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HAGIOGRAPHY Derived from the Greek hagio
(saint, holy one), hagiography is literally writing about
saints. More specifi cally, hagiographies are usually the
stories of saints’ lives. Though connected to the Latin
legenda, there is a slight difference. Legenda are not
necessarily stories of the saints’ lives; rather, they may
more generally include anecdotal tales grouped into
themes (e.g., miracles of the Virgin).
Scholars often cite the connections between
ROMANCE and hagiography, and many hagiographies
exhibit COURTLY LOVE characteristics. Commonly, Jesus
is depicted as the courtly lover-knight who ardently
pursues his beloved—a person or a soul—wooing him
or her with gentle phrases, gifts, and so forth. Hagiog-
raphies are found in both poetry and prose, as well as
in both sacred and secular literary collections. For
instance, GEOFFREY CHAUCER wrote a hagiography of
St. Cecilia for his “Second Nun’s Tale” in THE CANTER-
BURY TALES.

FURTHER READING
Heffernan, Thomas J. Sacred Biography: Saints and Their Biog-
raphers in the Middle Ages. Oxford and New York: Oxford
University Press, 1988.

HALF-LINE Literally a half-line of poetry, in
ANGLO-SAXON POETRY the half-line is the normal metri-
cal unit, with two half-lines that alliterate forming a
complete alliterative line. These half-lines are separated
by a CAESURA (pause), often represented by a blank

space. Each half-line has at least four syllables, but the

pattern of stress and ALLITERATION vary, depending on

the length of the syllable, phonetic stress, and the num-

ber of syllables. Each half-line also has two stressed syl-

lables, and those syllables alliterate. In the most

common pattern found in Old English, two alliterating

words in the fi rst half-line link with one in the second.

The poems of the 14th-century ALLITERATIVE REVIVAL,

such as SIR GAWAIN AND THE GREEN KNIGHT, follow this

same basic pattern: Each alliterative line contains two

half-lines, wherein at least one stressed syllable in the

fi rst half alliterates with one or two syllables in the

other half-line.

FURTHER READING

Fulk, Robert D. A History of Old English Meter. Philadelphia:

University of Pennsylvania Press, 1992.

Larry J. Swain

HANDLYNG SYNNE ROBERT MANNYNG OF

BRUNNE (ca. 1303–ca. 1338) Unusual for a work

of Middle English religious poetry, Handlyng Synne, an

early 14th-century penitential poem, clearly announces

the identity of its author, ROBERT MANNYNG OF BRUNNE.

The poem numbers almost 12,600 lines of East Mid-

lands Middle English. Three complete copies and six

fragments survive.

Handlyng Synne is a free and fl uid translation of the

French poem Manuel des Pechiez (ca. 1270s). Like the

original, it clearly states its intent as being the religious

H