Middle English romance is one of the most comprehensive of literary forms and its range of subject matter and metrical styles is vast. It is difficult to 'classify' romances as they exhibit so much variety, and some critics have questioned whether it is possible to speak of a romance genre at all.
In the beginning of the Middle Ages, the word 'romance' was a term used indiscriminately to any kind of long narrative in French verse. Gradually, the term 'romance' began to refer to tales describing knightly prowess, usually set in remote times or places, and involving some element of the supernatural.
The early Middle English romances are strikingly different from the sophisticated voice of French courtly romance. French courtly romance was characteristic of high medieval culture, with only elite audiences capable of understanding the code of social values they presented. …
