First ever English translation, with facing edition, of an important medieval German Arthurian romance.Composed in the 1480s by the Munich painter and writer Ulrich Fuetrer, Iban is the story of a young knight at King Arthur's court, who pursues adventure abroad, wins a land and its lady as his wife, loses both through his immaturity and negligence, and eventually regains his country and his spouse in a series of adventures that teach him to place the welfare of others above his own desires. A retelling of Hartmann von Aue's Middle High German classic Iwein from circa 1200, itself an adaptation of the Old French writer Chrétien de Troyes' earlier Yvain, the Knight with the Lion, Fuetrer's Iban is one of fifteen narratives making up his massive Arthurian anthology, The Book of Adventures, which the author compiled for Duke Albrecht IV of Bavaria-Munich. Among the last premodern retellings of the story of the knight Ywain, Ibanoffers modern readers an invaluable window onto how the most beloved Arthurian tales were reinterpreted at the end of the Middle Ages and at the threshold to the early modern period. This book offers an edition of the romance, the first for nearly a quarter of a century, accompanied by a facing translation, the first into a modern language of any part of the Book of Adventures. It also includes an introduction, putting the romance into its wider contexts, and explanatory notes. were reinterpreted at the end of the Middle Ages and at the threshold to the early modern period. This book offers an edition of the romance, the first for nearly a quarter of a century, accompanied by a facing translation, the first into a modern language of any part of the Book of Adventures. It also includes an introduction, putting the romance into its wider contexts, and explanatory notes. were reinterpreted at the end of the Middle Ages and at the threshold to the early modern period. This book offers an edition of the romance, the first for nearly a quarter of a century, accompanied by a facing translation, the first into a modern language of any part of the Book of Adventures. It also includes an introduction, putting the romance into its wider contexts, and explanatory notes. were reinterpreted at the end of the Middle Ages and at the threshold to the early modern period. This book offers an edition of the romance, the first for nearly a quarter of a century, accompanied by a facing translation, the first into a modern language of any part of the Book of Adventures. It also includes an introduction, putting the romance into its wider contexts, and explanatory notes.

Ulrich von Liechtenstein's extraordinary account of his adventures as a knight-errant is one of the most vivid images of chivalric life. Ulrich von Liechtenstein's extraordinary account of his adventures as a knight-errant is one of the most vivid images of chivalric life to have come down to us. His knightly autobiography was written in the mid-thirteenth century, and gives an account of the "journey of Venus" which he undertook in 1226 in honour of his lady, in which he claimed to have broken 307 spears in jousts against all comers in the space of a month. Some of it is obviously quietlyexaggerated, written for his friends' entertainment many years later, and he is not above a sly dig at the conventions of courtly love, but he completely accepts its basic ideas. It is full of lively episodes and good stories, aswell as verses in honour of his lady; if the tale has been polished up for effect, it is nonetheless a thoroughly entertaining account of how a knight saw his ideal career in the jousting field. If the name is unexpectedly familiar to modern readers, it is because it was borrowed by the hero of the film A Knight's Tale; Ulrich would have certainly approved of his exploits. Introduction by KELLY DEVRIES.

This new translation of one of the first known versions of the Lancelot story has been prepared with the highest accuracy and scholarly insight available to date. It includes a new introduction and revised bibliography, notes from the first English translation by Webster and the textual changes by famed Arthurian scholar Loomis, and a commentary reflecting the fifty years of scholarship on "Lanzelet" since the publication of Webster's translation.

First English translation of the Dutch version of the Old French Fergus, with accompanying text. Some time in the first quarter of the thirteenth century, Guillaume le clerc composed the story of Fergus, the homo silvaticus who develops into a formidable knight; he was playing a literary game with Chrétien de Troyes, especially with his Conte du Graal, and he created a romance in which the main character features as a "new" Perceval in a realistically depicted Scottish landscape. Shortly thereafter, perhaps as early as 1250, the story was translated into Middle Dutch. The Ferguut, however, is an adaptation of the Old French Fergus, rather than a slavish translation: although the translator followed his Old French original fairly faithfully for the first part, thereafter the poet - and most likely a second author - continued his work from memory, and clearly without the Old French version to hand. The result is a romance which possesses all the appeal of the Old French Fergus, but at the same time reveals something of the Middle Dutch romancer's tastes and techniques. This volume offers the first ever English translation, facing a new edition of the text, and will thus bring this important work to a wider audience; it is accompanied by an introduction, variants and rejected readings, and critical notes. David F. Johnson is Professor of English, Florida State University; Geert H.M. Claassens is Professor of Middle Dutch Literature at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium.

