ECL 510A: Outlaws in Medieval English and Icelandic Literature

Course Description:

How did outlaws become stock heroic and romantic figures in medieval English and Icelandic literature? Did medieval readers find criminal heroes appealing in similar ways to modern readers and film viewers? What are the real legal and social contexts that produced these stock characters and stories of their exploits? How is the psychological experience of outlawry and life spent in wandering presented in medieval literature? How did people react when beloved outlaws were captured and punished? To what extent are modern myths about outlaws attested in medieval English and Icelandic texts? How were good outlaws and bad outlaws defined? In this class we will address these questions and more in English and Anglo-Norman legends about outlaws such as Robin Hood, Hereward the Wake, Fouke Fitz Waryn, and Eustace the Monk, and Icelanders like Grettir Ásmundarson and Gísli Súrssonar. This is a T/TH hybrid class (paired with ECL 566). This class will meet one day a week in person and one day a week asynchronously online. In-person class meetings will focus on lectures with some discussion. On asynchronous online class days students will focus more on collaboration and discussion, but additional content (lecture videos/audio, links to other materials) will be provided.

Outline of Course Schedule:

• Legal and Historical Contexts

• The Outlaw and the Romance Genre

• Anglo-Norman Texts

• Three Icelandic Outlaws (Grettir Ásmundarson, Gísli Súrsson, and Hǫrðr Grímkelsson)

• Middle English Legends

• The Robin Hood Tradition