The Buke of the Howlat by Richard Holland - Hardcover
by Ralph Hanna (Editor)
Critical edition of an important Scottish poem, highlighting its striking poetic features.
The Buke of the Howlat was composed in the late 1440s for Elizabeth Douglas, wife of Archibald Douglas, earl of Moray. It is one of the great monuments of fifteenth-century Scots verse, perhaps the finest example of Older Scots alliterative poetry, telling a comic fable of an owl's borrowed feathers, his pride and ultimate fall, and a bird parliament which decides his fate. At its centre is a heraldic excurses which leads to a celebration of the virtues of the Douglas family and their service to Robert Bruce in the Scottish Wars of Independence. Its themes therefore focus on Scottish freedom, aristocratic achievement, and good self- and political governance; its influencesare drawn from chanson d'aventure, beast fable and complaint, and embrace the French, Scots, Gaelic and English Chaucerian and northern literary traditions, making it of great significance to anyone interested in the late medieval literature of the British Isles.Made with care and unconditionally loved by our customers, this signature bestseller exceeds all expectations.
Made with care and unconditionally loved by our customers, this signature bestseller exceeds all expectations.
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