Biblical Paradigms in Medieval English Literature

Lawrence Besserman is Professor of English, emeritus, at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem; he has also taught at Columbia, Harvard, and NYU. Among his previously published books are The Legend of Job in the Middle Ages, (Harvard, 1979), Chaucer and the Bible (Garland, 1988), and Chaucer’s Biblical Poetics (Univ. of Oklahoma, 1998). He has edited two collections of essays: The Challenge of Periodization: Old Paradigms and New Perspectives (Garland, 1996) and Sacred and Secular in Medieval and Early modern Cultures: New Essays (Macmillan-Palgrave, 2006).

"This book will appeal to anyone interested in medieval literature and culture. Summing Up: Recommended." --C. S. Cox, University of Pittsburgh, CHOICE"Erudite and thought-provoking book" --Mary Davy Behrman, Arthuriana"The bibliography is extensive and the notes are full, and the book will serve as a useful guide to a partiucular area of criticism and scholarship on some of the most widely studied texts of medieval English literature." --William Marx, Studies in the Age of Chaucer

• Preface List of Illustrations Introduction 1. Biblical Paradigms in Old English Verse: Cædmon’s Hymn, Exodus, and Beowulf 2. Sacred and Secular in the Middle English Lyric: "Maiden in the Moor Lay" and "I Sing of a Maiden" 3. Sacred and Secular in the World of Romance: The Idea of the Green Knight 4. Biblical Analogies and the Language of Love in Chaucer’s Troilus and Criseyde 5. Chivalry and the Scandal of the Sacred in Malory’s Le Morte Darthur Conclusion List of Abbreviations Works Cited