Gawain’s Travels, a group/choral performance

About the scene and clip:
Dividing the class into groups, the key performer leads his fellow students in a dramatic, choral recitation of Gawain’s momentous travels.

About the work:
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, one of the best loved works of medieval literature, is an anonymous Middle English romance of the 14th century. The style is “alliterative”: each poetic line is dominated by a certain letter sound that is repeated.

The story:
At Christmas, a strange, huge, all-green knight arrives at King Arthur’s court. He challenges all present to an exchange of blows with his great axe. Gawain accepts, and cuts off the knight’s head—but the green man does not die! Rather, he picks up his head and, before riding away, reminds Gawain that in a year it will be his turn to receive his blow. Gawain, in his dutiful quest for the Green Knight, encounters many adventures—in particular, at a castle where he has an exchange of gifts with the lord, and where the lady attempts repeatedly to seduce the virtuous and honorable Gawain. He finally finds the Green Knight—in a surprising conclusion to the romance.

About the genre:
Medieval romances are typically long narratives of love and adventure in which an aristocratic hero (or occasionally a heroine) proves himself in combat and courtship. Medieval romance arose in France and Anglo-Norman England in the 12th century and spread through Western and even Eastern Europe. Many early romances tell the stories of knights and ladies at King Arthur’s court. In the 12th and 14th centuries, romances are composed in verse (typically octosyllabic rhymed couplets), and are commonly performed aloud from memory by minstrels; romances are also sometimes read aloud. In the 13th century, some romances begin to be written in prose; public and private readings become more frequent.

About the edition/translation:
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight [Parallel Text Edition], tr. Simon Armitage, New York/London, W.W. Norton & Company, 2007; II: ll. 718ff; pp. 69ff.

About the performer/ensemble:
Jon Sokolow is a Drama student in the Experimental Theatre Wing at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts (2012).

About the production:
This performance was created for the course “Acting Medieval Literature,” taught by Prof. Timmie (E.B.) Vitz at New York University in spring 2012. It was videoed by Alexander Herron and edited by Abigail Wahl.

Yvain: Calogrenant’s story, in rap

About the scene and clip: 
The performer tells/sings Carogrenant’s tale in rap, with recorded music.

About the work:
Yvain is one of the five surviving romances by Chrétien de Troyes, who is often considered the father of Arthurian romance. This great work, in octosyllabic rhymed couplets, was composed for Marie, Countess of Champagne, around 1170. The romance recounts the adventures of Yvain, a knight of King Arthur’s court, who wins the beautiful Laudine in marriage (having killed her husband in single combat). He then loses both her love and his honor through his failure to keep a vow to return home from his knightly activities by an agreed-upon date. The second half of the romance is devoted to adventures in which Yvain, accompanied by a lion, creates a new name for himself (the “Knight with the Lion”), recovers his honor through a series of good deeds, and finally wins back his wife.

About the genre:
Medieval romances are typically long narratives of love and adventure in which an aristocratic hero (or occasionally a heroine) proves himself in combat and courtship. Medieval romance arose in France and Anglo-Norman England in the 12th century and spread through Western and even Eastern Europe. Many early romances tell the stories of knights and ladies at King Arthur’s court. In the 12th and 13th centuries, romances are composed in verse (typically octosyllabic rhymed couplets), and are commonly performed aloud from memory by minstrels; romances are also sometimes read aloud. In the 13th century, some romances begin to be written in prose; public and private readings become more frequent.

About the edition/translation:
Yvain or The Knight with the Lion, trans. Ruth Harwood Cline, Athens, GA, University of Georgia Press, 1975, pp. 6ff. Old French: Le Chevalier au Lion (Yvain), ed./trans. David F. Hult, in Romans de Chrétien de Troyes, eds./trans. J.M. Fritz et al, Paris, Classiques Modernes/ Livre de Poche, 1994.

About the performer/ensemble: 
Rachel Berger is a Drama student in the Stella Adler Studio at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts (2013).

About the production: 

This performance was created for the course “Acting Medieval Literature,” taught by Prof. Timmie (E.B.) Vitz at New York University in spring 2013. It was videoed by McKenzie Beehler and edited by Abigail Wahl.

