Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley door pickup 10am - 7pm 3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
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  • Open Daily: 10am - 10pm
    Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm

    3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
    612-822-4611

Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm
3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
612-822-4611
Heroines of the French Epic: A Second Selection of Chansons de Geste

Heroines of the French Epic: A Second Selection of Chansons de Geste

Newth, Michael A.

Hardcover

Literary CriticismFiction AnthologiesGeneral Poetry

ISBN10: 1843843617
ISBN13: 9781843843610
Publisher: Boydell & Brewer Inc
Published: Mar 20 2014
Pages: 434
Weight: 1.73
Height: 0.94 Width: 6.14 Depth: 9.21
Language: English
The epic tales of medieval France, called chansons de geste, or songs of deeds, provided the chief means of cultural and imaginative expression in the French language for over one hundred and fifty years (c.1100-1250), during one of the most significant periods of social change in the history of Western civilisation. Yet they remain largely unknown to most English-speaking readers of the twenty-first century. In Heroes of the Old French Epic (Boydell, 2005) Michael Newth translated a selection of the traditional militaristic narratives dominated by male heroes. This oral-based epic genre was increasingly influenced by the ethos of romance, and the present volumeoffers full English verse translations of six more of these songs, each chosen this time to illustrate the range of roles gradually accorded to women in these originally militaristic narratives. Four key narrative roles have beenselected - woman as helpmeet, woman as lover, woman as victim, and woman as spiritual model - in order to illustrate some major changes in the social status of women that took place during the period of this popular genre's existence. These poems are a key witness to the final stages of the chansons de geste before they were overtaken by the new fashion for the fictions of courtly romance. Apart from The Capture of Orange, which has never been translated into modern English verse, none of the poems have yet appeared in English translation.

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