Erec and Enide (Paperback)

by Chretien de Troyes (Author), Professor Burton Raffel (Translator)

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal
A new verse translation makes this first Arthurian romance (composed around A.D. 1170), also the first of five extant works by French court poet Chretien de Troyes, a pleasure to read. Erec and Enide, newly married and lost in erotic, conjugal bliss, are brought back to reality when gossip suggests that Erec, son of a king, prefers life at home to the existence of a fearless, heroic knight. Celtic legend, classical motifs, and ecclesiastical elements are masterfully interwoven in this tale, whose colloquial translation brings to life the clashing sounds of battle, de Troyes's multiple poetic tones and colorful expressions, and the rhyme and meter of the original's lively octosyllabios. This is not a literal translation along the lines of Carleton W. Carroll's (Garland, 1987), yet it remains scholarly and mindful of the vocabulary of de Troyes's day. Both scholars and general readers will surely enjoy this story of the quest for honor, glory, and the Arthurian way.
- Danielle Mihram, Univ. of Southern California Lib., Los Angeles
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Description
"Erec and Enide", the first of five surviving Arthurian romantic poems by 12th-century French poet Chretien de Troyes, narrates a chapter from the legend of King Arthur. Chretien's romances became the source for Arthurian tradition and influenced countless other poets in England and on the Continent. Yet his swift-moving style is difficult to capture in translation, and today's English-speaking audiences remain largely unfamiliar with his poems. Now a translator of medieval verse has translated "Eric and Enide" in a three-stress metric verse form that fully captures the movement, the sense and the spirit of the Old French original. Burton Raffel's rendition preserves the subtlety and charm of a poem that is in turn serious, dramatic, bawdy, merry and satiric. "Erec and Enide" tells the story of Erec, a knight at King Arthur's court, whose retirement to domestic bliss with his beautiful new wife Enide takes him away from his chivalric duties. To regain his knightly honour, Erec sets out with Enide on a series of amazing adventures. Eric dispatches thieves and giants with prodigious strength and valour but treats his wife rather harshly for doubting his abilities. When Enide is kidnapped by a robber baron, Erec revives from near-death to perform a courageous rescue, and at length the two are reconciled.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 248 pages
• Publisher: Yale University Press (February 27, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0300067712
• ISBN-13: 978-0300067712
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #14,102 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sprightly trans. of the 1st Arthurian Romance, September 10, 1997

By	[e-mail] (Kirkland, WA, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Erec and Enide (Hardcover)

With Arthurian Romances seemingly always staging a comeback, how nice to have a fast-read, "words-a-poppin" translation of the very first Arthurian Romance, written in Old French around 1170. What I found most intriquing was that the book essentially wrestles with the ways in which men and women define themselves when becoming partners. Erec's rather pig-headed forcing of Enide to lead the way in the forest and never speak to him has odd contemporary overtones. But they are sweet compared to the couple they meet in Erec's final quest in the book - wait until you find out who "The Joy of the Court" is. Burton Raffel's translation, even if you don't like poetry, reads like a smooth silver skate. I gave the book a "9" instead of "10" because it doesn't have any illustrations. I know it's a University Press, but come on folks, with a story about knights couldn't you throw in at least one old woodcut or something

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Poetic Translation, July 10, 2007

By	Troy Camplin (Dallas, TX) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Erec and Enide (Paperback)

Since about the middle of the 20th century, it has become increasingly difficult to find poetic translations of long poems. This trend has recently been reversing, with some excellent translations of the Iliad and the Odyssey -- and Ruth Harwood Cline's translations of Troyes' works joins this new and welcome trend.

Most reviews and reviewers will concentrate on the plot -- I want to focus on the translation itself. For too long there has been a philosophy of translation that does not see any value in translating poems in the forms in which they were written. With longer poems especially, more "literal" and plot-driven prose translations have been the norm. But prose is not how these works were written, and it is not how they were meant to be read or heard. They are poems, and only a poetic translation will be able to communicate the full meaning of the poem being translated. Meaning in a poem lies not just in the plot and characters, or even in the particular words used -- though all of this is true -- but also in the rhythms and rhymes, the music, of the poem. Cline's poetic translation thus translates too the music of the poems she translates. We get the full beauty of the works only when we read them the way they were meant to be read: as poems. One hopes Cline continues to translate poems of this period into English.

And now, for a slight aside: Do not read Cervantes' "Don Quixote" until you have read all of Troyes' works, for you will miss almost all the jokes and the full satirical impact of the novel.

5.0 out of 5 stars Erec and Enide, April 19, 2009

By	Candace Peterson (Florida) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Erec and Enide (Paperback)

I am not a scholar. But I am a student these twenty years of Medieval history. I have studied Welsh, Scot, Irish and English Medieval history; in addition, I have read books and materials concerning the politics and the culture, and the faith and the myths. Based on this background, I wish to express how very much I thoroughly enjoyed reading Erec and Enide. Ruth Harwood Cline's English translation of this twelfth century poem, written by Chretien de Troyes, touches our senses by its rhythms and rhymes in the rhythmic beat this produces in the poem. Cline's translation also tickles our intellect because through it we can read the ecclesiastical elements and classical motifs. The Celtic legend, Griselda, which I have not read and is mentioned in the introduction, forms the skeleton of Erec and Enide's story. Cline further provides a history background for the poem within the introduction and the notes section.

I noticed the Arthurian legend and the Christian symbolism portrayed through the characters of Erec, Enide and King Arthur. I also noticed the "hero's journey." (See The Hero With A Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell)Each test proved both Erec and Enide more worthy of attaining their goal with the final test being the "Court of Joy."

This is the first of Chretien de Troyes' poems and I highly recommend it.