CONGRESS CANCELED Reassessing the Matter of the Greenwood
Description
Historian Maurice Keen’s study The Outlaws of Medieval Legend, first published in 1961, remains a significant contribution to outlaw studies. After noticing a number of shared themes, motifs, and styles in medieval outlaw narratives, Keen argued for a new fourth “matter” to join those of Britain, France, and Troy: the greenwood. It is time for a reassessment of his contribution. What are the significant characteristics of a text needed to classify it as a greenwood matter? Can medieval outlaw works exist as hybrid matters? How can we account for medieval and post-medieval matters of the greenwood outside of medieval Western Europe? Alexander L. Kaufman
CONGRESS CANCELED Reassessing the Matter of the Greenwood
Schneider 1135
Historian Maurice Keen’s study The Outlaws of Medieval Legend, first published in 1961, remains a significant contribution to outlaw studies. After noticing a number of shared themes, motifs, and styles in medieval outlaw narratives, Keen argued for a new fourth “matter” to join those of Britain, France, and Troy: the greenwood. It is time for a reassessment of his contribution. What are the significant characteristics of a text needed to classify it as a greenwood matter? Can medieval outlaw works exist as hybrid matters? How can we account for medieval and post-medieval matters of the greenwood outside of medieval Western Europe? Alexander L. Kaufman