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The really long list of great literature

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Ancient | Medieval | Renaissance | 18th-century | 19th-century | 20th-century | 21st-century

Medieval Literature (401 to 1500 CE)
c.450–500
The Three Satakas
Bhartṛhari
India
Poetry
c.500
The Tale of an Anklet
Iḷaṅkõ Aṭikaḷ
India
Poetry
c.700
Beowulf
Anonymous
England
Epic poem
c.759
Collection of Ten Thousand Leaves
Kakinomoto no Hitomaro et al
Japan
Poetry collection
c.799
Epistle on the Singing Girls
Al-Jahiz
Iraq
Story collection
c.800
Book of Misers
Al-Jahiz
Iraq
Story collection
c.800–1200
Seven Voyages of Sinbad the Sailor
Anonymous
Persia
Story collection
c.900
The Butterfly Lovers
Anonymous
China
Story
977–1010
The Book of Kings
Ferdowsi
Persia
Poem
c.1000
The Pillow Book of Sei Shonagon
Sei Shonagon
Japan
Diary
c.1000–1300
The Poetic Edda
Anonymous
Iceland
Epic poem
c.1020
The Tale of Genji
Murasaki Shikibu
Japan
Prose
c.1060
The Sarashina Diary
Lady Sarashina
Japan
Prose and poetry
c.1100
Rubaiyat
Omar Khayyám
Persia
Poetry
 
Song of Roland
Anonymous
France
Epic poem
c.1100–1250
Volsungsaga
Anonymous
Iceland
Poetry
c.1125
The Improvement of Human reason
Ibn Tufayl
Andalusia
Novel
c.1140
The Poem of the Cid
Anonymous
Spain
Poetry
c.1145
King Rother
Anonymous
Germany
Poetry
1177
The Conference of the Birds
Farid od-Din Attar
Persia
Poetry
c.1177–1181
Launcelot
Chrétien de Troyes
France
Poetry
c.1180
Lais of Marie de France
Marie de France
England
Poetry
1181–1190
Perceval
Chrétien de Troyes
France
Poetry
c.1200
The Nibelungenlied
Anonymous
Germany
Epic poem
 
The Prose Edda
Snorri Sturlson
Iceland
Prose
 
The Tale of Igor's Last Campaign
Anonymous
Kieven Rus'
Prose
c.1200–1210
Parzival
Wolfram von Eschenbach
Germany
Poetry
1210
Tristan und Isolde
Gottfied von Strassburg
Germany
Poetry
c.1220
The Tale of the Heike
Anonymous
Japan
Prose
1230
Heimskringla
Snorri Sturlson
Iceland
Story collection
1230–1275
Romance of the Rose
Guillaume de Lorris, Jean de Meun
France
Poetry
c.1240
Egil's Saga
Anonymous
Iceland
Prose
c.1250
The Saga of Burnt Njal
Anonymous
Iceland
Poetry
1257
The Orchard
Saadi Shirazi
Persia
Poetry
1258
The Garden
Saadi Shirazi
Persia
Poetry
1258–1273
Masnavi
Rumi
Persia
Poetry
1294
The New Life
Alighieri Dante
Italy
Poetry, prose
1298–1299
The Travels of Marco Polo
Rustichello da Pisa
Italy
Travelogue
c.1300–1400
The Sage of Grettir the Strong
Anonymous
Iceland
Poetry
1307
The Divine Comedy
Alighieri Dante
Italy
Poetry
c.1322
The Glory of the Kings
Anonymous
Ethiopia
Prose narrative
1327–1368
Il Canzoniere / Le Rime Sparse
Francesco Petrarch
Italy
Poetry
1335
Tales of a Parrot
Nakhshabi
Persia
Story collection
1348
The Decameron
Giovanni Boccaccio
Italy
Story collection
c.1350
The Divān of Hafez
Hafez
Persia
Poetry
1352
The Triumphs
Giovanni Boccaccio
Italy
Poetry
c.1360–1400
Romance of the Three Kingdoms
Luo Guanzhong
China
Novel
c.1360–1589
Water Margin
Shi Nai'an, Luo Guanzhong
China
Novel
1362
The Vision of Piers the Ploughman
William Langland
England
Poetry
c.1380
Pearl
Anonymous
England
Poetry
c.1382–1386
Troilus and Cressida
Geoffrey Chaucer
England
Epic poem
1387
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
Anonymous
England
Poetry
c.1387–1400
The Canterbury Tales
Geoffrey Chaucer
England
Poetry, prose
c.1400
Atsumori
Zeami Motokiyo
Japan
Play
1405
The Book of the City of Ladies
Christine de Pizan
Italy
Prose narrative
1461
The Great Testament
François Villon
France
Poetry
1483–1495
Orlando Innamorato
Matteo Maria Boiardo
Italy
Epic poem
1485
Everyman
Anonymous
England
Play
 
Le Morte d'Arthur
Thomas Malory
England
Prose narrative
1490
Tyrant the White
Joanot Martorell, Martí Joan de Galba
Spain
Poetry
1492
Prison of Love
Diego de San Pedro
Spain
Novel
1494
Ship of Fools
Sebastian Brant
Germany
Poetry collection
1499
La Celestina
Fernando de Rojas
Spain
Novel
c.1500
Lilit Phra Lo
Anonymous
Thailand
Poem
 
The Feather Mantle
Anonymous
Japan
Play

 

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