James I, King of Scots, The Kingis Quair

Lotte Reinbold (University of Cambridge)

Ed. by Sebastian Sobecki, Rijksuniversiteit Groningen
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.3: Scottish Writing and Culture, 400-present.
Vol. editors: Kate Ash-Irisarri (University of Edinburgh), Daniel Cook (University of Dundee), Gina Lyle (University of Glasgow), J. Derrick McClure (University of Aberdeen), Andrew Radford (University of Glasgow)

Dates

First circulation or publication c. 1424

Places

Scotland (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Poetry (any)

Resources

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Introduction and Summary

The Kingis Quair is a dream vision attributed to King James I of Scotland. It survives in one fifteenth-century manuscript, Oxford, Bodleian Library, MS Arch. Selden B.24. Unusual for its particularly extended dream frame, its seemingly autobiographical content and regal author, and its complex meditations upon Fortune and free will, the poem is an extraordinary tour-de-force, blending the personal with the political, the religious with the romantic.

The

Kingis Quair

is a dream vision attributed to King James I of Scotland. It survives in one fifteenth-century manuscript, Oxford, Bodleian Library, MS Arch. Selden B.24. Unusual for its particularly extended dream frame, its seemingly autobiographical content and regal author, and its complex meditations upon Fortune…

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3814 words

Citation: Reinbold, Lotte. "The Kingis Quair". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 13 April 2021 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=13237, accessed 19 April 2024.]

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