The Dream of the Rood is a poem that has entranced generations of scholars. It is one of the greatest religious poems in English literature, the work of a nameless poet of superb genius. This edition presents a conservative text with variant reading described in the notes. In his introduction Professor Swanton describes the Vercelli Book, in which the full text of The Dream of the Rood is found, and gives an account of the Ruthwell Cross, the sources for which are scattered and not normally familiar to students of Old English. The relationship between the two texts, the doctrine behind the...

A completely new revised and enlarged edition of this classic survey of monuments in South-West England associated with the stories of King Arthur and Knights of the Round Table: the castle of Tintagel, the great hill-fort of Cadbury in south Somerset, the ruined abbey at Glastonbury and Castle Dore in south Cornwall - the setting for one of the greatest European love-stories of all time, that of Tristan and Isolde. In each case the archaeological evidence is summarised, and linked with relevant Arthurian literature. The book includes maps, plans, photographs and suggestions for further...