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ROBERTA L. KRUEGER, ed., The Cambridge Companion to Medieval Romance. Cambridge Companions to Literature Series Vol. 41. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000, Pp. xix, 190. ISBN: 0-511-55342-3, (hard cover); 0-521-55687-2, (p/b). $70, $25.99.
Despite the broad scope of this volume, Arthurian scholars will find much of interest, as the vast majority of the essays consider Arthurian texts and many focus on them. Indeed, the only essay that does not touch on Arthurian matters is Baswell's On the Romances of Antiquity.'
Kruegcr has assembled a stellar line-up of scholars from the UK and USA as contributors. Overall the volume offers an excellent study of various facets of medieval Romance and, for the most part, the individual essays are cogent and eminently readable; they are often insightful and thought-provoking as well. The volume should be in every university library. My caveats to this glowing review are not trivial, but neither do they obviate the volume's worth.
The volume opens with an introductory essay by the editor and then offers fifteen essays divided into three sections. The first section, Origins and Contexts,' contains Matilda Tomaryn Bruckner's examination of the 'shape' of French romance; Christopher Baswell's article on the romances of Antiquity, where he considers not only the Enéas, Troie, and Thèbes but also the Alexander romances; Simon Gaunt's look at Old French romance's inter-generic relationships; and Sylvia Huot's comparative study of the manuscript contexts of French and German romances. The second section, entitled 'European Romance and Medieval Society: Issues for Debate' opens with Sarah Kay writing authoritatively on 'Courts, Clerics and Courtly Love.' Next, Richard Kaeuper examines chivalry's relation to violence, religion, and politics. Jeff Rider provides a survey of the Other worlds' of romance, while...