A close reading and comparison of two late medieval authors outside the tradition of Chaucer: (1) the anonymous 14th-century poet who composed both Pearl and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and (2) the prose Morte Darthur of Sir Thomas Malory, a 15th-century "knight prisoner" who "reduced" the vast cycle of French Arthurian literature into its most complete and compelling formulation in English.  We will explore contemporary conflicts of social and spiritual value as these were projected into imaginary worlds different in space and time from the authors' own: the visionary landscapes of a bereaved dreamer or the legendary past of ancient Britain.  The depth and subtlety of the poet will be matched by the richness and variety of England's first great prose stylist.  Prior familiarity with Old or Middle English, or Old Norse, is highly welcome.

Requirements: daily oral translation and discussion in class, final exam, final project.

Texts:

     Gordon, E.V., ed. Pearl.  Oxford: Clarendon, 1953.
     Tolkien, J.R.R., and E.V. Gordon, eds. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. 2nd
          ed. Norman Davis.  Oxford: Clarendon, 1967.
     Malory, Sir Thomas.  Le Morte Darthur. Ed. Janet Cowen.  Harmondsworth:
          Penguin, 1969. 2 vols.