Gaming the medieval English text/ Julie Nelson Couch and Kimberly K. Bell.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Couch, Julie Nelson, author.

Bell, Kimberly K., author.

Series:

Ludic cultures, 1100-1700.

Ludic cultures 1100-1700

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.

Manuscripts, Medieval--England.

Manuscripts, Medieval.

Games in literature.

Christianity and literature--England--14th century.

Christianity and literature.

Codicology.

Genre:

Electronic books.

Physical Description:

1 online resource

Place of Publication:

Place of publication not identified : Medieval Institute Publications, 2025.

Summary:

"This book innovatively combines medieval manuscript study with contemporary cultural game theory to show how the Middle English romance Sir Gawain and the Green Knight launches a multidimensional game with its late-fourteenth-century elite reader. The reading games within Sir Gawain and the Green Knight extend to the layout of the poem as found in its one extant manuscript, London, British Library, Cotton MS Nero A X/2. This study offers a more comprehensive examination of games and gaming in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and the manuscript as a whole, its four poems and its illustrations, than has been published to date. Reading, before printed editions, was an activity that involved interacting with the visual layout of the text on the page. The authors find that a medieval reader’s ludic interaction with this singular medieval codex could amuse but also serve as a means to serious ends, specifically redemptive knowledge. Couch and Bell conclude that the textual and visual games of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight and the Cotton Nero manuscript allow a fourteenth-century English Christian aristocracy to align courtly gaming with heavenly goals, thereby justifying elite amusements."--Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Introduction: Gaming the medieval English text

The text game: the gamemaster of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

The bobs game: the Ordinatio of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

The salvation game: ludic reading in Pearl, cleanness, and patience

The image game: gaming the illustrations

Conclusion: The elite game of reading

Appendices: Playing with the bobs

Appendix A: A visualization of the SGGK bobs and their symbols in British library, Cotton MS Nero A X/2

Appendix B: A comprehensive chart on SGGK bob placement in British library, Cotton MS Nero A X/2.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 225-244) and index.

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ISBN:

1-5015-1416-4

9781501514166

OCLC:

1577545541