Feudalism: a method of organizing society consisting of three estates: clergymen, the noblemen who were granted fiefs by the King, and the peasant class who worked on the fief

Great Chain of Being: the metaphor used in the Middle Ages to describe the social hierarchy believed to be created by God

Chivalry: the code of conduct that bound and defined a knight's behavior

Mystery Plays: a play depicting events from the Bible

Morality Plays: play depicting representative characters in moral dilemmas with both the good and the evil parts of their character struggling for dominance

Medieval Romance: a narrative, in either prose or poetry, presenting a knight and his adventures

Pearl Poet: the unidentified author of Pearl, Patience, and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

Alliterative Revival: a resurgent use of the alliterative verse form of oral Old English poetry such as Beowulf

Bob and Wheel: a group of five short lines at the end of an alliterative verse rhyming ABABA

Green Man: a character in ancient fertility myths representing spring and the renewal of life

Courtly Love: rules governing the behavior of knights and ladies in a ritualistic, formalized system of flirtation

Crags: rugged mass of rocks

Heaved: pull hard

Barrow: mound

Gnarled: twisted

Cleft: split

Befall: happen to

Kirk: church

Cleave: split

Scythe: hooked blade

Dawdle: be slow

Whetting: sharpen a blade

Reproof: expression of disapproval

Daunted: intimidated

Winced: involuntary shrink away

Aloft: lift overhead

Efficacious: effective

Staunch and Doughty: loyal and brave

Reproved: scolded

Covetousness: envy

Penance: payment for sin

Frame Story/Framework: a narrative that contains another narrative

Links: conversations among the various pilgrims between the stories to tie the stories together