Major themes explored are narratives of the disguised prince, and the reinvention of stories for different tastes and periods. These studies cover a wide chronological range and familiar and unfamiliar texts and topics. The disguised prince is a theme linking several articles, from early Anglo-Norman romances through later English ones, like King Edward and the Shepherd, to a late 16th-century recasting of the Havelok story as a Tudor celebration of Gloriana. 'Translation' in its widest sense, the way romance can reinvent stories for different tastes and periods, is anotherrunning theme; the opening introductory article considers the topic of translation theoretically, concerned to stimulate further research on how insular romances were transferred between vernaculars and literary systems, while other essays consider Lovelich's Merlin (a poem translating its Arthurian material to the poet's contemporary London milieu), Chaucer, and Breton lays in England. Contributors: JUDITH WEISS, IVANA DJORDJEVIC, ROSALIND FIELD, MORGAN DICKSON, ELIZABETH ARCHIBALD, AMANDA HOPKINS, ARLYN DIAMOND, PAUL PRICE, W.A. DAVENPORT, RACHEL SNELL, ROGER DALRYMPLE, HELEN COOPER. Selected studies, 'Romance in Medieval England' conference.

Twelve essays address a central concern of medieval romance, the matter of identity. Identity is a central concern of medieval romance. Here it is approached through essays on issues of origin and parentage, transformation and identity, and fundamental questions of what constitutes the human. The construction of knightly identity through education and testing is explored, and placed in relation to female identity; the significance of the motif of doubling is studied. Shifting perceptions of identities are traced through the histories of specific texts, and the identity of romance itself is the subject of several essays discussing ideas of genre (the overlap between romance and hagiography is a theme linking a number of articles in the collection). Medieval romanceis shown as a marketable commodity in the printed output of William Copland, and as an opportunity for literary experimentation in the work of John Metham. The texts discussed include: Chevalere Assigne, Sir Gowther, Sir Ysumbras, Beves of Hamtoun, Robert of Cisyle, the Fierabras romances, Breton lays, Thomas's Tristan and Marie de France's Eliduc. Contributors: W.A. DAVENPORT, JOANNE CHARBONNEAU, CORINNE SAUNDERS, AMANDA HOPKINS, MORGAN DICKSON, MARIANNE AILES, JUDITH WEISS, JOHN SIMONS, RHIANNON PURDIE, MALDWYN MILLS, A.S.G. EDWARDS, ROGER DALRYMPLE.