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Fate
The principle, power, or agency by which events are predetermined; destiny.
Feud
Hostile relations between groups of people, often related to family honor.
Fealty
The loyalty of a vassal to his lord, typically in exchange for gifts and protection.
Fame
Reputation derived from great achievements; celebrity or renown.
Alliteration
The repetition of an initial consonant sound in closely positioned words.
Epic
An extended narrative poem celebrating martial heroes, written in a high style.
Epithet
An adjective or phrase used to express a characteristic of a person or thing.
Invocation
An appeal for aid made to a muse or deity, usually at the beginning of a work.
Kenning
A metaphorical compound word used in Old English and Old Norse poetry.
Scop
An Anglo-Saxon minstrel or poet, often a historian and preserver of oral tradition.
Chivalry
The code of conduct associated with the medieval institution of knighthood.
Romance
A medieval narrative relating the extraordinary adventures of a hero of chivalry.
Pilgrimage
A devotional practice of a prolonged journey toward a significant destination.
Three Estates
The three classes of medieval society: nobility, clergy, and laborers.
Frame Narrative
A story that contains another story, creating a tale within a tale.
iambic
The basic foot of English verse, consisting of an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable.
Pentameter
A line of verse consisting of five metrical feet, common in English poetry.
Gentilesse
The notion of gentleness and the expected behaviors from a noble birth.
Gloss (noun)
A word inserted between lines to explain a difficult word; a comment or interpretation.
Gloss (verb)
To comment on or interpret a word or passage; to explain away.
Fabliau
A short, comic narrative that often parodies the values of the clerical class.
Affective Piety
Emotionally charged devotion to Christ’s humanity, popular in medieval spirituality.
Anchoress/Anchorite
A religious recluse who has vowed to remain enclosed and not leave.
Apocryphal
Books not regarded as canonical by certain sects of Christianity.
Courtly Love
A conventionalized code governing the behavior of lovers in the Middle Ages.
Eucharist
A Christian ceremony celebrating communion with Christ through bread and wine.
Trinity
The unity of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit as three persons in one Godhead.
Lai (lay)
A short narrative poem dealing with love and adventure, popular in medieval literature.
Conceit
An often unconventional metaphor whose delight is more intellectual than sensual.
Couplet
A pair of successive rhyming lines in poetry.
Quatrain
A stanza of four lines in poetry.
Rhyme Scheme
The pattern of rhyme in a poem, typically denoted using letters.
Sonnet
A lyric poem consisting of fourteen lines, typically in a specific rhyme scheme.
Volta
The turn of thought or argument in a sonnet.
Hellmouth
A prop in medieval plays representing the entrance to hell.
Seven Deadly Sins
The cardinal sins of pride, wrath, envy, avarice, lust, gluttony, and sloth.
Blank Verse
Unrhymed iambic pentameter, a common English verse form.
Chorus
A group of people who provide commentary in a play, often in verse.
Soliloquy
A monologue delivered by a character alone on stage, revealing inner thoughts.
Tragedy
A serious drama typically ending in disaster, focusing on a character's reversal.
Restoration
The return of monarchy in England in 1660, marking a period of change.
Masquerade
A social gathering where attendees wear masks, often associated with extravagance.
Abolition/Abolitionist
The movement to end the slave trade and slavery, prominent in the 18th and 19th centuries.
Slave Narrative
A narrative written by a former slave recounting their experiences.
The Gothic
Referring to medieval architecture characterized by intricate details and verticality.
Shakespearean Sonnet
fourteen lines, is divided into three quatrains and a couplet, rhyming abab cdcd efef gg.
Petrarchan sonnet
has fourteen lines and consists of two parts: the octave, eight lines with the rhyme scheme abbaabba, and the sestet, six lines usually rhyming cdecde or cdcdcd.
