The First Person

Abstract

The Eracles translator needed to alter William's habitual use of statements in the first-person point of view. Throughout his text William is referred to the Kingdom of Jerusalem as 'nostrum' (our) and to those living in the Latin East as 'nos' (us). The alteration of the first person point of view is apparent when William himself enters the narrative. In Book 19.3 William discusses the appearance of King Amaury, but most of the chapter is dedicated to William's response to a request from the king to prove the existence of an afterlife. The loss of first-person reference is evidence of a shift between William's Eastern viewpoint and the Western view of the translator as well as an indication of the change in style between the Latin and Old French. The translator reminded his audience often that he was not the original author of the text.Keywords: Eracles; first-person reference; Jerusalem; King Amaury; Latin; Old French