Category: Books

Congratulations to members Catherine M. Jones, William W. Kibler, and Logan E. Whalen for the publication of their translation, An Old French Trilogy: Texts from the William of Orange Cycle.

From the Publisher:

While most English-language readers are familiar with Old French epic poetry, or chansons de geste, through the Song of Roland and its tale of gallant martyrdom, this volume provides a broader and richer view of the tradition by introducing songs devoted to the exploits of a different sort of hero—the brave and blustery William of Orange. An Old French Trilogy provides an updated English translation of three central poems from the twelfth-century Guillaume d’Orange cycle.         

 In The Coronation of Louis, the hero saves both king and pope from would-be usurpers and earns the nickname “Short-Nosed William” after a fierce, disfiguring battle with a Saracen giant. In A Convoy to Nîmes and The Conquest of Orange, William conquers two important cities and wins the love of the Saracen Queen Orable. Tremendously popular in the Middle Ages, these works stand the test of time, and the accessible translations capture the sense of the original Old French decasyllabic verse without attempting to preserve or imitate its formal properties. The introduction to the volume discusses literary devices and motifs; historical context; issues of religious conflict, otherness, and gender roles; and themes such as loyalty and courage

Copies of the volume may be purchased on the publisher’s website for $85.

Jones, Catherine M., William W. Kibler, and Logan E. Whalen, trans. An Old French Trilogy: Texts from the William of Orange Cycle. Gainesville, FL: University of Florida Press, 2020.

ICLS member Cristian Bratu (Baylor U) shares the publication of his new work, « Je, auteur de ce livre »: L’affirmation de soi chez les historiens, de l’Antiquité à la fin du Moyen Âge.

FROM THE PUBLISHER
In L’affirmation de soi chez les historiens, Cristian Bratu discusses authorial self-representations and self-promotion strategies in the works of ancient and medieval historians, from Herodotus (5th c. BC) to Philippe de Commynes (15th c. AD). After describing the emergence of an author figure in the works of ancient Greek and Roman historians, Bratu shows that, in spite of the emphasis placed by the nascent Christian civilization on humility, medieval historians were anything but self-effacing. Subsequently, he focuses on the authorial figures of French medieval historians who wrote in the vernacular between the 12th and 15th centuries. Bratu uses a variety of approaches (philology, codicology, narratology) in order to shed new light on the authorial figures of ancient and medieval historians.  

« Je, auteur de ce livre »: L’affirmation de soi chez les historiens, de l’Antiquité à la fin du Moyen Âge. Later Medieval Europe Series (vol. 20). Leiden: Brill, 2019. xii+830 pages. ISBN 978-90-04-39807-8. 

For more information or to purchase, visit the title’s page at Brill.

We are pleased to inform our members that Court and Cloister: Studies in the Short Narrative in Honor of Glyn S. Burgess (ISBN 978-0-86698-573-4) is now available from The Arizona Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies.

Copies may be purchased directly from the publisher here.

Edited by Jean Blacker and Jane H. M. Taylor, this collection honors former ICLS International President, Glyn S. Burgess, and contains contributions from many current ICLS members. As expected from the title, the essays touch upon courtly themes.

From the publisher’s website:

Contents

Brevity as Emphasis in the Narrative Lay: The Long and the Short of It
—Douglas Kelly, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Looking in the Mirror and Twinning Tales in Milun and Doon
—Matilda Tomaryn Bruckner, Boston College

Marie de France, Translator of Lais
—Rupert T. Pickens, University of Kentucky

Heritage in the Lais of Marie de France
—Logan E. Whalen, University of Oklahoma

Marie de France’s Chaitivel: A Lesson in rapidità
—Eliza Hoyer-Millar, Oxford University

Marie de France’s Lais in BnF MS. nouv. acq. fr. 1104 (MS. S)
—Leslie C. Brook, University of Birmingham

Où ranger les récits brefs? Petite enquête sur le contexte manuscrit des fabliaux et des lais
—Richard Trachsler, University of Zurich

Textual Clusters in Manuscript Transmission and Reception: The Lai de l’ombre and its Co-Texts
—Karen Pratt, King’s College London

The Teller and the Tale: Meta- and Micro-narratives in the Chanson de Toile
—Karen J. Taylor, Morehead State University

La Voie de Povreté et de Richesse, A Fourteenth-Century Moral Allegory
—Glynnis M. Cropp, Massey University

The Fire Rekindled: Brendan in the Baltics
—Clara Strijbosch, Utrecht University

The Journey of St. Brendan: The Navigatio through Six Centuries of Augmentation and Reduction
—Margaret Burrell, University of Canterbury

Where the Snakes Went: What Happened to St. Patrick’s Serpents?
—Keith Busby, University of Wisconsin-Madison

L’histoire d’Hasting: un récit bref dans le long temps des chroniques normandes
—Laurence Mathey-Maille, University of Le Havre

Authorial Voice in Wace’s Assomption and Anonymous Versions
—Jean Blacker, Kenyon College

Envoi: Multum in parvo
—Peter F. Ainsworth, University of Sheffield

With additional contributions by:
Jacqueline Eccles, University of Dundee
Jane H. M. Taylor, Durham University