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Elizabeth Melick Dissertation.pdf (1.74 MB)

ETD Abstract Container

Abstract Header

Four Middle English Roland Romances: An Edition of Poems Drawn from Medieval Manuscripts

Melick, Elizabeth H
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1523367850331762

Abstract Details

2018, PHD, Kent State University, College of Arts and Sciences / Department of English.
This dissertation is an edition of four Middle English romances from the Otuel cycle: Roland and Vernagu, Otuel a Knight, Otuel and Roland, and Duke Roland and Sir Otuel of Spain. The previous editions of these four romances are difficult to obtain and outdated, so there is a need for an updated, easily accessible edition of these poems. The poems were transcribed from their medieval manuscripts and edited for a modern audience that includes undergraduate students. With this audience in mind, aspects of the texts such as punctuation and word division were modernized and marginal glosses of difficult Middle English words were added. I have also included explanatory notes for names, places, and phrases that will most likely be unfamiliar to modern readers, acknowledging that these contextual details are crucial to a reader's grasp of each romance's narrative. In addition to modernizing and annotating the four romances, I have discussed the most significant issues relating to these poems' editorial history and subject matter. A portion of my introduction discusses the manuscripts and previous editions. The introduction also addresses the historical events on which the romances are based: the eigth-century Frankish emperor Charlemagne's failed attempt to conquer Saragossa in Spain, and the ambush of his rearguard on his journey home. I also discuss the Saracens (a medieval term for Muslims) who are present in the romances, surveying the notable scholarship on romance Saracens and providing my own interpretation of the significance of the Saracen characters in the Otuel-cycle romances.
Susanna Fein (Advisor)
David Raybin (Committee Member)
Wesley Raabe (Committee Member)
Jennifer Larson (Committee Member)
323 p.
Literature; Medieval Literature

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Melick, E. H. (2018). Four Middle English Roland Romances: An Edition of Poems Drawn from Medieval Manuscripts [Doctoral dissertation, Kent State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1523367850331762

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Melick, Elizabeth. Four Middle English Roland Romances: An Edition of Poems Drawn from Medieval Manuscripts. 2018. Kent State University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1523367850331762.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Melick, Elizabeth. "Four Middle English Roland Romances: An Edition of Poems Drawn from Medieval Manuscripts." Doctoral dissertation, Kent State University, 2018. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1523367850331762

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

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© 2018, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by Kent State University and OhioLINK.