Old and Middle English c. 890-c. 1400: An Anthology (review)

The second edition of this splendid anthology of English vernacular poetry and prose is most welcome. It differs from the first edition of 2000 both in its title and its contents. The volume now has the date range in its title to reflect the extended period covered by the inclusion of three new extracts from three important texts of the fourteenth century: Piers Plowman, The Canterbury Tales(The General Prologue and The Wife of Bath's Prologue and Tale) and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. These inclusions take the sweep of the volume right up to c. 1400, compared with around 1370 in the first edition, which ended with Wynnereand Wastoure(and was 55 pages shorter). To accommodate the three lengthy textual inclusions, material has been excised from elsewhere in the volume, including The Proverbs of Alfred; The History and Invention of the True Crossand the Life of Saint Quiriac; Handlyng Synne; The Four Foes of Mankind; and Kyng Alisaunder.Although these slight omissions do not detract from the collection, which of its nature is selective and is enhanced by the later additions, it is a shame to see the exclusion of Kyng Alisaunderfrom this sort of anthology and, more generally, for less well known texts to make way for canonical ones.

At 677 pages, this comprehensive volume is now at about maximum size, unlike the font, which is on the small side. The selection and arrangement of material is highly judicious and noticeably generous. The extracts are either entire texts or substantial sections of longer works. Most importantly, there is simply enough material in the book to provide annual variation for the teacher of medieval English language, literature, and culture, towards whom this book is primarily aimed. All of the big names and many of the smaller ones are represented here (e.g., the Old English translation of Bede; Ælfric's homilies; Exeter Book, Beowulf; Orrmulum, Ancrene Wisse; Brut; Harley Lyrics; South English Legendary; Sir Orfeo; Rolle; and the new extracts from the fourteenth century).

In response to current pedagogical trends, the anthology provides facing-page translations of all Old and early Middle English texts, though these are not supplied for the later Middle English texts, for which marginal glosses are provided instead. This pattern is understandable for the most part, though the absence of a translation for The Owl and the Nightingale(pp. 370-405) is perhaps an unfortunate omission as this text is relatively difficult reading compared with, say, Layamon's Brut, which precedes it in the collection and for which a translation is supplied (pp. 360-9). The translations are 'close, semi-literal' (p. xxix) to facilitate active engagement with the original rather than a smoothed-over interpretive translation, a policy to be applauded, especially since the translations are very readable and accessible.

Like the first edition, texts are arranged in the volume according to the date of their manuscript(s), a focus on transmission and audience that is retained in the introductory comments on codicological, editorial, literary, and cultural matters which precede each text. These introductions are brief and to the point, offering orthodox critical material and only occasionally tending to offer prescriptive interpretation (e.g., on The Seafarer, p. 48, and The Dream of the Rood, p. 108). Footnoted references to published criticism on the text at hand accompany each item.

The volume also includes a range of apparatus of help to both the student and teacher of medieval English. At the front of the book we have both a sequential list of contents and an alphabetical list of authors and works, as well as a 'Chronology of Events and Literary Landmarks'. At the back are the following items: a select, sectionalised bibliography; a rather too brief but still useful 'Glossary of Common Hard Words'; a manuscript index; and a general index. The section called 'Textual Emendations' of the first edition has been excised from this...