Yvain: Lion thinks Yvain is dead!—sung with recorded music

About the scene and clip:
The Lion thinks that Yvain (who has fainted from grief) is dead, and he is beside himself with woe. He is just about to kill himself with Yvain’s sword when our hero recovers consciousness.  The performer sings the scene to recorded music, embodying the Lion.

About the work:
Yvain is one of the five surviving romances by Chrétien de Troyes, who is often considered the father of Arthurian romance. This great work, in octosyllabic rhymed couplets, was composed for Marie, Countess of Champagne, around 1170. The romance recounts the adventures of Yvain, a knight of King Arthur’s court, who wins the beautiful Laudine in marriage (having killed her husband in single combat). He then loses both her love and his honor through his failure to keep a vow to return home from his knightly activities by an agreed-upon date. The second half of the romance is devoted to adventures in which Yvain, accompanied by a lion, creates a new name for himself (the “Knight with the Lion”), recovers his honor through a series of good deeds, and finally wins back his wife.

About the genre:
Medieval romances are typically long narratives of love and adventure in which an aristocratic hero (or occasionally a heroine) proves himself in combat and courtship. Medieval romance arose in France and Anglo-Norman England in the 12th century and spread through Western and even Eastern Europe. Many early romances tell the stories of knights and ladies at King Arthur’s court. In the 12th and 13th centuries, romances are composed in verse (typically octosyllabic rhymed couplets), and are commonly performed aloud from memory by minstrels; romances are also sometimes read aloud. In the 13th century, some romances begin to be written in prose; public and private readings become more frequent.

About the edition/translation:
Yvain or The Knight with the Lion, trans. Ruth Harwood Cline, Athens, GA, University of Georgia Press, 1975, pp. 98ff. Old French: Le Chevalier au Lion (Yvain), ed./trans. David F. Hult, in Romans de Chrétien de Troyes, eds./trans. J.M. Fritz et al, Paris, Classiques Modernes/ Livre de Poche, 1994.

About the performer/ensemble:
Douglas Widick is a Drama student in the Stella Adler Studio at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts (2012).

About the production:
This performance was created for the course “Acting Medieval Literature,” taught by Prof. Timmie (E.B.) Vitz at New York University in spring 2012. It was videoed by Samantha Ehrenberger and edited by Abigail Wahl.

Gawain: Gawain, in his beautiful armor, prepares to leave Arthur’s court

About the scene and clip:
The performer describes Sir Gawain’s glorious armor, singing and using another student as a live prop.

About the work:
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, one of the best loved works of medieval literature, is an anonymous Middle English romance of the 14th century. The style is “alliterative”: each poetic line is dominated by a certain letter sound that is repeated.

The story: At Christmas, a strange, huge, all-green knight arrives at King Arthur’s court. He challenges all present to an exchange of blows with his great axe. Gawain accepts, and cuts off the knight’s head—but the green man does not die! Rather, he picks up his head and, before riding away, reminds Gawain that in a year it will be his turn to receive his blow. Gawain, in his dutiful quest for the Green Knight, encounters many adventures—in particular, at a castle where he has an exchange of gifts with the lord, and where the lady attempts repeatedly to seduce the virtuous and honorable Gawain. He finally finds the Green Knight—in a surprising conclusion to the romance.

About the genre:
Medieval romances are typically long narratives of love and adventure in which an aristocratic hero (or occasionally a heroine) proves himself in combat and courtship. Medieval romance arose in France and Anglo-Norman England in the 12th century and spread through Western and even Eastern Europe. Many early romances tell the stories of knights and ladies at King Arthur’s court. In the 12th and 13th centuries, romances are composed in verse (typically octosyllabic rhymed couplets), and are commonly performed aloud from memory by minstrels; romances are also sometimes read aloud. In the 13th century, some romances begin to be written in prose; public and private readings become more frequent.

About the edition/translation:
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight [Parallel Text Edition], tr. Simon Armitage, New York/London, W.W. Norton & Company, 2007; II: ll. 590ff; pp. 61ff.

