Yvain; or, The Knight with the Lion

by Chrétien de Troyes, Ruth Harwood Cline (Translator)

Overview

This verse translation of Yvain; or, The Knight with the Lion brings to life a fast-paced yet remarkably subtle work often considered to be the masterpiece of the twelfth-century French writer Chrétien de Troyes. The creator of the Arthurian romance as a genre, Chrétien is revealed in this work as a witty, versatile writer who mastered both the soaring flight of emotion and the devastating aside and was as skillful a debater of the finer points of love as he was a describer of battles.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780820340555
Publisher:	Wormsloe Foundation Nature Books
Publication date:	03/15/2011
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	224
Sales rank:	916,579
File size:	7 MB

About the Author

CHRÉTIEN DE TROYES (1135?–1191?) was a French poet and trouvère. He is widely regarded as the creator of the literary genre known as the Arthurian romance, and the originator of the heroic medieval character Lancelot.
RUTH HARWOOD CLINE is a research associate in the department of history at Georgetown University.

Editorial Reviews

Cline's translation shows a remarkable appreciation of Chrétien's genius; she succeeds splendidly in capturing his witty style, irony, playfulness.

Book Exchange

Cline demonstrates impressive abilities as a translator.

Romance Philology

A narrative which progresses rapidly and freely, which is easily and pleasantly read . . . It would be useful as a text for courses in literature in translation, comparative literature, and medieval culture.

Modern Language Journal

More than any previous translator, Cline succeeds in translating energetic exchanges between characters and the playful tone of the narrator.

Translation Review

Chretien, twelfth century French poet, is one of the fountainheads of Arthurian romance....Mrs. Cline brings Yvain to glowing, entertaining life in a delightful, sprightly, colloquial rhyming version worthy of the best translations from the French by Richard Wilbur....One hopes Mrs. Cline will do the whole canon of Chretien—it would be a marvelous enrichment of accessible Arthurian literature.

Wall Street Journal

Chretien, twelfth-century French poet, is one of the fountainheads of Arthurian romance. . . . Cline brings Yvain to glowing, entertaining life in a delightful, sprightly, colloquial rhyming version worthy of the best translations from the French by Richard Wilbur. . . . One hopes Cline will do the whole canon of Chretien—it would be a marvelous enrichment of accessible Arthurian literature.

Wall Street Journal

"Chretien, twelfth-century French poet, is one of the fountainheads of Arthurian romance. . . . Cline brings Yvain to glowing, entertaining life in a delightful, sprightly, colloquial rhyming version worthy of the best translations from the French by Richard Wilbur. . . . One hopes Cline will do the whole canon of Chretien—it would be a marvelous enrichment of accessible Arthurian literature."--Wall Street Journal

"Cline demonstrates impressive abilities as a translator."--Romance Philology

"A narrative which progresses rapidly and freely, which is easily and pleasantly read. . . . It would be useful as a text for courses in literature in translation, comparative literature, and medieval culture."--Modern Language Journal

"More than any previous translator, Cline succeeds in translating energetic exchanges between characters and the playful tone of the narrator."--Translation Review

"Cline's translation shows a remarkable appreciation of Chrétien's genius; she succeeds splendidly in capturing his witty style, irony, playfulness."--Book Exchange

From the Publisher