Anonymous, Emaré

Amy N. Vines (University of North Carolina, Greensboro)

Ed. by Sebastian Sobecki, Rijksuniversiteit Groningen
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.02: English Writing and Culture: High and Late Medieval, 1066-1485.
Vol. editors: Kate Ash-Irisarri (University of Edinburgh), Rory Critten (Université de Lausanne), David Fuller (University of Durham), Natalie Hanna (University of Liverpool), Hugh Magennis (Queen's University Belfast), Jamie McKinstry (University of Durham), Sarah Peverley (University of Liverpool), Sebastian Sobecki (Rijksuniversiteit Groningen)

Dates

First circulation or publication c. 1400

Places

England (Country of Origin; Publication/ performance)

Genres and Modes

Poem

Resources

Written at the turn of the fifteenth century by an anonymous author, Emaré is a Middle English Breton lai that tells the story of the exile, tribulations, and eventual reinstatement of the poem’s eponymous heroine and her young son, Segramour. The single extant copy of the romance appears in London, British Library MS Cotton Caligula A.ii, a miscellaneous codex compiled around 1450 that includes a variety of texts, such as religious lyrics, romances, several of John Lydgate’s shorter poems, recipes, and a chronicle. The medieval romance of Emaré is unique in its almost exclusive focus on the adventures of a woman rather than a male knight; although her husband and father play …

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1442 words

Citation: Vines, Amy N.. "Emaré". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 21 September 2021 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=39351, accessed 16 April 2024.]

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