Yvain, the Knight of the Lion

by de Troyes Chrétien

Other authorsBurton Raffel (Translator)
Hardcover, 1987

Status

Available

Call number

841/.1

Collection

Publication

New Haven : Yale University Press, c1987.

Description

The twelfth-century French poet Chr?tien de Troyes is a major figure in European literature. His courtly romances fathered the Arthurian tradition and influenced countless other poets in England as well as on the continent. Yet because of the difficulty of capturing his swift-moving style in translation, English-speaking audiences are largely unfamiliar with the pleasures of reading his poems. Now, for the first time, an experienced translator of medieval verse who is himself a poet provides a translation of Chr?tien's major poem, Yvain, in verse that fully and satisfyingly captures the movement, the sense, and the spirit of the Old French original. Yvain is a courtly romance with a moral tenor; it is ironic and sometimes bawdy; the poetry is crisp and vivid. In addition, the psychological and the socio-historical perceptions of the poem are of profound literary and historical importance, for it evokes the emotions and the values of a flourishing, vibrant medieval past.?… (more)

User reviews

LibraryThing member ShushilaH
I found Yvain in my public library when I was in middle school, and fell in love with it. The edition I read then, and the one I still favor, was translated by Ruth Harwood Cline, whose translations still amuse and amaze me. First, the translation is in rhymed couplets, which I consider a great (if
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occasionally annoying) feat. I find it easy to imagine this translation recited orally. The story itself is my favorite of Cretien de Troyes' romances, and remains one of my favorite medieval romances. It's got some cool courtly love themes, adventure, magic, madness, gory bits. What more could you want, really?
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Language

Original language

Old French

Physical description

xiii, 228 p.; 21 cm

ISBN

0300038372 / 9780300038378
Page: 0.4536 seconds