"The Owl and the Nightingale" is an English poem written in the High Middle Ages. It is the earliest known example of debate poetry.
An unnamed person overhears a heated debate between an Owl and a Nightingale. The Nightingale mischaracterizes the Owl's sad seriousness as sinister uptightness, and the Owl dismisses Nightingale's carefree attitude as shallow frivolity. Their argument becomes increasingly hostile as both birds endeavor to prove their superiority until they seem to be ready to come to blows. However, a Wren flies between them before their conflict escalates further, and suggests they take their case to Nicholas of Guildford, a wise priest of Portesham. The story ends with both birds flying off.
The poem can be read (translated to Modern English) here
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Compare with The Thrush and the Nightingale, another medieval debate poem featuring animals.
J. R. R. Tolkien began a translation of the poem which was never published. In his abandoned novel The Notion Club Papers, Tolkien paid homage to the poem by naming one of his characters "Nicholas Guildford".
Tropes:
- Author Avatar: Some scholars suggest Nicholas of Guilford is the poem's author.
- Bullying a Dragon: The Nightingale calls the Owl ugly, smelly, wicked, liar, sinister, scary, hateful... and eventually he asks other birds to come and jeer at the Owl, causing the latter to snap and threaten to call other birds of prey.
- Don't Fear the Reaper: When the Nightingale accuses the Owl of putting the fear to death into people, the Owl replies he is doing them a favor by reminding them that life is only temporary.
- Exact Eavesdropping: The narrator hears and understands every word uttered by the birds.
- Former Teen Rebel: Nicholas of Guildford was allegedly a frivolous young man before settling down.
- The Ghost: Nicholas of Guildford is mentioned several times in the text as the man best suited to settle their argument, but he never shows up.
- Photographic Memory: The Owl declares she can repeat every word of their argument to Nicholas thanks to her excellent memory.
- Slut-Shaming: Subverted. When the Owl disses the Nightingale's songs for encouraging women to be frivolous, the Nightingale replies that young maidens can do whatever before getting married, and he puts the blame on men for taking advantage of them.
- Standing Between the Enemies: The Wren descends between the Nightingale and the Owl before they start a fight and suggests them to go and talk to Nicholas of Guildford to settle their dispute.
- Talking Animal: The anonymous narrator can understand every word uttered by the birds.
- Unusually Uninteresting Sight: The narrator thinks nothing of talking animals or singing birds taunting owls.
