The Owl and the Nightingale is a poem written in Middle English detailing a debate between an owl and a nightingale as overheard by the poem's narrator. Like many works of the Middle English period, the author of the poem and the date that it was written are unknown.

Author and Date

There are two surviving manuscript versions of The Owl and the Nightingale, one belonging to the British Library, the other to Jesus College, Oxford. Both manuscripts date form the second half of the 13th century, and most likely the last quarter of the century. Traditionally the text is believed to have been originally composed during the period 1189-1216. This belief is based on the poem's mention of a recently departed King Henry, Henry II died in 1189. Although it has been suggested that the poem actually refers to Henry III, which would date the poem as later than 1272 (not much earlier than the production of the two surviving manuscripts).

Similarly there has been much debate about the identity of the author of The Owl and the Nightingale. "Master Nicholas of Guildford", who is mentioned in reverential terms within the text, is one possible candidate. Various other eclesiastical figures have also been suggested as possible authors, such as a Benedictine nun from Shaftesbury Abbey.

Text

Unlike most debate literature of the period, The Owl and the Nightingale offers no resolution, thus forcing the reader to interpret the higly ambiguous text for themselves. The debate itself covers a very diverse range: religion, marriage, toilet manners, and song to name but a few. This diverse range has led to scholars interpreting the text in very different ways. These interpretations have varied from a medieval answer to the portrayal of the owl in the Book of Isaiah, to the poem being used as a teaching method for teaching students the art of debate as part of the trivium. Various historical satires have also been proposed as possible interpretations; including a parody of the relationship between Henry II and Thomas á Becket.