Sir Bevis of Hampton

by Jennifer Fellows (Editor)

Sir Bevis of Hampton is arguably one of the most important non-Arthurian romances in Middle English, but it is only comparatively recently that it has received much scholarly or critical attention. Originating in England, the story of Bevis was immensely popular and influential during the late medieval and early modern periods, both in the British Isles and in continental Europe. The Middle English Bevis was translated around 1300 from an Anglo-Norman original, which spawned versions, both written and oral, in a dozen or so languages; these range in date from the beginning of the fourteenth century to within living memory, when a version of the story was still being performed by Sicilian puppeteers. The printing-history of Bevis, as well as references to the romance in the works of such writers as Shakespeare, Spenser, Bunyan, Drayton and Steele, indicates that it was still being widely read in English until well into the early modern period.

This parallel-text edition is designed to complement rather than to supplant earlier editions of Bevis, such as that produced by Eugen Kolbing and published for the Early English Text Society in 1885-1894. A substantial introduction and extensive annotation place the Middle English romance in its literary and cultural contexts, from the fourteenth century down to the present day. The principal aims of the edition are to indicate the variety and complexity of the textual tradition of Bevis and to provide material for further, more nuanced approaches to a significant cultural phenomenon.

Genres: Poetry

493 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1300

Reviews

[Jared · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Men made del and gret weping
For sorwe of that ilche thing;
The king swor, for that wronge
That Beves scholde ben anhonge
And to-drawe with wilde fole.
The barnage it nolde nought thole
And seide, hii mighte do him no wors,
Boute lete hongen is hors;
Hii mighte don him namore,
For he servede tho the king before.

'Nai,' queth Beves, 'for no catele
Nel ich lese min hors Arondele,
Ac min hors for to were
Ingelonde ich wile forswere;"

[Pwca · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm rating this 5 stars because fellows deserves it for making a good scholarly edition but in my heart of hearts I want to rate it 1 star because the middle English version(s) of bevis is so bad in comparison to the Anglo Norman boeve . some of these redactors really sapped everything good out of the original and replaced it with (more) racism and like,,, uncool horse worship? in a misogynistic and simultaneously jingoistic way ?? idk . only worth even 1 star because the addition of a dragon is kind of cool .

[Kit · Rating 5 out of 5]

The version of Bevis i read was not on Goodreads, but this is close enough! I love Bevis and had such a fun time reading this.