The Norton Anthology of English Literature, Vol. A: Middle Ages by M.H. Abrams

The Norton Anthology of English Literature, Vol. A: Middle Ages Reviews

• 
  Daniel

  This was one of three volumes (A,B,C) in a bundle-pack required for my first English Lit. survey course. The course was entitled, English Literature: Beginnings Through 1865 (or something along those lines). Of the three, I found volume A to be most enjoyable for several reasons: the morality play "Everyman" (Anonymous), the Anglo-Saxon/Old English Poetry and parts of "The Canterbury Tales". Specific poems I enjoyed: "The Dream of the Rood" (allusion to the crucifix, the lord and savior Jesus Christ), "The Wanderer" (the loss of a lord, an elegiac poem teeming with Christian sentiments), and "The Wife's Lament"(a vague and questionable elegiac prose poem). The morality play, "Everyman" is a fun time--certainly a good read! There are bits and pieces of Geoffrey Chaucer's "Canterbury Tales", great/very helpful footnotes included in "The General Prologue" and the vulgar and hilarious "The Miller's Prologue and Tale". All in all, a good time, and if you are a student of Literature this should be one of your main books!
  
• 
  Paras2

  One of the essentials for English literature students. history and literature packed together. I feel thaf whatever I say is a cruel underestimation of this books worth so I'd rather keep silent in appreciation and awe.
  
  **First reading review**
  there'll be more times...
• 
  Melisa Cabello Cuahutle

  I...
• 
  Liz

  How do you rate English history? I won't. I loved this though.
• 
  Alfred

  It is rather a pilgrimage to go through the anthology of English literature in the Middle Ages, where I fight with Beowulf against Grendel, travel with Sir Gawain to look for the green knight, experience the dream vision beside Julian of Norwich, and leave for Canterbury along with the tales of Chaucer. It is remarkable that the vey beginning of great English literature — Beowulf — is translated into modern English by one of the most well-known contemporary Irish poet Seamus Heaney. As the “Preface to the Eighth Edition” observes, “this translation is a reminder that the most recent works can double back upon the distant past, and that words set down by men and women who have crumbled into dust can speak to us with astonishing directness (xxii) .“
  I hope that I will pick up the old English and the Middle English so that I can read these marvelous works in their original form.
• 
  Rachel Matsuoka

  I like the Norton Anthology well enough for its introductions of the works and authors covered, but this volume had very little of that and I wasn't a huge fan of the selections, not a great diversity in that it was extremely biblical-heavy.
• 
  Eric

  Super helpful introduction to the foundations of early-middle English literature.
• 
  Rachel Woodruff

  If you want to know how literature began this is an excellent resource.
• 
  Sara Shupe

  I loved the introductions that went into the history behind the time period of the literature! I need to own all of this anthology!
• 
  Lauren

  fun to read stories like Beowulf and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight but I was not a fan of the stories in Middle English — not fun to interpret
• 
  Katie (BooksRUs)

  Best read in small chunks, but decent.
• 
  Phillip

  I love the Norton Anthologies of Literature. I have been a Norton fan since my undergrad days when we used them in my survey classes, and now that I'm teaching lit surveys I'm passing these wonderful collections along to my students (by which I mean forcing my students to buy them).
  
  The Norton editors are really good about providing background for such a wide variety of texts, including general introductory material about the medieval period--social organization, religious developments, changes in the English language from Anglo-Saxon Old English, through Norman French to Middle English, and into Early Modern English. The editors also provide more specific background for the individual texts, giving some history of the author (when it's known) and the significance of the text in the overall picture of English literature.
  
  For my British Literature I survey, I selected a variety of texts, including "Cuchullain's Boyhood Deeds," the opening section of Beowulf, pieces of Chaucer's "General Prologue" and "Wife of Bath's Prologue," the "York Play of the Crucifixion," and a couple of pieces from Margery Kempe. As this list suggests, the Norton has a wide range of texts (and I didn't even cast as wide a net as I initially intended to), dealing with a multitude of issues that were important to medieval people, including religion, gender roles, chivalry, the shift from Anglo-Saxon/Old English to Norman/Middle English, and so on.
• 
  Alice

  This was the first volume in a set of 3.
  
  It is a comprehensive history and survey of English literature up to Middle English.
  
  I personally adore all Norton editions as I find their translations to be the best out there and the footnotes are not insane to read. Some anthologies over due the footnotes and annotations so much that there are more of those than actual text.
  
  In all, this anthology gives a rather good summary and example of what English literature looked like, and includes most, if not all, major works of the time period.
  
