The Roman d’Alexandre and a King’s Dreams

Abstract

One interpretation of dreams is that they are the catalyst of what the imagination produces, the source of the marvels and myth in literary and artistic creation. With this in mind, it is worthwhile to examine some of the earliest literary depictions of the supernatural, and those fantastic elements whose origins are more firmly rooted in the imagination than in the observable world. The twelfth-century literary blossoming in the langue d’oil region produced notable examples of such works, with the Alexander the Great saga among those works that were the most widely reproduced. Indeed, the Macedonian conqueror became a source of fascination for medieval clerics, his imagined deeds serving both as a model of conduct as well as a moralizing lesson on the dangers of unbridled ambition. The Roman’s unusual treatment of Alexander is striking, and the text itself is a blend of portrait, detailed travel narrative, and chanson de geste. More importantly however, the juxtaposition within the text of realistic imagery and odd, inexplicable dreamscape creates a text that mirrors the human consciousness upon awakening, trapped between the fleeting realm of night and the solid world of the senses. The goal of this study will be to show how certain passages of Alexandre de Paris’s Roman d’Alexandre mirror a dream narrative. If Alexander’s dream before adventuring east is premonitory as his dream interpreters indicate, then how should one read the adventures that follow?