Great Medieval Literature (The Really Long List)
The Greatest Literature of All Time and The Greatest Nonfiction together present more than a thousand titles of the world's most acclaimed writing, both creative and factual. But in case you find that too restrictive, we present The Really Long List of Great Literature with triple the number of titles.
The Really Long List includes all works of literature considered great by a significant number of readers, writers, critics or scholars.
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This longer list gives you many more great reading choices and offers more diversity in forms, cultures and genres. It encourages you to stray from the established canon and discover amazing works you might otherwise never have come across.
We've broken the list into time periods, so you can pick the era you're most interested in. This is the Great Medieval Literature section of that list, featuring works published from 401 to 1500 CE.
Latest update: May 25, 2025
c.450–500
The Three Satakas
by Bhartṛhari, India
Poetry collection, also known as The Three Hundred Poems of Moral Values
c.500
The Tale of an Anklet
by Iḷaṅkõ Aṭikaḷ, India
Epic poem
c.650
Qur'an
by various authors, Arabia
Prose and poetry collection, also known as Koran
c.700
Beowulf
by Anonymous, England
Epic poem
It wasn't called Beowulf until 1805 and was not printed till 1815, more than a millennium after its appearance in manuscript. But to early Anglo-Saxons, the slaying of the monster Grendel and Grendel's.... Critique • Quotes • Text • Translations • At the movies • Buy
The Táin
Anonymous, Ireland
Epic prose and poetry narrative, also known as The Cattle Raid of Cooley
c.750
Selected Poems
by Li Bai, China
Poetry collection
c.759
Collection of Ten Thousand Leaves
by various authors, Japan
Poetry anthology, also known as Anthology of a Myriad Leaves, originally Man'yōshū
c.799
Epistle on the Singing Girls
by Al-Jahiz, Iraq
Story collection
c.800
The Collected Songs of Cold Mountain
by Hanshan, China
Poetry collection
Book of Misers
by Al-Jahiz, Iraq
Story collection
c.800–1200
Seven Voyages of Sinbad the Sailor
Anonymous, Persia
Story collection
c.800–1400
One Thousand and One Nights
Anonymous, Persia
Story collection, also known as Arabian Nights, includes "Tale of the Fisherman and the Jinni", "The Tale of the Three Apples", "The Barber's Tale of Himself", and others.
c.900
"The Butterfly Lovers"
Anonymous, China
Story
The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter
Anonymous, Japan
Novel
977–1010
The Book of Kings
by Ferdowsi, Persia
Epic poem, originally Shahnameh
c.1000
The Pillow Book of Sei Shonagon
by Sei Shonagon, Japan
Diary
c.1000–1300
The Poetic Edda
Anonymous, Iceland
Epic poem
c.1020
The Tale of Genji
by Murasaki Shikibu, Japan
Novel
Sometimes The Tale of Genji is called the world's first novel, though it can feel more like the world's first soap opera. To begin with, it never ends. It's very, very long and the plot never comes to a resolution. Various.... Critique • Quotes • Translations • Buy
c.1060
The Sarashina Diary
by Lady Sarashina, Japan
Memoir
c.1100
The Song of Roland
Anonymous, France
Poem, originally La chanson de Roland
Assemblies of Hariri
by al-Hariri of Basra, Iraq
Story collection
Rubaiyat
by Omar Khayyám, Persia
Poetry collection
Mabinogion
Anonymous, Wales
Story collection
c.1100–1250
Volsunga Saga
Anonymous, Iceland
Epic prose narrative, also known as Saga of the Völsungs
c.1125
The Improvement of Human Reason
by Ibn Tufayl, Andalusia
Novel, also known as The Self-Taught Philosopher
c.1140
The Poem of the Cid
Anonymous, Spain
Epic poemm originally El Cantar de mio Cid
c.1145
King Rother
Anonymous, Germany
Epic poem
1177
The Conference of the Birds
by Farid od-Din Attar, Persia
Poem, originally Manṭiq-uṭ-Ṭayr
c.1177–1181
Lancelot, the Knight of the Cart
by Chrétien de Troyes, France
Poem, originally Lancelot, le Chevalier de la Charrette
c.1180
Lais of Marie de France
by Marie de France, England
Poetry collection
1181–1190
