Four Romances of England: King Horn, Havelok the Dane, Bevis of Hampton, Athelston

The thirteenth-century and fourteenth-century romances in this volume contain some of the finest imaginative work of what has become known as the Matter of England: late medieval, non-Arthurian romances largely dealing with English subjects and locales. Partly based on the English oral folk culture that survived the Norman Conquest, yet anchored in Continental poetic genres and bearing signs of poetic influence from both traditions, they also reflect the blend of English and French literature and culture that defines Anglo-Norman literature’s unique character. Together these tales, each accompanied by an introduction and detailed notes, provide readers with a cohesive study of medieval English romances’s key themes: knightly adventure paired with romantic love, engaging social realism mixed with supernatural events, the disenfranchised hero’s valorous deeds abroad and triumphant return from exile, and an ending that rewards him with glory, marriage, and his rightful place on the throne.