Sometimes described as the Battle of Camlann, King Arthur's last battle is described nowhere as vibrantly and poignantly than in the fourteenth century Alliterative Morte Arthure.

The arming of Sir Gawain in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is testament to the poet's descriptive skill and accuracy. But the ritualistic nature of the arming of Gawain also builds the dramatic tension as our hero faces unknown terrors.

The reputation of King Arthur and the Round Table takes a great knock in the fourteenth century masterpiece Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. This article discusses how the Gawain-poet's critique of Arthur also applies to kings and kingship.

William of Palerne (The Romance of William and the Werewolf) is seen as one of the earliest works of the so-called Alliterative Revival of the fourteenth century and with links to Langland - but what is its real history and significance?

A lost, mysterious lake near High Hesket, Cumberland, provided the setting for a series of Arthurian romances written in the fifteenth century and now largely lost to time. Here, Michael Smith explores its reputation and cultural influence.

The Reeve in the Canterbury tale gives us a remarkable insight into how folk in the middle ages viewed old age, and how they looked to the future.

William of Palerne (The Romance of William and the Werewolf), ca. 1350, features a variety of characters from working life who are often ignored in medieval romance. But who were these 'common people' and why does the scribe feature them?

The lais of Bisclavret, a poem by Marie de France about a knight condemned to roam abroad as a werewolf, is remarkable for what it tells us about twelfth century morality and how men and women were treated differently. This articles summarises the story and reflects upon its meaning.

An explanation of how the challenges in translating a fourteenth Middle English text into modern English are overcome.

An explanation of the translation approach undertaken to create the first ever alliterative edition of William of Palerne in modern English.

How a fourteenth-century alliterative romance has come alive once more, richly illustrated with linocut prints.

I have been working for some time on a new translation of William of Palerne , which Madden in the nineteenth century called the “romance of William and the Werewolf ”. It is a fascinating story in that it translates a long French romance into a shorter, alliterative telling. William , and a number of other poems from this period form part of a canon of works written in the alliterative style, as opposed to stanzaic tail-end rhymes. This group of romances is now defined as fo

This article shows the process involved in researching and printing a four colour linocut print of King Arthur and Excalibur. The image will

A new translation of the epic fourteenth century story of King Arthur's Death by Michael Smith will feature over 32 stunning linocut ill