purity of the characters’ emotions. It has been observed
that their similarity in names (Floris meaning “of the
fl ower” and Blaunchefl ur meaning “white fl ower”), ages,
and looks emphasizes their being two parts of one
whole. The romance is also notable for its sympathetic
portrait of the SARACENs, itself unusual in medieval
Western tradition. The entire action takes place in non-
Christian countries (Spain, Babylon), and most of the
central characters—Floris, his parents, the emir, and
the helpful fi gures Floris encounters on his quest—are
all Muslims who are likable, dynamic characters. This
positive representation lends to the narrative’s social,
religious, and political dimensions, whereby the per-
sonal union of the lovers represents a healing of the
west/east, Christian/Muslim dichotomy.
Postcolonial and feminist theories have informed
more recent readings of the romance that examine its
darker elements. While secondary to the overarching
love motif, the topics of incest and slavery nonetheless
run through the romance. Women like Blaunchefl ur,
the child of a Christian slave in a Muslim world, are
commodities to be bartered and sold, and the similari-
ties between the children, coupled with the question-
able identity of Blauchefl ur’s father, point to a possible
incestuous relationship. Finally, scholars have begun
to explore the linguistic, thematic, and narrative junc-
tures in the romance, where east-meets-west topics
refl ect historical medieval events.
See also CHIVALRY.
FURTHER READING
de Vries, Franciscus Catharina, ed. Floris and Blaunchefl ur. A
Middle English Romance. Groningen, Netherlands: Druk-
kerij V.R.B., 1966.
Heffernan, Carol. The Orient in Chaucer and Medieval
Romance. Cambridge: D.S. Brewer, 2003.
Kelly, Kathleen Coyle. “The Bartering of Blaunchefl ur in the
Middle English Floris and Blaunchefl ur.” Modern Philology
91, no. 2 (1994): 101–110.
Metlitzki, Dorothee. The Matter of Araby in Medieval England.
New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1977.
Kimberly K. Bell
FLYTING Flyting is a literary contest of abuse in
which the participants strive to out-insult each other in
verse. Flyting as a genre originated in 16th-century
Scotland, where to fl yte meant to scold or argue with an
opponent, often publicly in a scurrilous manner, and
noisy fl yters were punishable by law. Originally, how-
ever, these contests may have begun at the behest of
the monarch. The most famous surviving example is
“The Flyting of Dunbar and Kennedy,” composed
sometime between 1490 and 1505, which stages a
quarrel between WILLIAM DUNBAR and Walter Kennedy,
a poet from the highlands. It is a triumph of satirical
wit and poetic virtuosity, and the audience is asked to
decide who gets the worst of the encounter.
The usual practice in a fl yting seems to have been
for two opponents to attack each other in successive
rounds of combative verse, sometimes with other poets
in the background as seconds or deputies. The number
of rounds varies in the surviving examples, but in each
case fl ytings tended to progress from the naming of
one’s opponent and the formal statement of challenges
to a more developed battery of invective in the main
body of the attack. The abuse could become personal
in the extreme: A poet’s appearance, morals, family
history, and social background were frequent targets
alongside the disparagement of his poetic skills, pro-
viding a natural outlet for obscenity and earthy humor.
Critical debate has arisen over the degree of real versus
imaginary animosity in fl ytings and how far they were
intended for public performance.
The fl ytyng technique could also be adapted to other
poetic forms. Some critics, for instance, see JOHN SKEL-
TON’s “Mannerly Margery” as an amorous fl yting, and
“GET UP AND BAR THE DOOR” has been viewed as a com-
moner’s fl yting.
FURTHER READING
Bawcutt, Patricia. “The Art of Flyting.” Scottish Literary Jour-
nal 10, no. 2 (1983): 5–24.
Gray, Douglas. “Rough Music: Some Early Invectives and
Flytings.” In English Satire and the Satiric Tradition, edited
by Claude Rawson, 21–43. Oxford: Blackwell, 1984.
Elizabeth EvershedFORTUNE Based on the Roman goddess Fortuna,
Fortune appears in BOETHIUS’s The CONSOLATION OF PHI-
LOSOPHY as a device used to illustrate the untrustworthi-
ness of temporal happiness. In the medieval tradition,190 FLYTING