About the performer/ensemble: 
Katie Eisenberg is a Drama student in the Experimental Theatre Wing at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts (2012).

About the production:
This performance was created for the course “Acting Medieval Literature,” taught by Prof. Timmie (E.B.) Vitz at New York University in spring 2012. It was videoed by Samantha Ehrenberger and edited by Abigail Wahl.

Cid: The Cid and his beard

About the scene and clip:
This scene is a dialogue between The Cid and a supporter of the evil Carrión brothers. Emphasis falls on The Cid’s grand, long, never-been-pulled beard, that symbol of his honor and force, of which he is justifiably proud.

About the work: 
The Song of the Cid (Cantar del Mio Cid) is a medieval Spanish epic, probably composed in the 12th century, and preserved in a single, somewhat incomplete 14th-century manuscript; it is probably anonymous (though there is controversy on the issue). It recounts important adventures of an historical figure, Rodrigo (or Ruy) Díaz, known as “El Cid” (from an Arabic honoric term, meaning “lord” or “sir”).  The Cid was a major hero of the “reconquista” (reconquest) of Spain from the Moors. This epic is (especially for an epic) unusually cheerful on the whole: The Cid was “born at the right hour!” The first part tells of his banishment from Castile by King Alfonso (for reasons unclear in the epic), his many conquests in Moorish territory, and his reinstatement at court. The second part focuses on the highly unsatisfactory marriages of The Cid’s two daughters to arrogant, cowardly Spanish noblemen, the sons of Carrión (the king had chosen the marriages); the brothers beat the two women and leave them for dead in the forest, but they are rescued. The Cid contrives a sophisticated and civilized revenge on the two men—and his daughters go on to marry kings.    

About the genre:  
The epic is an ancient genre and is found in almost every culture. It is a long heroic narrative that tells of war and great deeds. Epics are generally composed in verse, and sung from memory or improvised in performance by professional performers with instrumental accompaniment. These narratives are created from traditional elements, commonly without recourse to writing, by poets whose names are often unknown to us. Among the famous traditional epics are the Iliad and the Odyssey, attributed to Homer; the Anglo-Saxon Beowulf; and the Old French Song of Roland. Many known poets adopt epic forms and themes for their literary verse (such as Virgil in his Aeneid).

About the edition/translation:
The Song of the Cid: A Dual-Language Edition with Parallel Text, trans. Burton Raffel, New York, Penguin Editions, 2009; stanza 140, p. 219.

About the performer/ensemble:
Katie Eisenberg is a Drama student in the Experimental Theatre Wing at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts (2012).

About the production:
This performance was created for the course “Acting Medieval Literature,” taught by Prof. Timmie (E.B.) Vitz at New York University in spring 2012. It was videoed by Alexander Herron and edited by Abigail Wahl.

Troilus: Reading in a paved parlor

About the scene and clip:
This clip is a two-part dramatization of Book 2, lines 78-119, of Troilus and Criseyde, performed in Middle English with Modern English subtitles. Part I dramatizes the scene in which Criseyde and her friends are reading aloud to each other in a paved parlor. Part II recreates how medieval audiences would have experienced Chaucer’s poem.

About the work:
The great 14th-century English poet Geoffrey Chaucer is primarily famous for The Canterbury Tales, but he is also the author of several other major works. In Troilus and Criseyde, he retells the tragic story of the Trojan prince, Troilus, and Criseyde. (This story is actually more medieval than classical: it comes from the Roman de Troie by the 12th-century French poet Benoït de Sainte-Maure; Boccaccio also tells the story in Il Filostrato, which is Chaucer’s primary source.) Chaucer tells of Troilus’ love for the beautiful young widow, Criseyde; his extreme timidity as a lover; the intervention of her uncle Pandarus on their behalf; their love-affair; her move to the Greek camp (being forced by her father to do so); her taking of a new lover, the Greek warrior Diomedes; and the heartbroken Troilus’ death in battle. The work is written in “rhyme royal” (seven-line stanzas in iambic pentameter). Shakespeare drew heavily on Chaucer’s poem for his tragedy Troilus and Cressida.

About the genre:
Troilus and Criseyde to some degree defies genre classification, but it draws strongly on romance tradition.

