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Dutch Romances II. Ferguut Edited by David F. Johnson Edited by Geert H.M. Claassens Some time in the first quarter of the thirteenth century, Guillaume le clers 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. Dr DAVID F. JOHNSON is associate professor in the English Department of the Florida State University; Dr GEERT H.M. CLAASSENS is Professor of Middle Dutch Literature, University of Leuven, Belgium |
DETAILS 272 pagesSize: 23.4 x 15.6 cm 13 digit ISBN: 9780859916059 Binding: Hardback First published: 16/Nov/2000 Price: 95.00 USD / 50.00 GBP Imprint: D. S. Brewer Series: Arthurian Archives BIC class: HRBQ53 STATUS: Available Details updated on 05/01/2009 | |||||||
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