Medieval literature Book

Like almost any collection of essays, especially by various authors, there are high points and low points. And like almost any work from several decades ago aimed at students, most of the essays assume rather more background knowledge than I have (even following the "advanced" English track through high school, and taking a literature class in college that began with the very period that this book covers). And while including some of the works discussed, that would have in the pre-Internet age otherwise have been hard to find, is a good choice, I no longer have the patience (or time) to work through the archaic dialects of Langland, the Pearl poet, and the other writers of "the age of Chaucer." On the other hand, the essay on allegory joins Sayers' (in The Poetry of Search and the Poetry of Statement, and probably elsewhere) as a source I plan to use if I ever get around to writing another post on the subject.