Medieval romances are typically long narratives of love and adventure in which an aristocratic hero (or occasionally a heroine) proves himself in combat and courtship. Medieval romance arose in France and Anglo-Norman England in the 12th century and spread through Western and even Eastern Europe. Many early romances tell the stories of knights and ladies at King Arthur’s court. In the 12th and 13th centuries, romances are composed in verse (typically octosyllabic rhymed couplets), and are commonly performed aloud from memory by minstrels; romances are also sometimes read aloud. In the 13th century, some romances begin to be written in prose; public and private readings become more frequent.

About the edition/translation:
The Riverside Chaucer, eds. Larry Benson, Robert Pratt, F.N. Robertson, Oxford, Oxford Paperbacks, 3rd Rev. Ed., 1988: Troilus and Criseyde, Book 2, lines 78-119.

About the performer/ensemble:
Prof. Joyce Coleman produced and directed the film. Kevin Caliendo (actor, screenwriter), Mark Collett (actor, screenwriter), Christina Norman Dotson (actor, screenwriter), Emily Duda (actor, costumer), Lee Green (actor, location scout), Kimberly Martinson (Antigone, music researcher), Alex Miner (actor, screenwriter), and Ryan Schaller (actor, “Siege of Thebes” researcher) are all graduate students in English and History at the University of Oklahoma (2006). Prof. David Levy (“Philosophical Strode”) is an emeritus professor of History, and Prof. Alan Velie (“Moral Gower”) is a professor of English, both at the University of Oklahoma. Dr. Lynne Levy (Chloe) and Dr. Dan Ransom are, respectively, the Managing Editor and the Director of the Chaucer Variorum. Dr. Elisabeth Dutton (Criseyde) teaches at Oxford University.

About the production:
This video was created for a graduate course taught by Prof. Joyce Coleman at the University of Oklahoma in spring 2006: “Authorship through Medieval Eyes.” The film was shot on April 13, 2006 at the University of Oklahoma. Copies of the video with detailed liner notes are available through Prof. Joyce Coleman of the University of Oklahoma. We offer our thanks to her, a member of the advisory board of the website, for allowing us to use this clip.

Ash Tree: Romanesque harp accompaniment

About the scene and clip:
The performer tells the Lay of the Ash Tree (Fresne), one of Marie de France’s Lais. He alternates between reading aloud from the lai and playing a Romanesque harp. The harp he uses is a copy of an early medieval harp; it was built by Catherine Campbell, incorporating results of Cook’s research into the form of the harp in the 12th and 13th centuries. The pieces of music he uses are: “De moi dolereus vos chant,” attributed to Gillebert de Berneville (fl. c1250-80); “C’est la fins,” by Guillaume d’Amiens (fl. late 13th century); and “Souvent souspire,” an anonymous French piece from the 13th century.

About the work:
Marie de France, a major literary figure from the Middle Ages, is one of the few women writers of the period whose work has survived. Little is known of her, except that she was almost certainly of the nobility. She wrote in England apparently in the 1160s and ‘70s; her work is in French (or “Anglo-Norman”: the French language as spoken and written in medieval England). She wrote lais—a dozen short narrative poems with Breton roots, composed in octosyllabic rhymed couplets, and bearing on love in its many forms. The lais circulated separately, and also together in a volume that she dedicated to King Henry (probably English King Henry II). She also wrote Espurgatoire seint Patriz (St. Patrick’s Purgatory), about a pilgrimage down to the afterlife, based on Latin sources; and Fables, also based largely on Latin sources. She is now widely believed also to have been the author of the Anglo-NormanVie seinte Audree (Life of Saint Audrey).

The Lay of the Ash Tree (Fresne) tells of a young woman of heroic self-abnegation, who in the end is able to marry the man she loves, and who finds the noble parents from whom she had been separated at birth. (The story is a prototype for “Patient Griselda.”)

About the genre:
A narrative lai is a short poetic tale composed in verse, which claims to tell the story of how a musical lai from ancient Brittany came to be written. The 12th-century Anglo-Norman woman poet Marie de France is the best known author of narrative lais in French, and may be one of the creators of the genre.

