3 Review(s)

The Romance of Tristan tells one of the most moving and influential love stories of world literature: the doomed, uncontrollable, and enthralling passion of Tristan and Iseut, who fall in love after drinking the love potion meant for Iseut and her husband Mark. The prose version, which concentrates particularly on Tristan's life and character, was one of the most acclaimed works in medieval Europe, and for a long time the legend of Tristan was known primarily through it, rather than through the poetic versions. The book had considerable influence on European culture; Malory, for example, based Books VIII to XXII of his Morte d'Arthur on it. This readable, idiomatic translation is the first from the Old French to take account of the whole of this important romance. It emphasizes those parts which link the prose romance with the Tristan legend; the sections not concerned with the traditional story are included in synoptic form.The introduction examines the Romance of Tristan in the context of the many other version of the legend, and explanatory notes clarify medieval practices, institutions, names, notes clarify medieval practices, institutions, names and places, as well as detailing linguistic ambiguities. This book is intended for students of medieval literature from undergraduate level up. Useful for students of French medieval literature and also for students studying Malory, who would probably not be able to read Tristan in the original Old French.