This knocker on the door of Durham Cathedral offers entrance to the world of Otter's Ransom; the original, now housed in the cathedral museum, offered Sanctuary to those fleeing the arm of secular law (Image Credit: Fee, Hannon, and Zoller 1999)

English 401: The Battle for Britain
Ancient Mythologies in Medieval British Literature

This knocker on the door of Durham Cathedral offers entrance to the world of Otter's Ransom; the original, now housed in the cathedral museum, offered Sanctuary to those fleeing the arm of secular law (Image Credit: Fee, Hannon, and Zoller 1999)

 

Reading Schedule

  
The Rainbow Arch of the Priory Church at Lindisfarne (Image Credit: Fee, Hannon, and Zoller 1999)
 

What books do I need?

Blair, John. The Anglo-Saxon Age: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2002. (ISBN 0192854038)

Borroff, Marie. trans. and ed. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Patience, and Pearl: Verse Translations. New York: W.W. Norton, 2000. (ISBN 0393976580)

Bradley, S.A.J., ed. Anglo-Saxon Poetry. Rutland, VT: Charles E. Tuttle Co., 1994. (ISBN 0460875078)

Byock, Jesse L., trans. The Saga of King Hrolf Kraki. Penguin Classics ed. New York: Penguin, 1998. (ISBN: 014043593X)

Byock, Jesse L., trans. The Saga of the Volsungs: The Norse Epic of Sigurd the Dragon Slayer. Penguin Classics ed. New York: Penguin, 2000. (ISBN: 0140447385)

Chaucer, Geoffrey. The Wife of Bath's Prologue and Tale. 2nd ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998. (ISBN 052159507X)

Cunliffe, Barry. The Celts: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2003. (ISBN 0192804189)

Fee, Christopher with David Leeming. Gods, Heroes, and Kings: The Battle for Mythic Britain. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2004. (ISBN: 0195174038)

Fox, Denton and Hermann Palsson, trans. Grettir's Saga. Toronto: U of Toronto P, 1974. (ISBN: 0802061656)

Gantz, J. The Mabinogion. New York: Penguin Classics, 1976. (ISBN: 0140443223)

Gillingham, John and Ralph A. Griffiths. Medieval Britain: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2002. (ISBN 019285402X)

Green, Miranda. Celtic Myths. Legendary Past Series. Austin: U of Texas P, 1993. (ISBN: 0292727542)

Kinsella, Thomas, trans. The Tain. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2002. (ISBN: 0192803735)

Lewis, Thrope, trans. The History of the Kings of Britain. Reprint ed. New York: Viking Penguin, 1981. (ISBN 0140441700)

Malory, T. Le Morte Darthur: The Winchester Manuscript. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1998. (ISBN: 0192824201)

Page, R.I. Norse Myths. The Legendary Past Series. Austin: U of Texas P, 1991. (ISBN: 0292755465)

Richards, Julian D. The Vikings: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2005. (ISBN 0192806076)

Salway, Peter. Roman Britain: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2002. (ISBN 0192854046)

Week-by-Week Schedule

WEEK 1:
Introduction to the Mythology of Britain

Introduction and Overview of History of Early Britain; Introduction to Comparative Mythology and Methods

WEEKS 2-3:
The Mythology of Ancient Britain

Readings:
The Celts: A Very Short Introduction
Celtic Myths
The Tain
Gods, Heroes, and Kings:  The Battle for Mythic Britain
("The Pantheons"--63-73; Celtic "Deity Types"--75-109; "Sacred Objects and Places" 114-115)
("Sagas of Ireland"--169-181)
Schedule:
Deity archetypes and rituals of the Ancient Celts
Iron Age Celtic culture and ritual in the Medieval Irish Tain
The Epic Irish Hero of the Tain

WEEK 4:
The Mythology of Roman Britain

Readings:
Roman Britain: A Very Short Introduction
Geoffrey of Monmouth’s History of the Kings of Britain
Schedule:
The Romans in Britain
The Romano-British response to Hengst and Horsa: The Rise of the Myth of Arthur

WEEKS 5-7:
The Mythology of Post-Roman Britain

Reading:
The Mabinogion
Gods, Heroes, and Kings:  The Battle for Mythic Britain
("Sagas of Wales"--181-189)
(Celtic "Creation and Apocalypse"--139-145)
Schedule:
The Four Branches of The Mabinogion: Gods, Heroes, and Mythic Themes of Yore abound in the stories of Pwyll, Branwen, Manawydan, and Math
Three Independent Native Tales of The Mabinogion: History becomes Legend and is Shrouded in the trappings of Folklore and Myth in the Dream Visions of Macsen Wledig and Rhonabwy, and in the adventures of Lludd and Llefelys
Three Arthurian Romances of The Mabinogion: A Tapestry of Ancient Celtic Mythology woven into the Medieval Welsh Tales of Owain, Peredur, and Gereint

