St. Olaf College Libraries | Northfield, Minnesota, USA

Literatures in English to 1650 (Old & Middle English)
A Guide to Library Resources

Spring 2009

Dictionaries | Bibliographies/Databases | Biographies
Additional Reference Materials | Catalogs
Interlibrary Loan | Web Resources
Citation Guides

DICTIONARIES

An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary 1v. and suppl. [RR PE279.B7]
Entries provide definitions and examples of use. See "Explanations of References" in the preface for help in abbreviations. Consult both the main volume and the supplement.

Middle English Dictionary 13v. [RR PE679.M4]
Covers terms "from the Norman Conquest to the beginning of printing." As in the OED, entries include examples of use and note sources and dates. Citations to sources are often abbreviated - check the list of abbreviations among the front material. Also available online from the Middle English Compendium.

Oxford English Dictionary 20v. plus 3 volumes of Additions Series [RR PE1625.087 1989]
Entries outline the history of a given word, from the date of its introduction to the present. Entries illustrate how meaning, pronunciation, and use have evolved over time. You may use the elctronic version of OED if you prefer to search on-line.

BIBLIOGRAPHIES/DATABASES

MLA International Bibliography
The major index to literature journals. Also covers dissertations, proceedings, and articles in books. Subjects include literature, folklore, languages, and linguistics. Covers publications produced fom 1963 to present.

Iter: Gateway to the Middle Ages and Renaissance
An index to books and journals in all areas of medieval and Renaissance studies (400-1700) since 1842.

Academic Search Premier
A multidisciplinary database with access to over 8040 scholarly and popular publications, many in full-text. Covers 1975 to present. .

JSTOR
An index to and full text of select, academic journals.

Classical & Medieval Literature Criticism (CMLC)
"As a convenient source of critical opinion on early literature, this series excerpts criticism on the works of philosophers, poets and playwrights, political leaders, scientists and writers from other genres."

Poetry Criticism (PC)
Excerpts from critical evaluations of poetry.

Paper bibliographies of literary criticism:

A Bibliography of Publications on Old English Literature [RR PR173 .G69 1982]

Guide to British Poetry Explication 4v. [RR PR311 .M34 1991]

The New Cambridge Bibliography of English Literature 5v. [RR PR57 .N4 1969]

Old English Literature: A Select Bibliography [RR PR166 .R65 1970]

Old English Wisdom Poetry [RR PR215 .P7 1998]

Old and Middle English Literature - Goldentree Bibliographies [RR PR1505 .M32 1968]

The Middle English Lyric and Short Poem [RR PR311 .G835 2001]

The Critical Temper: A Survey of Modern Criticism on English and American Literature from the Beginnings to the Twentieth Century 5v. [RR PR83 .C75]

BIOGRAPHIES

Biography and Genealogy Master Index
An on-line index to biographical encyclopedias and dictionaries.

Dictionary of National Biography
The Oxford DNB contains 56,000 biographies of people who shaped the history of the British Isles and beyond, from the 4th century BC to the year 2004.

Dictionary of Literary Biography
Covers writers, movements, and periods. Scholarly essays by authorities. Selective bibliographies. See especially: v. 146: Old and Middle English Literature.

British Authors Before 1800: Biographical Dictionary [RR PR105 .K9]

ADDITIONAL REFERENCE MATERIALS

The Cambridge Encyclopedia of The English Language [RR PE1072 .C68 1995]

The Cambridge History of the English Language [RR PE1072 .C36 1992]
See especially v. 1: The Beginnings to 1066; and v. 2: 1066-1476.

Encyclopedia of the Middle Ages 2v. [RR D114 .E53 2000]

Dictionary of the Middle Ages 13v. plus index [RR D114 .D5 1982]

CATALOGS

Bridge catalogs resources available at St. Olaf and Carleton libraries. Use Bridge to search for books and periodicals, but not chapters within books or articles within periodicals.

Use a Keyword search if you do not know the subject or you wish to combine more than one idea, e.g.["medieval* AND (lyric* OR poet*)] Use asterisk (*) to search various endings (e.g. "poet*" will retrieve "poet, poets, poetic, poetry",etc. ")
Once you have found a key reference, explore the subject by clicking on the link in the catalog.

You may request materials housed at Carleton directly from Bridge by clicking on the button.

WorldCat is a union catalog for libraries around the world, including most libraries in the United States. You may request materials from WorldCat through Interlibrary Loan, just remember to plan ahead!

INTERLIBRARY LOAN

Any item not owned by St. Olaf may be ordered through Interlibrary Loan (ILL) provided you allow enough time.

WEB RESOURCES

A few good sites to try include:

Anglo-Saxon and Medieval Resources from The Voice of the Shuttle created at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Old English Pages "A compendium of resources for the study of Old English and Anglo-Saxon England." By Cathy Ball, Assoc. Prof.of Linguistics at Georgetown Univeristy.

Chaucer: An Annotated Guide to Online Resources -- "This site lists, evaluates, and describes many Geoffrey Chaucer -related Web sites. Topics include biography, bibliography, background, commentary, images, Middle English, and teaching resources. Searchable."

Chaucer Metapage --" A directory of Internet sites devoted to British author Geoffrey Chaucer, his writings (particularly The Canterbury Tales ), and medieval life generally. "

Geoffrey Chaucer -- Contains a Chaucer biography and chronology; annotated selections of the Canterbury Tales; and information on authors, life, and science during Chaucer 's time. Also explores Middle English grammar, vocabulary, and pronunciation. From Harvard University.

The Norton Anthology of English Literature -- "This companion to the print resource of the same name features "annotated texts and contexts grouped by topic, over 1000 illustrations, ... hundreds of annotated links to related sites [and] The Norton Online Archive, a searchable electronic library of over 150 literary texts and downloadable audio files, annotated by the editors." Also includes quizzes and essay topic ideas. Searchable or browsable by time period from the Middle Ages through the 20th century.

NYPL Digital Library -- "NYPL Digital Gallery provides access to over 550,000 images digitized from primary sources and printed rarities in the collections of The New York Public Library, including illuminated manuscripts, historical maps, vintage posters, rare prints and photographs, illustrated books, printed ephemera, and more."

CITATION GUIDES

MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers Sixth Edition [RR LB2369 .G53 2003]

For on-line guides, see:
Citation Guide from Purdue University

Assembling a List of Works Cited in Your Paper

For the revised MLA format, see an online guide from Olson Library at Northern Michigan University:

http://library.nmu.edu/guides/userguides/style_mla_scholar.htm

Or check MLA Style Manual and Guide to Scholarly Publishing at Reference Desk [ PN147 .G444 2008]

Contact Information:	Page Information:
Kasia Gonnerman Rolvaag Library 301 507-646-3501 gonnermk@stolaf.edu	Created by: Kasia Gonnerman \| Spring 2009 Created for: Karen Marsalek and Mary Trull Updated by: \|