About the edition/translation:
English verse by Ron Cook. Old French: Les Lais de Marie de France, ed. Jean Rychner, Paris, Champion, 1966.

About the performer/ensemble:
Ron Cook is a professional performer (and lawyer) in Columbus, Ohio. He plays medieval and Renaissance harps and recorder, and performs widely from medieval works.

About the production:
This performance was created for the Medieval Conference at Kalamazoo, Michigan, in May 2008. It was videoed by Beverly Rawles at Ron Cook’s home in Columbus, Ohio, in June 2008.

Nibelungenlied: Krimhild mourns over Sifried’s body

About the scene and clip:
Krimhild comes to say a final farewell to her beloved husband, Sifried, and laments over his body. Drawing on medieval chant, the performer sings the scene.

About the work:
The Nibelungenlied, or Song of the Nibelungs, is an anonymous German epic composed around 1200, probably by a professional poet or entertainer for performance in a court in Bavaria or Austria. This violent poem draws both on Germanic legends and on historical events of the distant past; it recounts the love and marriage between Siegfried and Kriemhild, a Burgundian queen of the Nibelung dynasty; the great quarrel between Kriemhild and her sister-in-law Brunhild; the treacherous murder of Siegfried; Kriemhild’s marriage to Etzel (Attila the Hun), her violent revenge for Siegfried’s death, and her death. The Niebelungenlied is composed in 4-line strophes of rhymed couplets. The long lines of somewhat irregular length have 7 accented syllables to a line for the first 3 lines of the strophe, and 8 for the last line. Over 30 manuscripts preserve this lengthy epic, in 3 main versions. It is known that the Nibelungenlied was originally sung, and a surviving melody called the “Hildebrandston” is believed to be very close to the original melody for the epic.

About the genre:
The epic is an ancient genre and is found in almost every culture. It is a long heroic narrative that tells of war and great deeds. Epics are generally composed in verse, and sung from memory or improvised in performance by professional performers with instrumental accompaniment. These narratives are created from traditional elements, commonly without recourse to writing, by poets whose names are often unknown to us. Among the famous traditional epics are the Iliad and the Odyssey, attributed to Homer; the Anglo-Saxon Beowulf; and the Old French Song of Roland. Many known poets adopt epic forms and themes for their literary verse (such as Virgil in his Aeneid).

About the edition/translation:
Das Nibelungenlied: Song of the Nibelungs, trans. Burton Raffel, New Haven, Yale University Press, 2006, pp. 148ff. Note: characters’ names are spelled differently in this translation than they sometimes are. Original: Das Nibelungenlied, ed. Karl Bartsch & Helmut de Boor, trans. Siegfried Grosse, Stuttgart, Reclam, 2003.

About the performer/ensemble:
Sarah Utz is a student in the College of Arts and Science at New York University; her major is as yet undecided (2010).

About the production:
This performance was created for “Acting Medieval Literature,” taught at New York University by Prof. Timmie (E.B.) Vitz, in spring 2010. Sam Erenberger was the videographer.

Nibelungenlied: Krimhild’s dream

About the scene and clip:
Two performers tell and sing about Krimhild’s alarming dream of the future, which she shares with her mother.

About the work:
The Nibelungenlied, or Song of the Nibelungs, is an anonymous German epic composed around 1200, probably by a professional poet or entertainer for performance in a court in Bavaria or Austria. This violent poem draws both on Germanic legends and on historical events of the distant past; it recounts the love and marriage between Siegfried and Kriemhild, a Burgundian queen of the Nibelung dynasty; the great quarrel between Kriemhild and her sister-in-law Brunhild; the treacherous murder of Siegfried; Kriemhild’s marriage to Etzel (Attila the Hun), her violent revenge for Siegfried’s death, and her death. The Niebelungenlied is composed in 4-line strophes of rhymed couplets. The long lines of somewhat irregular length have 7 accented syllables to a line for the copy rolex day date 118206 rolex calibre 2836 2813 mens first 3 lines of the strophe, and 8 for the last line. Over 30 manuscripts preserve this lengthy epic, in 3 main versions. It is known that the Nibelungenlied was originally sung, and a surviving melody called the “Hildebrandston” is believed to be very close to the original melody for the epic.

