The Owl and the Nightingale

The Owl and the Nightingale is one of the comic poems in the English language and one of the best-known and accomplished of all medieval literary texts. This book contains a lively parallel-text translation in modern English, as well as a glossary, notes and introduction.

The Owl and the Nightingale is one of the first and greatest long comic poems in the English language and one of the best-known and most accomplished of all medieval literary texts.

Preface, vii; Acknowledgements, x; Abbreviations, xi; Introduction, xiii; A: Authorship, Date and Provenance, xiii; B: Critical Reception, xvi; C: Contexts and Sources, xxvii; D: Circulation and Transmission, xl; E: Linguistic Features, xlv; F: This Edition, xlviii; The Owl and the Nightingale, 1; Explanatory Notes, 44; Appendices to the Explanatory Notes, 96; A: Owls contrasted with Nightingales, 96; B: The Fable of the Hawk and the Nightingale, 98; C: The Owl's Wickedness and the Darkness, 99; D: The Fable of the Hawk and the Owl, 99; E: Nicholas of Guildford, 101; F: The Nightingale as the "Bird of Love", 102; G: The Knight, the Lady and the Nightingale, 103; H: Jealous Husbands, 103; J: Violent Husbands, 105; Textual and Linguistic Notes, 106. Bibliography, 142; A: Dictionaries, 143; B: Other Works of Reference, 143; C: Editions, Translations, Facsimiles and Concordances of The Owl and the Nightingale, 144; D: Editions, Translations and Facsimiles of other Medieval Works, 145; E: Bibliography of Secondary Texts, 152; F: Supplementary Bibliography, 165; Glossary, 166.