In this verse translation of Perceval; or, The Story of the Grail, Ruth Harwood Cline restores to life the thematically crucial Arthurian tale of the education of a knight in his search for the Holy Grail.Cline's translation, faithful to the highly synthetic, deliberately ornate nature of medieval French, follows Perceval from his home in Wales, through his rich and raucous adventures as a member of the fraternity of knights, to his climactic meeting with the Fisher King. Paralyzed by his first glimpse of the Grail, Perceval fails to save the ailing king. Distraught, the knight begins a new quest for the Grail, a journey on the road of penitence and faith. Perceval's venture, the true test of his knighthood, ends without conclusion; the death of author Chrétien de Troyes left unsaid and undetermined the success of Perceval's quest.

Perceval, Or, the Story of the Grail (English and Old French Edition)

Literature & Fiction

Chretien, de Troyes

Cline, Ruth Harwood

History & Criticism

Pergamon Pr

Fantastic adventures abound in these courtly romances: Erec and Enide, Cligés, The Knight of the Cart, The Knight with the Lion, and The Story of the Grail. For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

Arthurian Romances (Penguin Classics)

Literary

Penguin Classics

In this outstanding new translation of Lancelot, Burton Raffel brings to English language readers the fourth of Chrétien’s five surviving romantic Arthurian poems. This poem was the first to introduce Lancelot as an important figure in the King Arthur legend.

Lancelot, the Knight of the Cart (Records of Civilization, Sources and Studies ; No. 97) (English and French Edition)

Columbia Univ. Pr.

"[A]n eminently readable text, done clearly and accurately... it gives as good an idea as a translation can of the complexity and subtlety of ChrÃtien's originals.... The text is provided by a translator who understands the spirit as well as the letter of the original and renders it with style.... [T]his translation should attract a wide audience of students and Arthurian enthusiasts." â€”Speculum
"[A] significant contribution to the field of medieval studies [and] a pleasure to read." â€”Library Journal
"These are, above all, stories of courtly love and of knights tested in their devotion to chivalric ideals (with passion and duty often at odds); but they are also thrilling wonder stories of giants, wild men, tame lions, razor-sharp bridges and visits to the Other World." â€”Washington Post Book World
"This tastefully produced book will be the standard general translation for many years to come." â€”Choice
This new translation brings to life for a new generation of readers the stories of King Arthur, Lancelot, Guinevere, Gawain, Perceval, Yvain, and the other "knights and ladies" of ChrÃtien de Troyes' famous romances.

The Complete Romances of Chretien de Troyes

Indiana University Press

A twelfth-century poem by the creator of the Arthurian romance describes the courageous exploits and triumphs of a brave lord who tries to win back his deserted wife's love

Yvain, The Knight of the Lion

Poetry

Yale University Press

The twelfth-century French poet Chrétien 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 Chrétien’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.

Yvain: The Knight of the Lion

Erec and Enide, the first of five surviving Arthurian romantic poems by twelfth-century French poet Chr_tien de Troyes, narrates a vivid chapter from the legend of King Arthur. Now an experienced translator of medieval works who is himself a poet has translated Erec and Enide in verse form that fully captures the movement, the sense, and the spirit of the Old French original.

Erec and Enide

Erec and Enide, the first of five surviving Arthurian romantic poems by twelfth-century French poet Chrétien de Troyes, narrates a vivid chapter from the legend of King Arthur. Chrétien's romances became the source for Arthurian tradition and influenced countless other poets in England and on the Continent. Yet his swift-moving style is difficult to capture in translation, and today's English-speaking audiences remain largely unfamiliar with the pleasures of reading his poems. Now an experienced translator of medieval verse who is himself a poet has translated Eric and Enide in an original three-stress metric verse form that fully captures the movement, the sense, and the spirit of the Old French original. Burton Raffel's rendition preserves the subtlety and charm of a poem that is in turn serious, dramatic, bawdy, merry, and satiric. Erec and Enide tells the story of Erec, a knight at King Arthur's court, whose retirement to domestic bliss with his beautiful new wife Enide takes him away from his chivalric duties. To regain his knightly honor, Erec sets out with Enide on a series of amazing adventures. Eric dispatches thieves and giants with prodigious strength and valor but treats his wife rather harshly for doubting his abilities. When Enide is kidnapped by a robber baron, Erec revives from near-death to perform a courageous rescue, and at length the two are reconciled.

Erec and Enide (Chretien de Troyes Romances S)

In this translation of "Cliges", the second of five surviving Arthurian poems by 12th-century French poet Chretien de Troyes, Burton Raffel captures the original. In this poem, Chretien creates his most artful plot and paints the most starkly medieval portraits of any of his romances. The world he describes has few of the safeguards and protections of civilization: battles are brutal and merciless, love is anguished and desperate. "Cliges" tells the story of the unhappy Fenice, trapped in a marriage of constraint to the emperor of Constantinople. fenice feigns death, then awakens to a new happy life with her lover. Popular in their own time, each chapter of Chretien's great verse romances is a fast-paced psychologically oriented narrative. In a rational and realistic manner, Chretien probes the inner workings of his characters and the world they live in, evoking the people, their customs, and their values in clear, emotionally charged verse. "Cliges" is filled with Chretien's barbs and bawdiness, his humour and his pleasure, his affection and his contempt. It is the work of a individualistic poet, brought to modern English readers by Raffel's poetic translation in a metric form invented specifically to reflect Chretien's narrative speed and tone.

Cliges

In this extraordinarily fine translation of Cligès, the second of five surviving Arthurian poems by twelfth-century French poet Chrétien de Troyes, Burton Raffel captures the liveliness, innovative spirit, and subtle intentions of the original work. In this poem, Chrétien creates his most artful plot and paints the most starkly medieval portraits of any of his romances. The world he describes has few of the safeguards and protections of civilization: battles are brutal and merciless, love is anguished and desperate. Cligès tells the story of the unhappy Fenice, trapped in a marriage of constraint to the emperor of Constantinople. Fenice feigns death, then awakens to a new, happy life with her lover. Enormously popular in their own time, each of Chrétien's great verse romances is a fast-paced psychologically oriented narrative. In a rational and realistic manner, Chrétien probes the inner workings of his characters and the world they live in, evoking the people, their customs, and their values in clear, emotionally charged verse. Cligès is filled with Chrétien's barbs and bawdiness, his humor and his pleasure, his affection and his contempt. It is the unmistakable work of a brilliantly individualistic poet, brought to modern English readers by Raffel's poetic translation in a metric form invented specifically to reflect Chrétien's narrative speed and tone.

Cligès (Chretien de Troyes Romances S)

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