Library Guides: English: Medieval Literature: Guides & Background

General Resources

English Language and Literatures Guide

Literary Research Guide by James L. Harner
Call Number: Ready Reference PR83 .H34 2008
Publication Date: 2014
This handy work lists the basic reference tools for all sorts of literary research. In the online version you can sign up for a free account and collect the resources that will help you with each research project. We have most, although not all, of the tools listed in the Guide.

MLA International Bibliography Full Text
Indexes critical scholarship in the modern languages, literature, linguistics and folklore.
Free account can be created for personalization.
Date Coverage: 1963-date
Maximum Users: Unlimited
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Literature Online
Provides access to English language literature in reference works, bibliographies, web pages and journals.
Free account can be created for personalization.
Formerly known as LION
Date Coverage: Varies by section
Maximum Users: 4
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Academic Search Premier
This multi-disciplinary database provides full text for more than an abundance of journals and covers extensive academic disciplines and provides comprehensive content, including PDF back-files, videos, and searchable cited references.
Contains 4,600 journals, including full text for nearly 3,900 peer-reviewed titles. PDF backfiles are available for well over one hundred journals, and searchable cited references are provided for more than 1,000 titles.

Date Coverage:Varies; primarily 1970s-present with some titles covering earlier dates

Maximum Users: Unlimited

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Guides to Research

Medieval Studies by James M. Powell (Editor)
Call Number: D116 .M4 1992
Publication Date: 1992
In addition to sections devoted to Latin paleography, diplomatics, computer-assisted research, numismatics, archaeology, problems in chronology, and prospography, this text describes state-of-the-art research methodology and critical approaches to English literature, Latin philosophies, law, science, art and music.
Cambridge History of Medieval English Literature by David Wallace (Editor)
Call Number: PR255 .C35 1999
Publication Date: 1999
This is the first full-scale history of medieval English literature in nearly a century. Thirty-three contributors provide information on a vast range of literary texts and the conditions of their production and reception. The volume also contains a chronology, full bibliography and a detailed index.
A Companion to Middle English Prose by A. S. G. Edwards (Editor)
Call Number: PR255 .C655 2004
Publication Date: 2004
The essays in this volume provide an up-to-date and authoritative guide to the major prose Middle English authors and genres.
Reading Old English Texts by Katherine O. O'Keeffe (Editor)
Call Number: PR173 .O38 1997
Publication Date: 1997
Reading Old English Texts focuses on the critical methods currently being used and developed for reading and analyzing writings in Old English.
Chaucer and the fifteenth century by H. S. Bennett
Call Number: PR255.B43
Publication Date: 1947
Middle English literature by J. A. W. Bennett
Call Number: PR255.B45 1986
ISBN: 9780198122142
Publication Date: 1986

Encyclopedias & Handbooks

Encyclopedia of the Middle Ages

Dictionary of the Middle Ages by Joseph R. Strayer (Editor)
Call Number: Reference D114 .D5 1982
Publication Date: 1982
The Oxford Dictionary of the Middle Ages by Robert E. Bjork (Editor)
Call Number: D114 .O94 2010
Publication Date: 2010
Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde by Heiko Steuer (Editor)
Call Number: DD51 .R42 1967
Publication Date: 2007
Fullest encyclopedic coverage of Anglo-Saxon England.
The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Anglo-Saxon England by Michael Lapidge (Editor); John Blair (Editor); Simon Keynes (Editor); Donald Scragg
Call Number: DA152 .B58 1999
Publication Date: 1999
An Atlas of Anglo-Saxon England by David Hill
Call Number: G1816.S2 1981 .H5
Publication Date: 1981
Understanding Illuminated Manuscripts: A Guide to Technical Terms by Michelle Brown
Call Number: ND2889.B76 1994
ISBN: 9780892362172
Publication Date: 1994

Dictionaries

Dictionary of Old English
Also Known as: DOE
The Dictionary of Old English (DOE) defines the vocabulary of the first six centuries (600 – 1150 A.D.) of the English language, complementing the Middle English Dictionary (which covers the period 1100 – 1500 A.D.) and the Oxford English Dictionary. The three together provide a full description of the vocabulary of English.
Middle English Dictionary
Also Known as: MED
The MED offers a comprehensive analysis of the lexicon and usage of English for the period 1100-1500.
Bosworth-Toller Anglo-Saxon Dictionary Online
Online edition of An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, or a dictionary of "Old English". Records the state of the English language as it was used between ca. 700-1100 AD by the Anglo-Saxon inhabitants of the British Isles.

Thesaurus of Old English
Comprehensive entries providing the vocabulary of Anglo-Saxon England within ordered categories.

An Outline of Middle English Grammar
Depository PE531 .B713
Old English Syntax
PE213 .M5 1985
Aims to chart the whole realm of the syntax of Old English.
A Guide to Old English
PE131 .M5 2001
A new edition of the most widely used introduction to Old English language and literature. Includes a range of helpful pedagogical tools - a map of Anglo-Saxon England, notes, a glossary, indexes to Part I, and a general introduction to Anglo-Saxon studies.

Reference Collections & Portals

Labyrinth: Resources for Medieval Studies
Medieval Studies
Netserf: The Internet Connection for Medieval Resources
ORB: Online Reference Book for Medieval Studies
Digital Medievalist
“Digital Medievalist is an international web-based Community of Practice for medievalists working with digital media. It was established in 2003 to help scholars meet the increasingly sophisticated demands faced by designers of contemporary digital projects.”