Raoul de Houdenc, Chrétien’s Equal: Complete Works. Translated by Nigel Bryant

Abstract

As a poet, Raoul de Houdenc (c. 1170–c. 1230) was ranked by his contemporaries as equal in eloquence and imagination to the great Chrétien de Troyes (fl. 1160–85). Moreover, Raoul arguably surpassed Chrétien in the generic breadth of his literary output. For alongside two Arthurian romances which bear the imprint of Chrétien’s influence (Meraugis de Portlesguez and La Vengeance Raguidel), Raoul is also the author of the earliest allegorical poem in the vernacular (Le Songe d’Enfer), a verse treatise on chivalry (Le Roman des Eles), and a scathing anti-bourgeois satire (Le Borjois borjon). In this volume Nigel Bryant, Arthurian scholar and prolific translator of Old and Middle French literature into English, brings together Raoul’s complete surviving works, all rendered here for the first time into accessible and enjoyable prose. Bryant illuminates Raoul’s poetic corpus with a...