Monday, June 22, 2026 · 天火 · tianmu.org
Old French Romance and Epic
Old French romance, chanson de geste, Grail literature, and courtly narrative, including Chretien de Troyes and the Roland tradition.
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Texts
Cligès — Chrétien de TroyesCligès — Chrétien de Troyes' twelfth-century Arthurian romance (c.1176), translated by W.W. Comfort: the story of Alexander and Sordamour, the love of Cligès and Fenice, and the rivalry with Tristan and Isolt — the founding text of the romance genre.Erec et Enide — Chrétien de TroyesErec et Enide — Chrétien de Troyes' first Arthurian romance (c.1170), translated by W.W. Comfort: the story of Erec's marriage to Enide and his descent into leisure, his humiliation, and the long journey of trials through which both husband and wife prove their worth.The High History of the Holy Graal — Sebastian EvansThe High History of the Holy Graal — Sebastian Evans' 1898 translation of the Perlesvaus, the twelfth-century Old French Grail romance: the quest for the Holy Grail, the Fisher King, the Waste Land, and the adventures of Perceval, Gawain, and Lancelot in the enchanted landscape of Britain.The Song of Roland — C.K. Scott MoncrieffThe oldest surviving major work of French literature — the betrayal and fall of Roland at Roncevaux Pass, where Charlemagne's greatest knight sounds his horn too late and dies with Durendal unbroken. Anonymous Old French chanson de geste of the eleventh century, translated by C.K. Scott Moncrieff, 1919.