Romances.--The student will be interested in reading from Lawrence's
_Medieval Story_, Chapters III., _The Song of Roland_; IV., _The
Arthurian Romances_; V., _The Legend of the Holy Grail_; VI., _The
History of Reynard the Fox_. Butler's _The Song of Roland_ (_Riverside
Literature Series_) is an English prose translation of a popular story
from the Charlemagne cycle. _Sir Gawayne and the Green Knight_ has
been retold in modern English prose by J.L. Weston (London: David
Nutt). A long metrical selection from this romance is given in
Bronson.[41] I., 83-100, in _Oxford Treasury_, I., 60-81, and a prose
selection in _Century_, 1000-1022.

Stories from the Arthurian cycle may he found in Newell's _King Arthur
and the Table Round_. See also Maynadier's _The Arthur of the English
Poets_, and Tennyson's _The Idylls of the King_.

Geoffrey of Monmouth's _History of the Kings of Britain_ is translated
in Giles's _Six Old English Chronicles_ (Bohn Library).

Selections from Layamon's _Brut_ may be found in Bronson, I.; P. & S.;
and Manly, I.

What were the chief subjects of the cycles of Romance? Were they
mostly of English or French origin? What new elements appear, not
found in Beowulf? Which of these cycles has the most interest for
English readers? How does this cycle still influence twentieth-century
ideals? In what respect is the romance of _Gawayne_ like a sermon?

What Shakespearean characters does Geoffrey of Monmouth introduce? How
is Layamon's _Brut_ related to Geoffrey's chronicle? Point out a
likeness between the _Brut_ and the work of a Victorian poet.