Yvain: The Knight of the Lion - Softcover

Chretien De Troyes

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0300038380 ISBN 13: 9780300038385

Publisher: Yale University Press, 1987

Synopsis

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.
 

About this title

From the Back Cover

The twelfth century French poet Chretien de Troyes is a major figure in European literature. Now, for the first time, and experienced translator of medieval verse who is himself a poet provides a translation of Chretien's major poem, Yvain, in verse that fully and satisfyingly captures the movement, the sense, and the spirit of the Old French original.

About the Author

Burton Raffel, professor of English at the University of Denver, is the translator of numerous works, including Poems from the Old English, Beowulf, and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.

Edition details

• Publisher: Yale University Press
• Publication date: 1987
• ISBN 10: 0300038380
• ISBN 13: 9780300038385
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 256