From Phoenix to Chauntecleer: Medieval English Animal Poetry

Author / Editor
Honegger, Thomas.

Title
From Phoenix to Chauntecleer: Medieval English Animal Poetry

Published
Tubingen: Basil Francke, 1996.

Physical Description
288 pp.

Series
Schweizer Anglistiche Arbeiten/Swiss Studies in English, no. 120.
Swiss Studies in English, no. 120.

Description
Assesses the "most important" poems about animals in English literature, ca. 700-1400 A.D., focusing on three traditions: "Physiologus," bird debates, and beast fable and epic. Considers PF as a bird debate, describing how it transcends the allegorical limitations of that tradition. Discusses Chaucer's eclectic uses of all the traditions in NPT and his achievement of a powerfully original combination of comedy and morality.

Chaucer Subjects
Background and General Criticism.
Parliament of Fowls.
Nun's Priest and His Tale.