The Medieval Romance of Alexander
Title Details

324 Pages

23.4 x 15.6 cm

Imprint: D.S.Brewer

The Medieval Romance of Alexander

The Deeds and Conquests of Alexander the Great

by Jehan Wauquelin

Translated by Nigel Bryant

  • Description
  • Contents
  • Author
  • Reviews
Nigel Bryant's is the first translation of an example of the many medieval romances about Alexander, as popular in their day as those about Arthur.

The figure of Alexander the Great haunted the medieval imagination - as much as Arthur, as much as Charlemagne. His story was translated more often in medieval Europe than any work except the Gospels. Yet only small sections of the Alexander Romance have been translated into modern French, and Nigel Bryant's is the first translation into English.
The Deeds and Conquests of Alexander the Great is Jehan Wauquelin's superb compendium, written for the Burgundian court in the mid-fifteenth century, which draws together all the key elements of the Alexandrian tradition.With great clarity and intelligence Wauquelin produced a redaction of all the major Alexander romances ofthe twelfth, thirteenth and fourteenth centuries - including the verse Roman d'Alexandre, The Vows of the Peacock and La Venjance Alixandre - to tell the whole story of Alexander's miraculous birth and childhood, hisconquests of Persia and India, his battles with fabulous beasts and outlandish peoples, his journeys in the sky and under the sea, his poisoning at Babylon and the vengeance taken by his son.
This is an accomplished and exciting work by a notable writer at the Burgundian court who perfectly understood the appeal of the great conqueror to ambitious dukes intent upon extending their dominions.

NIGEL BRYANT has translated five major Arthurianromances from medieval French, including Perceforest in which Alexander features prominently. He has also translated the fourteenth-century chronicles of Jean le Bel.
Introduction
Book One
Book Two
Appendix 1 How Nectanebus fathered Alexander
Appendix 2 Aristotle's advice to Alexander
Appendix 3 Jacques de Longuyon's excursus on the Nine Worthies

NIGEL BRYANT is well known for his lively and accurate versions of medieval French works. His translations of Chrétien de Troyes' Perceval
and all its continuations and of the extraordinary late Arthurian romance Perceforest have been major achievements; he has also translated Jean le Bel's history of the early stages of the Hundred Years War, and the 13th- and 14th-century biographies of William Marshal and Bertrand du Guesclin. He was awarded the 2019 Norris J. Lacy Prize for outstanding editorial achievement in Arthurian studies.

"Nigel Bryant's translation of Jehan Wauquelin's The Medieval Romance of Alexander, is, without a doubt, a very important book. This text fills a gap because it supplies the first English translation of what is inarguably the most important French text of the Alexander romance." THE MEDIEVAL REVIEW
"When one reads this excellent translation, Bryant's comments about Waquelin's craft ring true, for Waquelin has an 'excellent sense of pace, rhythm and proportion.' [...] Highly recommended." CHOICE

Paperback

9781843845201

January 2019

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Ebook (EPDF)

9781782040309

November 2012

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£19.99 / $24.95

Title Details

324 Pages

2.34 x 1.56 cm

Imprint: D.S.Brewer