AMIS AND AMILOUN: A SPIRITUAL JOURNEY AND THE FAILURE OF TREUpE

Abstract

In the first half of the medieval English Auchinleck romance Amis and Amiloun, Amis faces hardship and is rescued by Amiloun, and these roles are reversed in the second half At the centre point lies the combat between Amis Amiloun and the steward, forming the narrative and moral nexus of the story, as it sets in motion the successive action of the second portion of the poem. Yet the narrative gives a secure and happy ending to Amis and Amiloun while condemning the steward, whom even the narrator concedes 'hadde the right'. However, upon finer inspection, a consistent morality does function in the poem justifying its categorisation as homiletic: duty given freely and humbly in Christian love is preferable to the self-righteous legalism of private vows. Whereas much recent criticism identifies the protagonists' blood-brotherhood rites and friendship as a central theme, Amis and Amiloun actually reveals treupe itself to be the problem. The two finally learn to transcend the human-centred limitations of such oaths by undergoing heavenly correction towards a more Christ-like caritas.