  I have begun to read the next in this series and hope it will be the same.
• 
  Yasmin

  Really well put together anthology, the glosses are good for middle english,
  but the actual content is only really interesting if you are studying it and learning about the context in depth alongside it.
  Beowulf 3/5
  Lanval (Marie de France) 3/5
  Sir Orfeo 4/5
  Sir Gawain 4/5
  Geoffrey of Monmouth books 8-10 3/5
  Millers tale (Chaucer) 2/5
  -Wife of Baths Tale
  My Compleinte (Hoccleve) 4/5
  Lyrics 2/5
  York Crucifixion 4/5
  -Everyman
  
  One lyric I did enjoy was Sunset on Cavalry:
  'Nou goth sonne vnder wode,
  Me reweth, marie, thi faire rode.
  Nou goth sonne vnder tre,
  Me retheth, marie, thi sone ad the.'
• 
  Heather Adkins

  I read this book for my English literature before 1600 class. We didn't read the whole thing, which is damn good because some of this stuff is significantly hard to read. To be honest, the class made the book amazing. The discussions we had on the use of religion in the works and everybody's conflicting opinions on characters such as Sir Gawain, Beowulf, and pietous ladies Kempe and Julian were a great way to appreciate literature. These works were the beginning, the famous pieces that were the foundation for writing of today.
• 
  Robin

  I like this series of textbooks. Each section has a clear, concise introduction to different aspects of that theme. It provides brief, informative biographies on each author. It includes a wide variety of authors and poets to choose from. There is no way you could cover everything in this book in one semester. It has wonderful footnotes to help clarify archaic words and phrases as well. All this is presented without any kind of opinion or critique, leaving the passages open for debate or personal interpretation. I really enjoyed it.
• 
  Erin

  So, I have to say this--literature from the Middle Ages does not resonate with me. But, because of the Norton contexts and the professor I had for this particular class, I have new-found appreciation for The Canterbury Tales ("The Wife of Bath's Prologue and Tale"),
  Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, and Beowolf (liked it better as an adult than when I was 17 y.o.).
• 
  Diana

  The first book of the set used for my British Literature class. We used it mostly for the biographies of the authors, some poetry and the pronunciations to help us understand Old English. I've had to do a ton of reading for this class with even more to do, we are only in week five. I've enjoyed it immensely , especially since so many of the books had been sitting on my TBR list for multiple years.
• 
  Molli

  The essentials of English Literature in easy to handle volumes!. Not really a book (or series) to read for sheer pleasure, unless you're a medievalist/classics enthusiast, but certainly worth the read. Unfortunately, some of the longer pieces in this collection are truncated, or appear only in a excerpted form. Beowulf and Gawain, though, seem to be complete.
• 
  Barnaby Thieme

  A fine collection, admirably edited and smoothly presented with unobtrusive but usable footnotes and helpful introductory essays. I'm pleased by the inclusion of Seamus Heaney's rendering of Beowulf, and was delighted by the modern English translation of Sir Gawain and the Green Night.
  
  Someday I'm going to pony up the resolve to plow through the Canterbury Tales, I just know it ....
• 
  Peter E. Frangel

  'Beowulf', 'The Canterbury Tales', 'Dream of the Rood', 'Sir Gawain and the Green Knight' and more. What else could you ask for? This is a wonderful introduction to Middle Age British literature, if you fancy such things or even just want to learn more about the period, and the foundation of how we write today.
• 
  Alisha Helton

  This book has a great collection of stories and poems from the Middle Ages. Each author has an introduction that gives you context of the story. And if the story hasn't been translated to modern day English, the provide in text translations that really help when trying to understand it. It's a great collection if you like old literature.
• 
  Michelle

  The older the story, the less I like it. Ha. I said it. And I'm an English major. Sorry dudes.
  
  I will never be a big fan of story in verse--I don't think it makes it more concise, I think it just makes it flowery and difficult. Sorry Professor Gambera.
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  Linda (un)Conventional Bookworms

  Just to have another point of view form the Broadview Middle Ages book. And I prefer the Broadview - although I usually LOVE the Norton books.
  Still a very informative book sharing the most important things about the period.
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  Rachel Torrelino

  I loved the compilation of all the major works in this book! We finished this book by reading "The Book of Margery Kempe" and "Everyman". Everyman is such an interesting character. I felt most sympathetic for Good Deeds and envied the help of his sister, Knowledge.
• 
  Hope

  “Read: Dream of the Rood, Beowulf, Le Morte D'arthur, The Prologue to Canterbury Tales, The Wife of Bath's Prologue, The Wife of Bath's Tale, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Caidmon's Hymn, and The Second Shepherd's Play
• 
  Atika Patel

  The Norton Anthology books are extremely helpful and useful for anyone doing literature at university. It has a brief intro to each text about the context. The chronological divide of each texts is also helpful in giving you an overall idea of the popular type of writing of that time.