Anonymous, Gamelyn

Geert Van Iersel (Fontys University of Applied Sciences)

Ed. by Jamie McKinstry, University of Durham
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.02: English Writing and Culture: High and Late Medieval, 1066-1485.
Vol. editors: Kate Ash-Irisarri (University of Edinburgh), Rory Critten (Université de Lausanne), David Fuller (University of Durham), Natalie Hanna (University of Liverpool), Hugh Magennis (Queen's University Belfast), Jamie McKinstry (University of Durham), Sarah Peverley (University of Liverpool), Sebastian Sobecki (Rijksuniversiteit Groningen)

Dates

First circulation or publication c. 1375 - c. 1375

Places

England (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Poetry (any)

Resources

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Introduction

The Tale of Gamelyn is a Middle English romance about the exploits and coming of age of a knight’s son who has been denied his inheritance by his eldest brother. While it is not, itself, widely known, it shares much of its plot with Thomas Lodge’s Rosalynde: Euphues Golden Legacie (1590) which, in turn, appears to have provided most of the story matter for William Shakespeare’s As You Like It (ca. 1600). Lodge is commonly assumed to have drawn on some form of The Tale of Gamelyn when he wrote his early novel, greatly expanding it to include a romantic plotline and the story of a king in exile (Skeat, 1884, pp. xvii-xxiii; Dunn, 1967, p. 32; Shippey, 2000, p. 78). The Tale of Gamelyn is written in rhymed couplets and, unusually for a poem which does not make extensive use

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2576 words

Citation: Van Iersel, Geert. "Gamelyn". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 09 January 2018 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=38767, accessed 03 December 2024.]

Anonymous, Gamelyn

Dates

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