Evelyn Birge Vitz & Nancy Freeman Regalado 
Performing Medieval Narrative 

Broad and wide-ranging survey of and investigation into the important question of whether medieval narrative was designed for performance.


This book provides the first comprehensive study of the performance of medieval narrative, using examples from England and the Continent and a variety of genres to examine the crucial question of whether – and how – medieval narratives were indeed intended for performance. Moving beyond the familiar dichotomy between oral and written literature, the various contributions emphasize the range and power of medieval performance traditions, and demonstrate thatknowledge of the modes and means of performance is crucial for appreciating medieval narratives.

The book is divided into four main parts, with each essay engaging with a specific issue or work, relating it to larger questions about performance. It first focuses on representations of the art of medieval performers of narrative. It then examines relationships between narrative performances and the material books that inspired, recorded, or representedthem. The next section studies performance features inscribed in texts and the significance of considering performability. The volume concludes with contributions by present-day professional performers who bring medieval narratives to life for contemporary audiences. Topics covered include orality, performance, storytelling, music, drama, the material book, public reading, and court life.

Table of Content

Introduction [with Nancy Freeman Regalado and Marilyn Lawrence] – Evelyn Birge Vitz

Introduction [with Evelyn Birge Vitz and Marilyn Lawrence] – Nancy Freeman Regalado

Introduction [with Evelyn Birge Vitz and Nancy Freeman Regalado] – Marilyn Lawrence

`He was the best teller of tales in the world’: Performing Medieval Welsh Narrative – Sioned Davies

The Complaint of the Makers:
Wynnere and Wastoure and the `Misperformance Topos’ in Medieval England – Joyce Coleman

Dioneo’s Repertory: Performance and Writing in Boccaccio’s
Decameron – John Ahern

Mise en Texte as Indicator of Oral Performance in Old French Verse Narrative – Keith Busby

Erotic Reading in the Middle Ages: Performance and Re-performance of Romance – Evelyn Birge Vitz

Oral Performance of Written Narrative in the Medieval French Romance
Ysaÿe le Triste – Marilyn Lawrence

Performing Romance: Arthurian Interludes in Sarrasin’s
Le roman du Hem [1278] – Nancy Freeman Regalado

Performing Fabliaux – Brian Levy

Preaching, Storytelling, and the Performance of Short Pious Narratives – Adrian P. Tudor

Reading, Reciting, and Performing the
Renart – Kenneth Varty

Turkic Bard and Medieval Entertainer: What a Living Epic Tradition Can Tell Us about Oral Performance of Narrative in the Middle Ages – Karl Reichl

Beowulf, the
Edda, and the Performance of Medieval Epic: Notes from the Workshop of a Reconstructed `Singer of Tales’ – Benjamin Bagby

The Weddynge of Sir Gawen and Dame Ragnell: Performance and Intertextuality in Middle English Popular Romance – Linda Marie Zaerr

`Une aventure vous dirai’: Performing Medieval Narrative – Anne Azéma

Sequels [with Nancy Freeman Regalado and Marilyn Lawrence] – Evelyn Birge Vitz

Sequels [with Evelyn Birge Vitz and Marilyn Lawrence] – Nancy Freeman Regalado

Sequels [with Evelyn Birge Vitz and Nancy Freeman Regalado] – Marilyn Lawrence