English 319-A:
The Battle for Britain: Ancient Mythologies in Medieval English Literature

Individual Project Suggested Topics

The ruins of the Priory Church at Lindisfarne; a view from the south west. The rainbow arch is at the upper right. (Image Credit: Fee, Hannon and Zoller 1999)

1. The Celtic Vision of the Fairy World in Medieval Literature
2. The Celtic Heritage of The Arthurian Romance
3. Beowulf, its Norse Analogues, and Germanic Myth
4. The Evolution of the Legends of Arthur
5. The Theme of Justice in the Age of Romance
6. Myths of Creation and Medieval Literature
7. Myths of the Flood and Medieval Literature
8. Myths of Purgation and Medieval Literature
9. The Mythic Foundations of Purgatory
10. The Mythic Foundation of the Medieval Hell
11. Mythic Traditions, Arthuriana, and the Notion of "History"
12. Fertility and Sacrifice in Medieval Literature
13. Head-Hunting Celts Hiding in Medieval Texts
14. The Voyage of the Hero in the Medieval Saint’s Life
15. Christ as Germanic Heroic Warrior
16. The Quest for Gold:  The Mythic Archetype of Alchemy in Medieval Literature
17. The Apocalyptic Tradition and the Cult of the Cross
18. Saints' Lives, Types of Christ, and the Body as Window to the Soul
19. The Hero’s Journey to the Underworld in Medieval Literature
20. The Dying God in Medieval Literature
21. The Lost Gods of England
22. Medieval Christian Reformulations of Pagan Gods and Practices
23. Devil or Angel:  The Mythic Archetypes of Minor Deities in Medieval Literature
24. Classical Mythology in Medieval Literature
25. Norse Mythology in Medieval Literature
26. Celtic Mythology in Medieval Literature
27. The Mythos of the Feminine in Medieval Literature
28. The Mythos of the “Other” in Medieval Literature
29. The Pagan Origins of Medieval Witchcraft
30. The Pagan Origin of the Medieval Wild Hunt
31. The Pagan Origin of the Medieval Fairy Dance
32. The Mythic Origin of Medieval Monsters
33. The Myth of the Dragon in Medieval Literature
34. Halloween, Yuletide, and Easter:  Medieval Renderings of a Pagan Past
35. Virgin or Whore?  Medieval Notions of the Goddess
36. Cannibalism, Communion, and Medieval Literature