The subjects of medieval romance are the great and permanent concerns of the human mind. A literature is best approached by newcomers, through its major achievements, the author of this book, originally published in 1973, maintains. The book's discussion centres on the romances of Chaucer and Chrétien de Troyes, and on such texts as Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, the Roman de la Rose, and Malory's Morte d'Arthur. The book's introductory chapters stress the continuity between medieval and later literature.