Amys And Amylion

"Amys and Amylion" is a medieval poem of treason and forbidden love, of loyalty and suffering, of crime and miracles; above all, it tells of the unconditional friendship uniting two knights throughout their life and beyond their death. This story fascinated the Middle Ages; versions of it are found in Latin, French, German, Welsh, Old Norse and Flemish, as well as English.

The adventures of Amys and Amylion lie close to the sensibilities of the age, but the contemporary reader should find that the poem remains both entertaining and compelling in its own right. This edition is based on the only extant manuscript to have preserved the complete text of the English "Amys and Amylion". It includes accessible notes and a full glossary.

PREFACE, vii; INTRODUCTION; A. The Story, 1; B. The English Amys and Amylion; 1. Plot and Characterization, 4; 2. Versification, 12; 3. The Language of Amys and Amylion, 14; C. The Texts of Amys and Aymlion; 1. Manuscripts, 15; 2. Main literary differences between the English texts, 17; 3. Editions, 19; D. Select Bibliography, 24; TEXT, 27; APPENDIX 1: Summary of lines 123-320 of Rodulfus Tortarius, "Ad Bernardum", 105; APPENDIX 2: Summary of Vita Amici et Amelii carissimorum, 106; APPENDIX 3: Summary of Ami et Amile (chanson de geste), 109; APPENDIX 4: Summary of the Anglo-Norman Amys e Amillyoun, 111; GLOSSARY, 113.

Dr Françoise Le Saux is a Lecturer in French at the University of Reading. She is the editor of Reading Medieval Studies, and has published extensively in the field of medieval vernacular translations of historical works. She has done extensive research on the early witchcraft trials in French-speaking Switzerland, and has a special interest in Celtic literatures.