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.
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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.
If a Middle Ages full of castles, jousts, hawking, illicit love affairs and playful singing in the meadows is what you’re looking for, then look no further than the Lais of Marie de France. These 12th century love stories, written in Anglo-Norman by a writer who was unusually keen to make her name known, describe noble stories of passion, devotion, betrayal, self-sacrifice and magical transformations played out in enchanted woodlands and richly-draped chambers.
Irina and Mary discuss Marie’s various portrayals of love, her luscious powers of description, and the frequent deployment of animals in her stories to expose and resolve human problems.
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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.