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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.

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
missing graphic
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.... CritiqueQuotesTextTranslationsAt the moviesBuy

 
 
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
missing graphic
The Tale of Genji
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.... CritiqueQuotesTranslationsBuy

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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