CURSOR MUNDI, an English poem in the northern dialect dating from the early 14th century. It is a religious epic of 24,000 lines "over-running" the history of the world as related in the Old and New Testaments. The author explains his reason for under taking the work. Men desire to read old romances of Alexander, Julius Caesar, Greece, Troy, Brut, Arthur, and others. But better than tales of love is the story of the Virgin; therefore in her honour he will write this book. He writes in English so that those who know no French may understand. The history is treated under seven ages. The first four include the period from the crea tion of the world to the successors of Solomon; the fifth deals with Mary and the birth and childhood of Jesus; the sixth with the lives of Christ and the chief apostles, and with the finding of the holy cross; and the seventh with Doomsday. Four short poems follow, more in some mss. The bulk of the poem is written in rhyming couplets of short lines of four accents, and maintains a fair level throughout. The narrative is enlivened by many leg ends; and the numerous transcripts of it prove that it was able to hold its own against profane romance.
Of the author nothing is known. The date of the book was placed by Dr. J. A. H. Murray (The Dialect of the Southern Counties of Scotland, 1873, p. 3o) in the last quarter of the 13th century, and the place of writing near Durham.