Roger Sherman Loomis (1887–1966)
Author of Medieval Romances
About the Author
Image credit: Roger Sherman by Wikipedia user Kagura8
Works by Roger Sherman Loomis
Arthurian Literature in the Middle Ages: A Collaborative History (1959) — Editor — 89 copies, 2 reviews
Readings in Biography & Exposition : Alternate Edition of Modern English Readings by Loomis, Roger Sherman (1950) 3 copies
Introduction to medieval literature, chiefly in England; a reading list and bibliography (1948) 2 copies
The Art of Writing Prose 2 copies
Readings in exposition 1 copy
Art of Writing Prose 1 copy
Associated Works
Lanzelet (Records of Western Civilization Series) (2005) — Additional notes, some editions — 28 copies
The Youth of Alexander the Great — Translator, some editions — 1 copy
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Legal name
- Loomis, Roger Sherman
- Birthdate
- 1887-10-31
- Date of death
- 1966-10-11
- Gender
- male
- Education
- Harvard University (MA)
Williams College, Williamstown, Massachusetts, USA (BA)
University of Oxford
The Hotchkiss School (Lakeville, Connecticut, USA) - Occupations
- professor (English Literature)
author - Organizations
- International Arthurian Society
Modern Language Association
Mediaeval Academy of America
Modern Humanities Research Association
American Humanist Association - Awards and honors
- Rhodes Scholar
- Relationships
- Loomis, Laura Hibbard (second wife)
Loomis, Gertrude Schoepperle (first wife) - Nationality
- USA
- Birthplace
- Yokohama, Japan
- Places of residence
- Yokohama, Japan
Lakeville, Connecticut, USA
Urbana, Illinois, USA
New York, New York, USA - Associated Place (for map)
- USA
Members
Reviews
Loomis provides a full examination of the development of the legends about the Holy Grail, from Chretien de Troyes onward. He does not avoid speculation, but he works in a conservative vein, and admits that his explanations are likely to disappoint those who want the stories to be rooted in sacramental Christianity ab origine, as well as those who fancy Cathar or heretical Templar secrets to be encoded into them (63). He does provide extensive passages in English translation from all of the show more early Grail romances, to the extent that these texts may occupy nearly as much of the book as his own theories.
Those theories, as the subtitle suggests, center on the derivation of tropes and characters from Celtic myth. In every major medieval retelling of the legend, Loomis finds reinforcement of the Celtic elements, which he takes to be of ultimately Irish origin, conveyed through Welsh culture to Breton storytellers in France who were the original purveyors of Grail romance. He proposes that the double meaning of li cors as horn (the enchanted drinking horn of the Welsh hero Bran) and body (the body of Christ, ergo mass wafer) is the key to misunderstandings at the root of the strange transformation of heroic episodes and otherworld journeys in the direction of Christian sacramentalism (61).
Loomis seems a little too willing to speculate--repeatedly!--that his medieval authors may have had a screw loose, when he becomes frustrated with the plot paradoxes and improprieties of the stories examined. In one hilarious instance, he declares of Robert de Boron, "he must have been drunk or subject to fits of dementia when he forecast an important role for the son of a virgin!" (233) Loomis, evidently a Christian on the basis of other remarks, must have slipped in composing this sentence, since I'm confident there is an "important role for the son of a virgin" he would not want to ridicule. (In Robert's tale, a celibate knight is supposed to have somehow sired an heir.)
Still, the highlighting of such difficulties in the texts is a serious service rendered by Loomis, as is his stress on the bewildering variety of forms taken by the story and by the Grail itself. The "heathenish concept" of identifying the fertility of the land with the virility of its king is one that Loomis is happy to point out, cementing as it does a kinship between the "late, realistic and pious romance of Sone de Nansai" and the pagan legendry of Bran (145). He ultimately points to the Queste del Sant Graal and the Parzival as the versions most satisfying to pious Christian sentiment, but one cannot escape the implied conclusion that the Grail legends derive much of their appeal from a deep vein of pre-Christian wonder, compounded by healthy doses of hapless Christian confusion. show less
Those theories, as the subtitle suggests, center on the derivation of tropes and characters from Celtic myth. In every major medieval retelling of the legend, Loomis finds reinforcement of the Celtic elements, which he takes to be of ultimately Irish origin, conveyed through Welsh culture to Breton storytellers in France who were the original purveyors of Grail romance. He proposes that the double meaning of li cors as horn (the enchanted drinking horn of the Welsh hero Bran) and body (the body of Christ, ergo mass wafer) is the key to misunderstandings at the root of the strange transformation of heroic episodes and otherworld journeys in the direction of Christian sacramentalism (61).
Loomis seems a little too willing to speculate--repeatedly!--that his medieval authors may have had a screw loose, when he becomes frustrated with the plot paradoxes and improprieties of the stories examined. In one hilarious instance, he declares of Robert de Boron, "he must have been drunk or subject to fits of dementia when he forecast an important role for the son of a virgin!" (233) Loomis, evidently a Christian on the basis of other remarks, must have slipped in composing this sentence, since I'm confident there is an "important role for the son of a virgin" he would not want to ridicule. (In Robert's tale, a celibate knight is supposed to have somehow sired an heir.)
