Old and Middle Breton Literature
Breton literature can be categorised into an Old Breton period, from the 5th to 11th century; and a Middle Breton period, up to the 17th century. The period break is marked by the Norman invasions of the 10th and 11th centuries which triggered an exodus out of Brittany. Many Old Breton extant words are glosses in Latin manuscripts from the 9th and 10th centuries, now scattered in libraries and collections throughout Europe. It is likely there was a highly developed oral tradition during the Old Breton period. And on the evidence of Breton names, it would appear that Old Breton literature inspired much of Arthurian literature, the story of Tristan and Iseult and the romances of Chrétien de Troyes.
Read more about this topic: Breton Literature
Famous quotes containing the words old and, middle, breton and/or literature:
“We who are old, old and gay,
O so old!
Thousands of years, thousands of years,
If all were told:”
—William Butler Yeats (1865–1939)
“Said, All you needed to do was just explain;
Reason Reason is my middle name.”
—Josephine Miles (1911–1985)
“No rules exist, and examples are simply life-savers answering the appeals of rules making vain attempts to exist.”
—André Breton (1896–1966)
“A book is not an autonomous entity: it is a relation, an axis of innumerable relations. One literature differs from another, be it earlier or later, not because of the texts but because of the way they are read: if I could read any page from the present time—this one, for instance—as it will be read in the year 2000, I would know what the literature of the year 2000 would be like.”
—Jorge Luis Borges (1899–1986)