From dragons and one-eyed giants to divine visions and friendly otters, Irina Dumitrescu and Mary Wellesley roam the strange and wonderful literary landscape of the Middle Ages, from Beowulf to Sir John Mandeville, by way of Chaucer, Sir Gawain and plenty of far-fetched romance.
Irina Dumitrescu and Mary Wellesley are both writers and historians, and regular contributors to the London Review of Books.
Medieval Beginnings is part of the Close Readings podcasts collection from the London Review of Books.
To unlock all the episodes in this series, and all our other Close Readings series, subscribe:
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From dragons and one-eyed giants to divine visions and friendly otters, Irina Dumitrescu and Mary Wellesley roam the strange and wonderful literary landscape of the Middle Ages, from Beowulf to Sir John Mandeville, by way of Chaucer, Sir Gawain and plenty of far-fetched romance.
Irina Dumitrescu and Mary Wellesley are both writers and historians, and regular contributors to the London Review of Books.
Medieval Beginnings is part of the Close Readings podcasts collection from the London Review of Books.
To unlock all the episodes in this series, and all our other Close Readings series, subscribe:
In Apple
Directly at the top of this podcast or here: https://apple.co/3XTS9H8
In Spotify and other apps
Here: lrb.me/closereadings
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Chaucer’s 14th century tale of ‘double sorrow’, Troilus and Criseyde, set during the siege of Troy, is the subject of Irina and Mary’s ninth episode of Medieval Beginnings. Based largely on Boccaccio’s Il Filostrato, Chaucer’s novelistic long poem displays a psychological realism that would make Henry James envious, and, with the matchmaker-uncle Pandarus, introduces a character of startling and often perplexing opacity.
Non-subscribers will only hear an extract from this episode. To listen in full and to our other Close Readings series, sign up here:
Directly in Apple Podcasts at the top of this feed, or here: https://apple.co/3pJoFPq
In other podcast apps: lrb.me/closereadings
Further reading in the LRB:
Barbara Newman: https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v41/n22/barbara-newman/kek-kek!-kokkow!-quek-quek!
Irina Dumitrescu: https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v42/n17/irina-dumitrescu/how-to-read-aloud
Mary Wellesley: https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v46/n11/mary-wellesley/on-the-nightingale
Irina Dumitrescu is Professor of English Medieval Studies at the University of Bonn and Mary Wellesley as a historian and author of Hidden Hands: The Lives of Manuscripts and their Makers.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.