Anonymous, Emaré

Amy N. Vines (University of North Carolina, Greensboro)
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Written at the turn of the fifteenth century by an anonymous author,

Emaré

is a Middle English Breton

lai

that tells the story of the exile, tribulations, and eventual reinstatement of the poem’s eponymous heroine and her young son, Segramour. The single extant copy of the romance appears in London, British Library MS Cotton Caligula A.ii, a miscellaneous codex compiled around 1450 that includes a variety of texts, such as religious lyrics, romances, several of John Lydgate’s shorter poems, recipes, and a chronicle. The medieval romance of

Emaré

is unique in its almost exclusive focus on the adventures of a woman rather than a male knight; although her husband and father play significant roles in the text, Emaré’s character is central to the narrative action, and her values and…

1442 words

Citation: Vines, Amy N.. "Emaré". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 21 September 2021 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=39351, accessed 28 March 2024.]

39351 Emaré 3 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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