WEEKS 8-9:
The Mythology of Anglo-Saxon Britain

Readings:
The Anglo-Saxon Age: A Very Short Introduction
Anglo-Saxon Poetry
Gods, Heroes, and Kings:  The Battle for Mythic Britain
(“The Dying God”--83-88)
(“Sacred Objects and Places”--111-116)
(“Saint Helen Seeks the True Cross”--123-124)
(“Miles Christi”--134-135)
(“Apocalypse and Armageddon”--142-145)
Schedule:
The Apocalyptic Tradition and the Cult of the Cross:  Anglo-Saxon Poetry ("The Ruthwell Cross Inscription"--4-5;  "The Dream of the Rood"--158-163;  "Elene"--164-197;  "Christ III"--228-248;  "Judgment Day II"--528-535)
Saints' Lives, Types of Christ, and the Body as Window to the Soul:  Anglo-Saxon Poetry ("Andreas"--110-153;  "Guthlac B"--269-283;  "Juliana"--301-320)

WEEKS 10-12
The Mythology of Viking Britain

Readings:
The Vikings: A Very Short Introduction
The Norse Myths
The Saga of King Hrolf Kraki
Grettir's Saga
The Saga of the Volsungs
Gods, Heroes, and Kings:  The Battle for Mythic Britain
(As outlined below)
Schedule:
Introducing the Gods of the North: Gods, Heroes, and Kings: The Battle for Mythic Britain [N.B. Focus on Germanic--i.e. Norse and Anglo-Saxon--material.] ("Preface"--ix-xi; "Introduction"--3-9; "The Pantheons"--13-63; "Deity Types"--75-99;  "Sacred Objects and Places"--111-116; "Heroes and Heroines"--117-124; "Creation and Apocalypse"--139-145); Norse Myths (Page) (7-78)
Beowulf and the Northern Imagination I--The Hero and the Troll: Beowulf ("Introduction" and ll. 1-836); The Saga of King Hrolf Kraki (vii-xxxii and 1-78); Gods, Heroes, and Kings: The Battle for Mythic Britain ("Germanic Demigods and Spirits"--101-108; "Heroic Battles with Monsters"--127-130; "The Sagas"--147-148; "Norse Echoes of English Heroic Sagas"--155-158); An
Beowulf and the Northern Imagination II--The Hero and the Descent into the Water-Wife's Cave: Beowulf (ll. 837-2199); Grettir's Saga (viii-xiii and 3-187); Gods, Heroes, and Kings: The Battle for Mythic Britain ("The Hero’s Descent into the Otherworld"--124-127; "Norse Echoes of English Heroic Sagas"--158-161)
Beowulf and the Northern Imagination  III--The Hero and the Dragon: Beowulf (ll. 2200-3182); The Saga of the Volsungs (1-109); Gods, Heroes, and Kings: The Battle for Mythic Britain ("Heroic Battles with Monsters"--130-137; "Beowulf and the Anglo-Saxon Heroic Saga as History"--166-168)

WEEKS 13-14:
The Mythology of King Arthur in Medieval Britain

Readings:
Medieval Britain: A Very Short Introduction
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
The Wife of Bath's Prologue and Tale
Le Morte Darthur
Gods, Heroes, and Kings:  The Battle for Mythic Britain
(As outlined below)
Schedule:
Fertility, Sacrifice, and the Celtic Heritage of The Arthurian Romance:  Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (in entirety);  The Mabinogion ("Culhwch and Olwen"--80-113); Gods, Heroes, and Kings: The Battle for Mythic Britain ("The Sacrificial Quest"--192-201)
Missing Persons, Magic Dances, and the Celtic Vision of the Fairy World:  The Wife of Bath's Prologue and Tale (in entirety); Gods, Heroes, and Kings: The Battle for Mythic Britain ("The Love Quest--201-206")  and  ("The Penitential Quest"--206-210); The Loathly Lady and Sovranty Themes
Sir Thomas Malory’s Le Morte Darthur: Fully Formed Arthurian Archetypes


 
 

Copyright 1999-2007 Gettysburg College and Christopher R. Fee