SOURCE: "Havelok the Dane: Structure, Symbols, Meaning," Studies in Philology, Vol. LXIV, No. 4, July, 1967, pp. 586-605.

In the following excerpt, Hanning praises Havelok the Dane for its unified structure and consistent symbolism which work together to clarify and support the main meaning of the work.

The so-called Matter of England romances—the middle English romances whose stories are drawn from the sagas and traditions of pre- and post-conquest England—¹ have yet to receive their due share of attention from critics of medieval literature. Earlier investigators of King Horn, Havelok, Athelston,² Richard the Lion Hearted, Guy of Warwick, Bevis of Hampton, and Gamelyn, concentrating mainly on sources and analogues, on the priority of the various saga versions, and on folklore parallels and basic story. patterns,³ showed little inclination to discuss questions of literary worth. Despite major shifts in critical emphasis, little has been done in recent years to redress...