Four Arthurian Romances

What It's About

Four Arthurian Romances collects Chrétien de Troyes's four verse romances — Erec and Enide, Cligés, Yvain (or the Knight of the Lion), and Lancelot (or the Knight of the Cart) — rendered here into continuous English prose by William Wistar Comfort. Written in the second half of the 12th century for the court of Marie de Champagne, the romances follow knights of Arthur's court as they test and defend their honour, weigh the competing demands of love and duty, and undertake adventures that prove their worth as both lovers and warriors. Together they are among the earliest surviving Arthurian romances, and introduced many of the figures and situations — Lancelot's devotion to Guinevere among them — later inherited by all Arthurian literature that followed.

Key Concepts

The tension between love and chivalric duty; the testing of a knight's honour through adventure; the conventions of courtly love; and the reconciliation of marriage and private happiness with public reputation.

About the Author

Chrétien de Troyes was a French poet and trouvère active in the second half of the 12th century, probably connected to the city of Troyes in the Champagne region. Little is known of his life with certainty; he is thought to have served at the court of Marie, Countess of Champagne, and later that of Philip, Count of Flanders. He is widely credited with shaping the Arthurian romance as a literary form.

About This Edition

This is a 1914 translation by William Wistar Comfort.