Synopses & Reviews
"[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 Chrétien'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." --Speculum
"[A] significant contribution to the field of medieval studies [and] a pleasure to read." --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." --Washington Post Book World
"This tastefully produced book will be the standard general translation for many years to come." --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 Chrétien de Troyes' famous romances.
Review
"Chretien is where the literary tradition of the Arthurian romance can be seen to begin.... His poems are the earliest we have that portray knights errant questing through dangerous forests to challenge unknown opponents and to learn the meaning of love.... Staines [also] provides the first, and only, English translation of "Guillaume d'Angeleterre" [and] it is very good to have it available." --Times Literary Supplement Indiana University Press
About the Author
David Staines is Professor of English at the University of Ottawa, widely published scholar, and general editor of the New Canadian Library.
Table of Contents
Acknowledgements
Introduction
Erec and Enide
Cliges
The Knight of the Cart
The Knight With the Lion
The Story of the Grail
Appendix: William of England
Variant Readings of the Manuscript
A Bibliography of Texts and Critical Studies
An Index of Proper Names