The essays presented here pay tribute to Hans Sauer as a specialist on English medieval
literature and culture. This book shows what we can safely infer from medieval texts and where
we need to be cautious or should reassess what has hitherto been suggested. It shows what the
Middle Ages inherited from earlier days and transformed during their own time what they gave
to later eras and what clearly belongs into the realm of fantasy films. The essays mainly
concentrate on Old and Middle English prose and poetry also including theoretical approaches
to understanding medieval culture.
