Perceval; or, The Story of the Grail
ISBN: 9780820340548
Platform/Publisher: Project MUSE / University of Georgia Press
Digital rights: Users: Unlimited; Printing: Chapters; Download: Chapters
Subjects: Poetry;

In this verse translation of Perceval; or, The Story of the Grail , Ruth Harwood Cline restores to life the thematically crucial Arthurian tale of the education of a knight in his search for the Holy Grail.

Cline's translation, faithful to the highly synthetic, deliberately ornate nature of medieval French, follows Perceval from his home in Wales, through his rich and raucous adventures as a member of the fraternity of knights, to his climactic meeting with the Fisher King. Paralyzed by his first glimpse of the Grail, Perceval fails to save the ailing king. Distraught, the knight begins a new quest for the Grail, a journey on the road of penitence and faith. Perceval's venture, the true test of his knighthood, ends without conclusion; the death of author Chrétien de Troyes left unsaid and undetermined the success of Perceval's quest.

Author of early Arthurian romances, Chrétien de Troyes was born in France around 1150. Little is known about this medieval writer. His poems cannot be dated, except to say that they were written sometime in the second half of the twelfth century. His most famous works include Erec; Cligès; Lancelot, ou Le Chevalier à la Charrette; Yvain, ou Le Chevalier au Lion; Perceval, ou Le Conte du Graal, and Guillaume d'Angleterre. He also composed a version of Tristan and Isolde. During his life, he enjoyed the patronage of Marie de Champagne, the daughter of Philip of Flanders and Eleanor of Aquitaine. Although it is not confirmed, it is believed that he died in Paris in 1190.

(Bowker Author Biography)


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