Customer Reviews

Book of Middle English

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Designed as a companion volume to "A Guide to Old English" by Bruce Mitchell and Fred C. Robinson, this book is a straightforward introduction to Middle English, the language (or rather, the group of dialects) spoken and written in England from about 1100, after the Norman Conquest, to 1450/1500. The book begins with an overview of the basics, including dialects, grammar and pronunciation (which is described using modern British, rather than American, sounds). The rest of the book consists of examples of Middle English texts, from oldest to youngest -- mostly poetry, though some prose is included as well. Difficult or unusual terms are glossed at the bottom of the page, but for most definitions you'll have to turn to the glossary (dictionary) at the back of the book. Middle English is rich in dialectal and spellingvariants, but the authors are nice enough to refer to you the main entry in cases of variant spellings. Most of the texts are excerpts; you won't find the whole Canterbury Tales here, but rather two complete tales, with "The Parliament of Fowls [fools]" to round out the Chaucer offerings. Other highlights include Lazamon "Brut," (lines 10534-10706), an excerpt from "The Peterborough Chronicle" (1137), a "York Play of the Crucifixion" and small parts of "Piers Plowman" and "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight." There are plenty of bibliographical references for each text if you become interested in learning more. Don't expect facing-page modern-English translations -- the writers provide you the tools to decode the original texts for yourself. This a book primarily for those interested in linguistic and/or literary analysis. You'll also get plenty of insight into how different (and weirdly artificial) our standardized modern (especially American) English is from the chaos of the ME era. The writers point out right at the beginning that "authors in the twelfth, thirteenth and fourteenth centuries generally wrote the English that they spoke -- whether in London, Hereford, Peterborough, or York." This book could easily be used by the non-specialist or curious reader who just wants an idea of what Middle English was, but it is probably best used as a textbook in a classroom setting. The independent reader might want to get one of the many good sound recordings of Chaucer's poetry in order to get an idea of what late Middle English sounded like. If you want to delve into the fascinating history of English, I'd recommend starting with a general history and then moving up to a book like this. You don't need a knowledge of Old English, however, to start studying ME -- in fact, it might even be easier to work your way back in history rather than forwards. All in all, a valuable book for those who want to know more about English.

I first bought the Guide to Old English and found it to be well organized and very good for a reference. Since this book was designed to be like A Guide to Old English, I figured it would be just as good. It is a good introduction to the language but doesn't contain nearly the amount of introductory explanation as the Guide does. It provides many more texts in the back however. I found it very helpful to have a good grasp of Old English grammar and basic forms. To be fair though, it's harder to make generalizations about Middle English because of the tremendous time and regional variance. The glossary however, does leave a bit to be desired, it is not quite as thorough as the Guide was, and sometimes they assume that you can derive the modern form from the middle English. Overall though, it's a decent book and worthy of 4 stars. There's little wrong with this book that another edition couldn't clear up.

Now in its third edition, enhanced with revisions to key works in light of new editions, updated bibliographies, and two new extracts from "Pearl" and Chaucer's "Troilus and Criseyde", A Book Of Middle English is a scholarly classroom text designed to introduce readers to comprehending the language and literature of England between 1150 and 1400. Part One focuses on understanding how to pronounce Middle English, and its rules of grammar, syntax, and applications of meter in rhyming verse; Part Two offers a selection of Middle English reading material including "The Owl and the Nightingale", The Cloud of Unknowing", Sir Gawain and the Green Knight", and many more. An excellent practical resource for literature students and scholars striving to better understand classical writings in their original language.

For those looking to study Middle English, this is a very comprehensive package. After the fall of the house of Wessex, and before the Renaissance, English went through a very turbulent period. This book describes Middle English through all of its changes, with at least several pages of the original from each. Definitely a great buy!

This review is going to sound very similar to my review of A Guide to Old English, but that's to be expected as the two books only differ in the variety of English they cover. And they are meant to be companion volumes as well.

I can't add much more that hasn't already been said, but this it is a great introduction to Middle English.

The readings make up over half of the book, and are the most important part of the book. And the readings are very interesting and entertaining. The grammar in the beginning of the book is meant to be there for reference when you start reading for the most part.

The glossary is thick and very helpful for translating the texts.

The sections on French and Latin in the beginning, and the vocabulary make-up of Middle English are very fascinating. The book doesn't go into great detail about this, but just enough to give you the idea.

The layout reminds me of a lot of the grammars you can find from the 1800's and early 1900's, such as Wrights Gothic Grammar. If you don't know what I'm talking about search google for Wrights Gothic Grammar and you'll get an idea. Though this textbook is a bit more modern, and also has some historical information.

Overall I find this to be a very enjoying introduction to Middle English. Just don't expect a Teach Yourself or anything.

I first encountered Middle English in English literature class as a senior in high school, taught by the same wonderful old gentleman who had taught both of my parents. The first part of the prologue to Chaucer's Canterbury Tales was one of the pieces that we had to memorize and recite in unison at the beginning of each class. Burrow and Turville-Petri's book introduces the student to 14 other selections, none of which were authored by Chaucer, including Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Piers Plowman, and Sir Orfeo. The authors have selected these texts to give the student a taste of the variety the exists in Middle English--sampling various time periods as well as regional dialects. On p.7 the authors actually locate these 14 selections within the five regions of England: SE, SW, East and West Midland, and Northern. It is worth noting that Sir Orfeo, which was composed in the London dialect, seems very close to the language of Chaucer, who also wrote in the London dialect--a dialect that is not difficult for the modern reader. The language of Sir Gawain is quite different and much more difficult for the modern reader. It also interesting to see that not all selections are in verse. Piers Plowman uses alliteration only--in a manner similar to that found in the Old English Poem Beowulf.

In addition to the 190 pages devoted to these 14 texts, 70 pages address grammar, pronunciation, dialects, and history, while 40 pages make up a fairly complete glossary. All in all, this 300 page book is quite satisfying for an amateur such as myself.