Medieval Narrative offers students an introduction to the range of narrative genres and strategies of the medieval period and explores the ways in which medieval theories of narrative can be compared with modern day theories. Throughout the text the author draws from a wide range of examples, including Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, the Ancrene Wisse, and continental examples of medieval narrative such as Boccaccio's Il Filostrato.

• 1: The Idea of Medieval Narrative


• 2: Narrative


• 3: Didactic Narratives


• 4: Forms of History


• 5: Comic Tales


• 6: Fantasy and Dream


• 7: Two Versions of Tragedy: Trolius and Criseyde and the Alliterative Morte Arthure


• 8: Putting Narratives Together


• 9: Postscript


• Bibliography

Formerly Lecturer in English at the University of Leeds (1959-64) and then successively Lecturer, Senior Lecturer, and Professor at Royal Holloway, University of London, Tony Davenport is now Emeritus Professor of Medieval Literature in the University of London. He is the author of several books and numerous essays on medieval English literature. He was elected Fellow of the English Association in 2002.