First English translation of Iwein [B], a German adaptation of Chrétien's famous Yvain.

13-14c Norse versions of French narratives of Arthur's knights, with modern prose translations.

The lay was a flourishing genre in the French courts of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, related to romance rather as the modern short story is to the novel. Its most famous exponent is arguably Marie de France, but in addition to her twelve lays, a number of others, mainly anonymous, have also come down to us, usually referred to as Breton lays or simply as narrative lays. The eleven anonymous lays presented in this volume show the varied nature of the genre. First brought together as a collection by Prudence Tobin in 1976, they have been freshly edited from the manuscript sources. They are presented here with facing English translation, together with substantial introductions for each lay, which deal principally with thematic issues and questions of general literary interest.BR> GLYN S. BURGESS is Emeritus Professor of French at the University of Liverpool. LESLIE C. BROOK is Honorary Senior Research Fellow in French at the University of Birmingham.

A survey of critical attention devoted to Arthurian matters. This book offers the first comprehensive and analytical account of the development of Arthurian scholarship from the eighteenth century, or earlier, to the present day. The chapters, each written by an expert in the area under discussion, present scholarly trends and evaluate major contributions to the study of the numerous different strands which make up the Arthurian material: origins, Grail studies, editing and translation of Arthurian texts, medieval and modern literatures (in English and European languages), art and film. The result is an indispensable resource for students and a valuable guide for anyone with a serious interest in the Arthurian legend. Contributors: NORRIS LACY, TONY HUNT, KEITH BUSBY, JANE TAYLOR, CHRISTOPHER SNYDER, RICHARD BARBER, SIAN ECHARD, GERALD MORGAN, ALBRECHT CLASSEN, ROGER DALRYMPLE, BART BESAMUSCA, MARIANNE E. KALINKE, BARBARA MILLER, CHRISTOPHER KLEINHENZ, MURIEL WHITAKER, JEANNE FOX-FRIEDMAN, DANIEL NASTALI, KEVIN J. HARTY NORRIS J. LACY is Edwin Erle Sparks Professor of French and Medieval Studies at Pennsylvania State University.

The gem in the crown of Middle Dutch Arthurian romance, the Roman van Walewein embodies the transformation of popular folktale into courtly romance; in its rich variety of Arthurian motifs, it stands as an equal to the masterpiece of English romance, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. The framework of the romance is a tripartite series of quests, in which the hero, Walewein, must acquire and relinquish successive marvellous objects. Events are set in motion after Arthur and his knights have completed their meal, when a flying chess set enters the hall; Walewein embarks on a series of quests to capture it and bring it back to Arthur, but to do so he must first acquire the Sword of the Two Rings for King Wonder, and subsequently the fair Princess Ysabele for King Amoraen/Amorijs. A particularly notable feature of this romance is the way in which Walewein emerges from it as the epitome of knightly virtue, at a time when in the French tradition Gauvain's reputation had sunk to its lowest. This edition of the text, accompanied by facing English translation, will bring this important work to a wider audience; it is accompanied by an introduction, variants and rejected readings, and critical notes. David F. Johnson is Professor of English, Florida State University; Geert H.M. Claassens is Professor of Middle Dutch Literature at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium.

"Exploring French, Dutch, Norse, German and English texts, literary scholars and art historians discuss medieval quest themes, especially but not exclusively the quest for the Holy Grail. A number of the essays trace the relationship, often negative, between Arthurian chivalry and the Grail ethos. Whereas most of the contributors reflect on the popularity of the Grail quest, several examine the comparative rarity of the Grail in certain literatures and define the elaboration of quest motifs severed from the Grail material"--Publisher description.