Naming and Namelessness in Medieval Romance

A survey of the significance of names, or their absence, in medieval English, French, and Anglo-Norman romance. Naming and namelessness are among the major themes of medieval romance. Because the genre is so difficult to define, scholars have viewed romance as containing a critical number of themes; this book treats naming as a major themeof romance, and furthermore examines romance's relationship with contemporary naming-theory. A new genre, it is able to play with naming in a way that previously established genres are not. The book begins with a discussion of the medieval background to romance, and explores a series of naming-patterns found across a broad range of texts. It continues with detailed analysis of twenty-one romances [in English, French, and Anglo-Norman, from 1130 to 1500], to show how naming-themes are treated differently in each, and to demonstrate the importance of name as a generic marker. Finally, an appendix provides details of each romance's context, together with indications for further research. JANE BLISS is an independent scholar; she gained her PhD from Oxford Brookes University.