About the genre:
The epic is an ancient genre and is found in almost every culture. It is a long heroic narrative that tells of war and great deeds. Epics are generally composed in verse, and sung from memory or improvised in performance by professional performers with instrumental accompaniment. These narratives are created from traditional elements, commonly without recourse to writing, by poets whose names are often cloud dimensions unknown to us. Among the famous traditional epics are the Iliad and the Odyssey, attributed to Homer; the Anglo-Saxon Beowulf; and the Old French Song of Roland. Many known poets adopt epic forms and themes for their literary verse (such as Virgil in his Aeneid).

About the edition/translation:
Das Nibelungenlied: Song of the Nibelungs, trans. Burton Raffel, New Haven, Yale University Press, 2006, pp. 4ff (the performers have cut and pasted from several passages). Note: characters’ names are spelled differently in this translation than they sometimes are. Original: Das Nibelungenlied, ed. Karl Bartsch & Helmut de Boor, trans. Siegfried Grosse, Stuttgart, Reclam, 2003.

About the performer/ensemble:
Kelsey Larsen and Lynne Rey are Drama students in the Experimental Theatre Wing at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts (2010).

About the production:
This performance was created for “Acting Medieval Literature,” taught at New York University by Prof. Timmie (E.B.) Vitz, in spring 2010. Sam Erenberger was the videographer.

Nibelungenlied: Comic, abridged, group

About the scene and clip:
Five students rapidly summarize, act out and (occasionally) sing to kazoo accompaniment the story of the Nibelungs, in a comic handling of the epic material; they provide a useful body count for this frequently gory epic.

About the work:
The Nibelungenlied, or Song of the Nibelungs, is an anonymous German epic composed around 1200, probably by a professional poet or entertainer for performance in a court in Bavaria or Austria. This violent poem draws both on Germanic legends and on historical events of the distant past; it recounts the love and marriage between Siegfried and Kriemhild, a Burgundian queen of the Nibelung dynasty; the great quarrel between Kriemhild and her copy richard mille rm 030 sister-in-law Brunhild; the treacherous murder of Siegfried; Kriemhild’s marriage to Etzel (Attila the Hun), her violent revenge for Siegfried’s death, and her death. The Niebelungenlied is composed in 4-line strophes of rhymed couplets. The long lines of somewhat irregular length have 7 accented syllables to a line for the first 3 lines of the strophe, and 8 for the last line. Over 30 manuscripts preserve this lengthy epic, in 3 main versions. It is known that the Nibelungenlied was originally sung, and a surviving melody called the “Hildebrandston” is believed to be very close to the original melody for the epic.

About the genre:
The epic is an ancient genre and is found in almost every culture. It is a long heroic narrative that tells of war and great deeds. Epics are generally composed in verse, and sung from memory or improvised in performance by professional performers with instrumental accompaniment. These narratives are created from traditional elements, commonly without recourse to writing, by poets whose names are often unknown vape Tank to us. Among the famous traditional epics are the Iliad and the Odyssey, attributed to Homer; the Anglo-Saxon Beowulf; and the Old French Song of Roland. Many known poets adopt epic forms and themes for their literary verse (such as Virgil in his Aeneid).

About the edition/translation:
Das Nibelungenlied: Song of the Nibelungs, trans. Burton Raffel, New Haven, Yale University Press, 2006. Note: characters’ names are spelled differently in this translation than they sometimes are. Original: Das Nibelungenlied, ed. Karl Bartsch & Helmut de Boor, trans. Siegfried Grosse, Stuttgart, Reclam, 2003.

About the performer/ensemble:
Julie Benko, Mary Lane Haskell, Hannah McGinley, and Samantha Morrice are Drama students in the CAP 21 Studio at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. Zachary Maher is a student in Political Science in the College of Arts and Science at New York University (2010).

About the production:
This scene was created for the final public performance of the course “Acting Medieval Literature,” taught at New York University by Prof. Timmie (E.B.) Vitz, in April 2010 at New York University. It was filmed by Nitzan Rotschild.