One of the most engaging Middle English crusading poems, Richard Coer de Lyon recounts in verse the exploits, both historical and fanciful, of Richard I, king of England. While Richard's participation in the Third Crusade serves as its main subject, the poem disrupts its historical narrative with a number of fabulous interpolations, two of which are particularly notorious: the depiction of Richard's mother as a demon, and the portrayal of the king himself as a voracious cannibal. Once the source of critical disparagement, the poem's blending of history and fantasy-its historical distortions-have recently become the focus of renewed interest in the poem. With a substantial introduction and comprehensive explanatory and textual notes, this new edition of Richard Coer de Lyon signally contributes to the reappraisal and understanding of what became-during the centuries-long process of its composition-one of the most popular of medieval romances.
