Humour in Old English Literature

"""In Humour in Old English Literature, Jonathan Wilcox explodes Old English literature's reputation for ponderous solemnity. With witty, illuminating close readings that range from proverbial poetry to homiletic prose, Wilcox uncovers a hidden world of weird jokes, comic mishaps, and early medieval audiences eager for entertainment. From the Beowulf poet's social comedy to hagiographers' slapstick, readers of Humour in Old English Literature will experience the corpus as they've never seen it before and will finish this engaging, fast-moving book with a new appreciation for Old English literature's subtlety and variety of tone.""　 - Emily V. Thornbury, Associate Professor of English, Yale University ""Humour in Old English Literature is an important book for the community of medievalist scholars and students. I particularly liked the fresh and useful sections on the comic insouciance of heroes, humour in Andreas, and homiletic humour in Ælfric. With this adaptability and in being able to communicate with a wide and diverse readership, Jonathan Wilcox occupies an important position in the current field of Old English studies."" - Christine Rauer, Reader in Medieval English Literature, University of St Andrews ""This is an impressively wide-ranging discussion of humour in Old English literature that goes well beyond the expected - that is, the rude riddles. In addition to discussing a number of riddles that are normally read straight, Wilcox analyses a comprehensive variety of genres, from wisdom and epic poetry to prose homilies and saints' lives, among others. Wilcox compellingly explores the many ways that Old English literature toyed with incongruity of sense and incongruity of style, and the many new interpretations offered in this volume will prove an essential read for researchers of Old English literature."" - Megan Cavell, Associate Professor of English Literature, University of Birmingham"