In Middle English romances many memories are created, stored, forgotten, and rediscovered by both the characters and audience; such memory work is not, however, either simple or obvious. This study examines the ways in which recollection is achieved and sustained through physical, cognitive, and interpretative challenges. It uses examples such as Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Sir Orfeo, and Emare, alongside romances by Chaucer and Malory, to investigate the genre's reliance on individual and collective memorial processes. The author argues that a tale's objects, places, dreams,...
In Middle English romances many memories are created, stored, forgotten, and rediscovered by both the characters and audience; such memory work is not...
