The Romance of Arthur: An Anthology of Medieval Texts in Translation

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Norris J. Lacy, James J. Wilhelm
Routledge, 2015 M07 17 - 584 pages

The Romance of Arthur, James J. Wilhelm’s classic anthology of Arthurian literature, is an essential text for students of the medieval Romance tradition.

This fully updated third edition presents a comprehensive reader, mapping the course of Arthurian literature, and is expanded to cover:

  • key authors such as Chrétien de Troyes and Thomas of Britain, as well as Arthurian texts by women and more obscure sources for Arthurian romance
  • extensive coverage of key themes and characters in the tradition
  • a wide geographical range of texts including translations from Latin, French, German, Spanish, Welsh, Middle English, and Italian sources
  • a broad chronological range of texts, encompassing nearly a thousand years of Arthurian romance.

Norris J. Lacy builds on the book’s source material, presenting readers with a clear introduction to many accessible modern-spelling versions of Arthurian texts. The extracts are presented in a new reader-friendly format with detailed suggestions for further reading and illustrations of key places, figures, and scenes. The Romance of Arthur provides an excellent introduction and an extensive resource for both students and scholars of Arthurian literature.

 

Contents

1 Arthur in the Latin Chronicles
1
2 Arthur in the Early Welsh Tradition
9
3 Culhwch and Olwen
28
4 Arthur in Geoffrey of Monmouth
58
5 Wace Roman de Brut Merlin Episodes and The Birth and Rise of Arthur
88
6 Layamon Brut The Death of Arthur
100
7 Chrétien de Troyes Lancelot or The Knight of the Cart
112
8 Chrétien de Troyes Perceval or The Story of the Grail Grail excerpts
181
14 Thomas of Britain Romance of Tristran Tristrans Marriage Soliloquy and The Ending translated by Joan Tasker Grimbert The Hall of Statues epis...
282
15 Marie de France Chevrefueil The Honeysuckle and Lanval
294
16 Cantare on the Death of Tristan
315
17 The Prose Merlin and the Suite du Merlin Episodes
324
18 The Rise of Gawain Nephew of Arthur
377
19 Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
409
20 The Wedding of Sir Gawain and Dame Ragnelle
476
21 The Alliterative Morte Arthure Excerpts
501

9 Wolfram von Eschenbach Parzival Excerpt from Book IX translated by Cyril Edwards
193
10 The Quest for the Holy Grail The Grail Liturgy translated by E Jane Burns
207
11 Selected Lyrics
215
12 The Saga of the Mantle
223
13 Béroul The Romance of Tristran
236
22 Sir Thomas Malory Le Morte Darthur The Sword in the Stone and Arthurs dream his battle with Mordred and his death
542
For further reading
553
Index
557
Copyright

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About the author (2015)

Norris J. Lacy is Edwin Erle Sparks Professor of French and Medieval Studies at Pennsylvania State University, USA.

James J. Wilhelm is a leading scholar of medieval literature and twentieth-century poetry. He was formerly Professor of Comparative Literature at Rutgers University.

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