Perceval, the Story of the Grail
by Chrétien de Troyes, France
Epic poem
c.1200
Nibelungenlied
Anonymous, Germany
Epic poem, also known as The Song of the Nibelungs, originally Der Nibelunge nôt
The Prose Edda
by Snorri Sturlson, Iceland
Novel
The Tale of Igor's Last Campaign
Anonymous, Kieven Rus'
Epic poem, also known as The Tale of Ihor's Campaign or The Tale of Igor's Last Campaign
c.1200–1210
Parzival
by Wolfram von Eschenbach, Germany
Epic poem
1210
Tristan und Isolde
by Gottfied von Strassburg, Germany
Epic poem
c.1220
The Tale of the Heike
Anonymous, Japan
Epic prose narrative, originally Heike Monogatari
1230
Heimskringla
by Snorri Sturlson, Iceland
Story collection
1230–1275
The Romance of the Rose
by Guillaume de Lorris, Jean de Meun, France
Epic poem, originally Le Roman de la rose
c.1240
Egil's Saga
Anonymous, Iceland
Novel, also known as Egla
c.1250
The Saga of Burnt Njal
Anonymous, Iceland
Epic prose narrative, also known as Njal's Saga
c.1251
Calila and Dimna
Anonymous, Spain
Story collection, originally Calila e Dimna
1257
The Orchard
by Saadi Shirazi, Persia
Poetry collection, originally Bustan
1258
The Garden
by Saadi Shirazi, Persia
Poetry and story collection, also known as The Rose Garden, originally Gulistān or Golestan
1258–1273
Masnavi
by Rumi, Persia
Poem, also known as Mathnawi
c.1280
The Owl and the Nightingale
Anonymous, England
Poem
1294
The New Life
by Alighieri Dante, Italy
Prose and poetry collection
1298–1299
The Travels of Marco Polo
by Rustichello da Pisa, Italy
Nonfiction
c.1300
The Chalk Circle
by Li Qianfu, China
Play
Deeds of the Romans
Anonymous, Unknown
Story collection
c.1300–1400
The Saga of Grettir the Strong
Anonymous, Iceland
Epic prose narrative
1307
The Divine Comedy
by Alighieri Dante, Italy
Epic poem
c.1322
The Glory of the Kings
Anonymous, Ethiopia
Epic prose narrative, also known as The Queen of Sheba and Her Only Son Menyelek, originally Kebra Nagast
1327–1368
Il Canzoniere
by Francesco Petrarch, Italy
Poetry collection, also known as Rerum vulgarium fragmenta or Le Rime Sparse
1330–1332
Essays in Idleness
by Yoshida Kenkō, Japan
Essay collection
1330–1343
The Book of Good Love
by Juan Ruiz, Spain
Long poem
1335
Tales of a Parrot
by Nakhshabi, Persia
Story collection, also known as The Tootinameh
1348
The Decameron
by Giovanni Boccaccio, Italy
Story collection
c.1350
The Divān of Hafez
by Hafez, Persia
Poetry collection
1352
The Triumphs
by Giovanni Boccaccio, Italy
Poem
c.1360–1400
Romance of the Three Kingdoms
by Luo Guanzhong, China
Novel, also known as Wives and Concubines
c.1360–1589
Water Margin
by Shi Nai'an and Luo Guanzhong, China
Novel, also known as Outlaws of the Marsh
1362
The Vision of Piers the Ploughman
by William Langland, England
Poem, also known as Piers Plowman
c.1380
Pearl
Anonymous, England
Poem
c.1382–1386
Troilus and Cressida
by Geoffrey Chaucer, England
Poem
1387
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
Anonymous, England
Poem
c.1387–1400
The Canterbury Tales
by Geoffrey Chaucer, England
Prose and poetry collection
c.1400
Atsumori
by Zeami Motokiyo, Japan
Play
Amadís de Gaula
by Garci Rodríguez de Montalvo, Portugal
Novel
1405
The Book of the City of Ladies
by Christine de Pizan, Italy
Novel
1461
The Great Testament
by François Villon, France
Poetry collection
1483–1495
Orlando Innamorato
by Matteo Maria Boiardo, Italy
Poem
1485
Everyman
Anonymous, England
Play
Le Morte d'Arthur
by Thomas Malory, England
Novel, also known as The Death of Arturo, originally le morte Darthur
1490
Tyrant the White
by Joanot Martorell, Martí Joan de Galba, Spain
Poem
1492
Prison of Love
by Diego de San Pedro, Spain
Novel
1494
Ship of Fools
by Sebastian Brant, Germany
Poetry collection, originally Das Narrenschiff
1499
The Tragicomedy of Calisto and Melibea
by Fernando de Rojas, Spain
Novel, also known as La Celestina, originally Tragicomedia de Calisto y Melibea
c.1500
Lilit Phra Lo
Anonymous, Thailand
Poem
The Feather Mantle
Anonymous, Japan
Play
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