The Knightly Tale of Golagros and Gawane, the finest of all Older Scots romances, was written during the last quarter of the fifteenth century. It uses the thirteen-line alliterative stanza to vivid effect. Its greatest sophistication, however, lies in its thematic engagement with matters of sovereignty and chivalry, in its persistent interest in negotiated exchanges rather than outright warfare, and in its moving depictions of the limitations of an aristocratic ethos fundamentally dedicated to destructive violence.

For this new edition, the text has been re-edited from the sole witness, the version published by Scotland's first printers, Chepman and Myllar, in 1508. The introduction and notes show how the poet works from two Arthurian adventures he derived from a prose continuation of the Old French Perceval, following a Scottish tradition of rehandling prose material into verse. It also reveals, however, the poem's extensive knowledge of an earlier romance likely composed on the borders of north-western England, The Awntyrs of Arthur at the Tarn Wadling, and thus situates Golagros against traditions both French and English. Beyond this, much light is shed on early print culture in Scotland.

RALPH HANNA is Professor of Palaeography at the University of Oxford and a Fellow of Keble College.