Sir Bevis of Hampton is arguably one of the most important non-Arthurian romances in Middle English, but it is only comparatively recently that it has received much scholarly or critical attention. Originating in England, the story of Bevis was immensely popular and influential during the latemedieval and early modern periods, both in the British Isles and in continental Europe. The Middle English Bevis was translated around 1300 from an Anglo-Norman original, which spawned versions, both written and oral, in a dozen or so languages; these range in date from the beginning of thefourteenth century to within living memory, when a version of the story was still being performed by Sicilian puppeteers. The printing-history of Bevis, as well as references to the romance in the works of such writers as Shakespeare, Spenser, Bunyan, Drayton and Steele, indicates that it was stillbeing widely read in English until well into the early modern period. This parallel-text edition is designed to complement rather than to supplant earlier editions of Bevis, such as that produced by Eugen Kolbing and published for the Early English Text Society in 1885-1894. A substantial introduction and extensive annotation place the Middle English romance in itsliterary and cultural contexts, from the fourteenth century down to the present day. The principal aims of the edition are to indicate the variety and complexity of the textual tradition of Bevis and to provide material for further, more nuanced approaches to a significant culturalphenomenon. | Sir Bevis of Hampton by Jennifer Fellows, Paperback | Indigo Chapters