.40oz)

Funding

The Faculty of English, University of Oxford

OCLC Number

1110259940

LCCN

2019452857

BIC

DQ
CFP
DSBB

BISAC

LCO017000
LCO009000

LCC

PR275.P65

Keywords

Essays on Medieval English Popular Literature
anthology
popular medieval literature
twelfth century
literary and popular culture
songs
drama
ballads
Douglas Gray
Jane Bliss
medieval studies
medievalism

Make We Merry More and Less

An Anthology of Medieval English Popular Literature

Douglas Gray (author)
Jane Bliss (editor)

Conceived as a companion volume to the well-received Simple Forms: Essays on Medieval English Popular Literature (2015), Make We Merry More and Less is a comprehensive anthology of popular medieval literature from the twelfth century onwards. Uniquely, the book is divided by genre, allowing readers to make connections between texts usually presented individually.

This anthology offers a fruitful exploration of the boundary between literary and popular culture, and showcases an impressive breadth of literature, including songs, drama, and ballads. Familiar texts such as the visions of Margery Kempe and the Paston family letters are featured alongside lesser-known works, often oral. This striking diversity extends to the language: the anthology includes Scottish literature and original translations of Latin and French texts.

The illuminating introduction offers essential information that will enhance the reader’s enjoyment of the chosen texts. Each of the chapters is accompanied by a clear summary explaining the particular delights of the literature selected and the rationale behind the choices made. An invaluable resource to gain an in-depth understanding of the culture of the period, this is essential reading for any student or scholar of medieval English literature, and for anyone interested in folklore or popular material of the time.

The book was left unfinished at Gray's death; it is here edited by Jane Bliss.

Endorsements

'Make We Merry More and Less' is an innovative and intriguing anthology, showing the very wide range of both knowledge and human sympathies of the wonderful Douglas Gray.

Stephen Knight

Research Professor, University of Melbourne, Australia

Reviews

The anthology was designed ‘to offer both pleasure and instruction, as does Middle English popular literature itself’ (p. 13), and it achieves its goal admirably. Glosses are provided for the more unfamiliar words in the selected texts, making them readily accessible to the non-specialist reader. The introduction is concise and informative, and is at pains to emphasize that, despite the title, the anthology does not in any way seek to present a picture of a romantic ‘merry’ England. The editor, Jane Bliss, has done a fine job of organizing the materials that Douglas Gray left behind, including the daunting task of providing the references. The book is a delight.

David Atkinson

The Folk Music Journal (0531-9684), vol. 11, no. 5, 2020.