Narratological studies of chronicles have been scarce in modern scholarship. Indeed, when chronicles are mentioned at all in a narratological context, it tends to be as negative examples, for instance, as exemplars of a lack of sophistication in narrative strategy. I hope that this study goes some way towards demonstrating that this is not the case: medieval chroniclers were in many cases capable of considerable sophistication in their construction of narrative. Although this study comprises in the first instance a study of the ways in which particular historical events are presented, it also contributes to the wider study of chronicles as narrative texts.

Although, as demonstrated in Chapter One, it is true that covert narration is the dominant mode for chronicles, there are frequent episodes in which the narrator is overt, self-referential and self-conscious. The chroniclers use a range of different narrative voices in different circumstances and for certain ends; these include such narrative modes as the impersonal, hidden narrator, plural first person to include the reader, and singular first person to draw attention to the chronicler’s own persona. Adam Usk is, however, an unusual case as he becomes overt to the extent of being a character in his own chronicle narrative. Moreover, the chroniclers employ various methods of producing vivid and persuasive narrative; amongst those discussed in Chapter One are detailed description and the uses of imagery, as well as direct speech and focalisation. These strategies, frequently used in conjunction with each other, were an important element in the recounting of events, providing authority and an impression of accuracy. Such methods were also important strategies through which the chroniclers could guide the reader’s interpretations of the events in Wales from 1400 to c.1415.

Just as was the case in the construction of a narrator, the chronicles examined here display considerable self-consciousness and sophistication in their treatment of time. As demonstrated in Chapter Two, the chronicles exhibit a wide range of approaches to the handling of temporality, from very overt chronological marking to more covert forms. My comparison between Walsingham’s and Halle’s narratives, for instance, shows that the chronicles vary widely in their attempts to keep particular narrative units intact, and hence depart from strictly chronological progression.