Filled with romantic tales of Lancelot and early Grail legends, this exacting translation of de Troyes' verse narratives written in the 12th century features four romances that expound on the ideals of French chivalry.

Unlock the more straightforward side of Yvain, The Knight of the Lion with this concise and insightful summary and analysis! This engaging summary presents an analysis of Yvain, The Knight of the Lion by Chrétien de Troyes, a medieval novel which recounts the adventures of Yvain, a valiant knight from King Arthur’s court. After learning of an incredible fountain with the power to create storms, Yvain sets off on an adventure to see this wonder with his own eyes. This decision leads to many exciting adventures, tense battles, and even an unexpected romance. Yvain, the Knight of the Lion was written in the 12th century and, in many ways, is a revolutionary novel, which swept aside many of the genre’s clichés and introduced a range of new ideas and concepts. This was not the only novel written by Chrétien de Troyes: although little is known about the man himself, he wrote several other stories, and is known for creating the character of Lancelot. Find out everything you need to know about Yvain, The Knight of the Lion in a fraction of the time! This in-depth and informative reading guide brings you: • A complete plot summary • Character studies • Key themes and symbols • Questions for further reflection Why choose BrightSummaries.com? Available in print and digital format, our publications are designed to accompany you on your reading journey. The clear and concise style makes for easy understanding, providing the perfect opportunity to improve your literary knowledge in no time. See the very best of literature in a whole new light with BrightSummaries.com!

The twelfth-century French poet Chrétien de Troyes is a major figure in European literature. His courtly romances fathered the Arthurian tradition and influenced countless other poets in England as well as on the continent. Yet because of the difficulty of capturing his swift-moving style in translation, English-speaking audiences are largely unfamiliar with the pleasures of reading his poems. Now, for the first time, an experienced translator of medieval verse who is himself a poet provides a translation of Chrétien’s major poem, Yvain, in verse that fully and satisfyingly captures the movement, the sense, and the spirit of the Old French original. Yvain is a courtly romance with a moral tenor; it is ironic and sometimes bawdy; the poetry is crisp and vivid. In addition, the psychological and the socio-historical perceptions of the poem are of profound literary and historical importance, for it evokes the emotions and the values of a flourishing, vibrant medieval past.

"[A]n eminently readable text, done clearly and accurately . . . it gives as good an idea as a translation can of the complexity and subtlety of Chrétien's originals. . . . The text is provided by a translator who understands the spirit as well as the letter of the original and renders it with style. . . . [T]his translation should attract a wide audience of students and Arthurian enthusiasts." —Speculum "[A] significant contribution to the field of medieval studies [and] a pleasure to read." —Library Journal "These are, above all, stories of courtly love and of knights tested in their devotion to chivalric ideals (with passion and duty often at odds); but they are also thrilling wonder stories of giants, wild men, tame lions, razor-sharp bridges and visits to the Other World." —Washington Post Book World "This tastefully produced book will be the standard general translation for many years to come." —Choice This new translation brings to life for a new generation of readers the stories of King Arthur, Lancelot, Guinevere, Gawain, Perceval, Yvain, and the other "knights and ladies" of Chrétien de Troyes' famous romances.

A fine collection...an excellent introduction to Chrétien's world and work. Highly recommended. CHOICE Chrétien de Troyes is arguably the creator of Arthurian romance, and it is on his work that later writers have based their interpretations. This book offers both crucial information on, and a comprehensive coverage of, all aspectsof the work of Chrétien de Troyes - the literary and historical background, patronage, his influence on other writers, manuscripts and editions of his work and, at the heart of the volume, major essays on the themes, techniques and artistic achievements in each of his compositions; the contributions, all from leading experts in Chrétien and related studies, have been commissioned especially for this volume and are designed to remain accessible to studentswhile also addressing specialists in Arthurian studies and Chrétien de Troyes. They reflect the most current critical and scholarly views on one of the greatest of medieval authors. CONTRIBUTORS: JOHN W. BALDWIN, JUNEHALL MCCASH, LAURENCE HARF-LANCNER, NORRIS J. LACY, DOUGLAS KELLY, KEITH BUSBY, PETER F. DEMBOWSKI, ROBERTA L. KRUEGER, DONALD MADDOX, SARA STURM-MADDOX, JOAN TASKER GRIMBERT, MATILDA TOMARYN BRUCKNER, TONY HUNT, RUPERT T. PICKENS, ANNIE COMBES, MICHELLE SZKILNIK, EMMANUELE BAUMGARTNER

The moving and suspenseful new novel that Ann Patchett calls "smart and thrilling and impossible to put down... the book that every reader longs for." “This summer’s undoubtable smash hit… an addictive, heart-palpitating story.” —Marie Claire The sun is shining, the sea is blue, the children have disappeared. When Liv and Nora decide to take their husbands and children on a holiday cruise, everyone is thrilled. The adults are lulled by the ship’s comfort and ease. The four children—ages six to eleven—love the nonstop buffet and their newfound independence. But when they all go ashore for an adventure in Central America, a series of minor misfortunes and miscalculations leads the families farther from the safety of the ship. One minute the children are there, and the next they’re gone. The disintegration of the world the families knew—told from the perspectives of both the adults and the children—is both riveting and revealing. The parents, accustomed to security and control, turn on each other and blame themselves, while the seemingly helpless children discover resources they never knew they possessed. Do Not Become Alarmed is a story about the protective force of innocence and the limits of parental power, and an insightful look at privileged illusions of safety. Celebrated for her spare and moving fiction, Maile Meloy has written a gripping novel about how quickly what we count on can fall away, and the way a crisis shifts our perceptions of what matters most.

The mysterious and haunting Grail makes its first appearance in literature in Chrétien de Troyes' Perceval at the end of the twelfth century. But Chrétien never finished his poem, leaving an unresolved story and an incomplete picture of the Grail. It was, however, far too attractive an idea to leave. Not only did it inspire quite separate works; his own unfinished poem was continued and finally completed by no fewer than four other writers. The Complete Story of the Grail is the first ever translation of the whole of the rich and compelling body of tales contained in Chrétien's poem and its four Continuations, which are finally attracting the scholarly attention they deserve. Besides Chrétien's original text, there are the anonymous First Continuation (translated here in its fullest version), the Second Continuation attributed to Wauchier de Denain, and the intriguing Third and Fourth Continuations - probably written simultaneously, with no knowledge of each other's work - by Manessier and Gerbert de Montreuil. Two other poets were drawn to create preludes explaining the background to Chrétien's story, and translated here also are their works: The Elucidation Prologue and Bliocadran. Only in this, The Story of the Grail's complete form, can the reader appreciate the narrative skill and invention of the medieval poets and their surprising responses to Chrétien's theme - not least their crucial focus on the knight as a crusader. Equally, Chrétien's original poem was almost always copied in conjunction withone or more of the Continuations, so this translation represents how most medieval readers would have encountered it. Nigel Bryant's previous translations from Medieval French include Perlesvaus - the High Bookof the Grail, Robert de Boron's trilogy Merlin and the Grail, the Medieval Romance of Alexander, The True Chronicles of Jean le Bel and Perceforest.