Still, the highlighting of such difficulties in the texts is a serious service rendered by Loomis, as is his stress on the bewildering variety of forms taken by the story and by the Grail itself. The "heathenish concept" of identifying the fertility of the land with the virility of its king is one that Loomis is happy to point out, cementing as it does a kinship between the "late, realistic and pious romance of Sone de Nansai" and the pagan legendry of Bran (145). He ultimately points to the Queste del Sant Graal and the Parzival as the versions most satisfying to pious Christian sentiment, but one cannot escape the implied conclusion that the Grail legends derive much of their appeal from a deep vein of pre-Christian wonder, compounded by healthy doses of hapless Christian confusion. show less
Medieval adventure tales and sagas:
Perceval, or the story of the Grail/Chrétien de Troyes: I was surprised at the broad comedy of goofy Perceval a Welsh rustic with spurs on his brogans and as powerful in a fight as we was dense about the ways of the world. Every introduction is informative and interesting here and this one tells how the original grail was a Welsh fish bowl, like for eating lamprey. Before the transmogrification into Christ relic it shows up here as another prop that show more highlights the lack of knowledge of the sheltered hero.
Tristan & Isolt/Gottfried von Straßburg: This is my second time reading this and I just don't like it. It is overly long and since the lovers are affected by a magical potion, they are not compelling or relatable.
The youth of Alexander the Great: It is interesting to me how so many of these tales are quasi-historical personages in alternative histories with magical powers, rather like a comic book. From this introduction:
Rather unrelated, it reminds me of how the date of the birth of Jesus of Nazareth is given in gospel accounts as occurring during impossible dates followed by miraculous birth and other supernatural events. I feel for a millennia or more, history was written with guidelines entirely unlike you would expect for modern nonfiction.
There is also "Aucassin & Nicolete", another superhero king in "Havelok the Dane". The compelling, tragic story of Orpheus gets treatment in "Sir Orfeo". "Sir Gawain & the Green Knight" is a rather odd story of its brutal if magical decapitation with comedy of failed seductions and manly knights kissing over a verbal pact. It feels like much of this is for laughs, to me, or telling stories over fires with draughts of beer.
The collection concludes with "The book of Balin" (Sir Thomas Malory). This is interesting as it bookends the collection with Arthurian tales from the Matter of Britain in a tragic tale of mystical plots with Merlin afoot and mistaken identity. show less
Perceval, or the story of the Grail/Chrétien de Troyes: I was surprised at the broad comedy of goofy Perceval a Welsh rustic with spurs on his brogans and as powerful in a fight as we was dense about the ways of the world. Every introduction is informative and interesting here and this one tells how the original grail was a Welsh fish bowl, like for eating lamprey. Before the transmogrification into Christ relic it shows up here as another prop that show more highlights the lack of knowledge of the sheltered hero.
Tristan & Isolt/Gottfried von Straßburg: This is my second time reading this and I just don't like it. It is overly long and since the lovers are affected by a magical potion, they are not compelling or relatable.
The youth of Alexander the Great: It is interesting to me how so many of these tales are quasi-historical personages in alternative histories with magical powers, rather like a comic book. From this introduction:
Needless to say, history has been overlaid by a mass of prodigies and marvels, and it gives one quite a start to read that Homer and Ptolemy were among Alexander's tutors, teaching him Latin, falconry and fencing! We can be sure that the poet did not take his own information very seriously, and, like Shakespeare or Walter Scott, would have acknowledged his anachronisms with a shrug. We need no great perspicacity to realize that the story of the gryphon flight, so popular as a subject for medieval art, has been treated, not in a solemn tone to illustrate the sin of pride, but with a keen eye for comic effect, all the more amusing because of the humiliating role assigned to the sages of antiquity. And it is primarily as humor, unconscious as well as conscious, that the account of Alexander's nativity and youthful exploits is included in this book.
Rather unrelated, it reminds me of how the date of the birth of Jesus of Nazareth is given in gospel accounts as occurring during impossible dates followed by miraculous birth and other supernatural events. I feel for a millennia or more, history was written with guidelines entirely unlike you would expect for modern nonfiction.
There is also "Aucassin & Nicolete", another superhero king in "Havelok the Dane". The compelling, tragic story of Orpheus gets treatment in "Sir Orfeo". "Sir Gawain & the Green Knight" is a rather odd story of its brutal if magical decapitation with comedy of failed seductions and manly knights kissing over a verbal pact. It feels like much of this is for laughs, to me, or telling stories over fires with draughts of beer.
The collection concludes with "The book of Balin" (Sir Thomas Malory). This is interesting as it bookends the collection with Arthurian tales from the Matter of Britain in a tragic tale of mystical plots with Merlin afoot and mistaken identity. show less
Loomis was one of the great Arthurian and Grail scholars of his age, but his commitment to proving the Celtic roots of Grail lore grows tiresome quickly in this book. It's as though you've been buttonholed at party by someone who won't stop until they've explained their theory about the Rosicrucians or fluoridation. There's much interest to be had along the way because the man knew his stuff, but it's not balanced account. I'm going start Richard Barber's book soon, which I understand is show more more restrained and thorough. show less
I took a boring course in Arthurian legends in college. This was on the auxiliary reading list. When I finally got to reading it a decade after the course, I was blown away. This was the kind of material I had wanted in the course, a nuanced uncovering of the strands of myth in the multiple retellings of the Grail legend. Highly recommended
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- Rating
- 3.7
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- ISBNs
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