This slim anthology brings together a selection of poems told by, to, or about children (mostly in England) during the later Middle Ages. Nicholas Orme is one of the experts on the history of childhood in medieval western Europe, and so he is able to cast a wide net, bringing together snippets of stories, lullabies, riddles, and chasing games—the kinds of things which must have formed such a large part of oral culture but which often doesn’t survive in the written record. I did wish for a little more contextualisation and for a little less simplification, and for footnotes instead of endnotes, but Orme’s translations or modernisations are generally clear and accessible. Sections of this could likely be used in the undergraduate classroom, with some appropriate scaffolding. ( )

Fleas, Flies, and Friars Children's Poety from the Middle Ages by Nicholas Orwe
Poetry for children during the middle ages including ballads
of Robin Hood, charms, riddles, nursery rhymes and songs.
Latin and religion play a big part in what was said in these poems.
Interesting to see how and why these poems came about. ( )

This is a collection of works from the middle ages. Nicolas Orme created a book that offers a peek into the lives of children during this time. Poems, rhymes, and verses by children, for children or about children.
It’s not what I expected. While Nicolas Orme’s goal was to make these works accessible to the common reader as opposed to a scholar, I had thought I was picking up a book for children. The book is not for young children. Some of the language is rough and there’s a good deal of explanation about the works.
That’s not to say that this wasn’t an interesting read. I enjoyed it quite well. It’s an interesting glimpse into the past. I enjoyed the history and the language of this book.
I found it interesting to discover that papermaking began during this time period and that school books were often written in verse to make memorizing easier. The class would have limited books so the children would have to memorize parts of the books so they could be passed around. Two thoughts come to mind – 1. We think we have limited text books. and 2. Why don’t they do that now, imagine how much more the kids would remember. ( )

Pros: designed to be read by anyone (not just scholars), wide variety of examples, good introduction

Cons: little commentary on the different poems/examples, no conclusion, no easy way to see the original poems he translates

Nicholas Orme has put together a short book of poetry that would have been told to or written/spoken by children in the Middle Ages. He's done so using full English translations so the book is accessible to those without a background in the field or a knowledge of Latin or middle English. The downside to this is that if you do know the languages there's no checking his translations to see what (if any) liberties he's taken to get the meaning across or to force the rhythm and rhymes of the poems. He did keep some old words, to help with the rhymes and maintain flavour, and here he helpfully added translations/modernisations at the bottom of the page.

The book covers a wide variety of poems, from games to manners, stories, and grammar school exercises. This allows for a nice window into the lives of children, at work and at play, increasing our knowledge of how people lived. It shows that children were not thought of as 'little adults', that they were allowed to play and were catered to in many ways, according to their age and abilities.

I would have liked more commentary on the individual pieces and a conclusion showing some of the things these poems show us about how children were treated in the middle ages. But again, Orme wanted this book to be less scholarly and more easily accessible and so kept commentary to a minimum.

An interesting glimpse of an aspect of the middle ages that is not well understood. ( )

Fleas, Flies, and Friars: Children’s Poetry from the Middle Ages by Nicholas Orme (to be published March 2012, Cornell University Press) is something completely different from my normal reading, but I enjoyed it very much. It is part anthology of poetry that children learned and recited from 1200-1500 CE (translated from Middle English or Latin) and part a description (annotation) of how children lived and learned during those years.

At just over 100 pages, it is obviously a brief glimpse into medieval children’s poetry and society. Yet, because the annotations are written with an informative but friendly tone, it was a pleasant read for me, a curious historian and admirer of poetry in general. Children in the Middle Ages learned standards of behavior from poetry, as well as experienced the to-be-expected pleasures of lullabies and nonsense rhymes. Poetic stories of Robin Hood were immensely popular, and poetic reminders of school learning (Latin grammar, for example) helped the young child study.

Although the volume is slim and I was not a reader familiar with the status or literature of children in the Middle Ages, I highly enjoyed it. In some respects, it reminded me how some things really haven’t changed. Given the songs I learned in elementary school for learning the parts of speech, the nonsense poetry ridiculing silly teachers, and the poetic stories I still read in picture books, I’m simply pleased poetry has continued to define childhood and that there is a lot more of it to enjoy!

Read as a digital review copy from publisher via netgalley.

Cross-posted on my blog ( )