Lancelot (Lectures Cle En Francais Facile: Niveau 1)

Romances Arthuriennes

by Chrétien de Troyes

Lancelot ou le Chevalier de la Charrette a été composé vers la fin du 12ème siècle par Chrétien de Troyes et a fini par Godefroi de Lagny (dans le texte: «Le clerc Godefroi de Lagny a achevé La Charrette. Mais que personne ne lui reproche d'avoir continué le travail de Chrétien, car il l'a fait avec le complet accord de Chrétien qui l'a commencé.»: traduction de Daniel Poirion in Chrétien de Troyes, Œuvres complètes, Gallimard, La Pléiade, 1994, p. 682). Il a été terminé vers 1180 (sources: The Princeton Charrette Project à l'Universit" de Princeton et The Charrette Project 2 à l'Université de Baylor)
Ce poème a été le premier à introduire Lancelot comme l'une des figures principales de la légende du Roi Arthur. Il décrit la relation adultère entre Lancelot et Guenièvre, l'épouse du roi Arthur - et la volonté de Lancelot de se soumettre à l'humiliation d'être transporté dans la charrette, le véhicule honteux utilisé a transporter des hommes condamnés à la mort sur ​​l'échafaud, afin de découvrir des nouvelles de la reine Guenièvre enlevée.

Genres: Classics, Medieval, Poetry, Arthurian, Fiction, Fantasy, France

63 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1176

About the author

Chrétien de Troyes, commonly regarded as the father of Arthurian romance and a key figure in Western literature, composed in French in the latter part of the twelfth century. Virtually nothing is known of his life. Possibly a native of Troyes, he enjoyed patronage there from the Countess Marie of Champagne before dedicating his last romance to Count Philip of Flanders, perhaps about 1182. His poetry is marked by a learning and a taste for dialectic acquired in Latin schools; but at the same time it reveals a warm human sympathy which breathes life into characters and situations. Whilst much of his matter is inherited from the world of Celtic myth and the events notionally unfold in the timeless reign of King Arthur, the society and customs are those of Chrétien's own day. In his last, unfinished work, Perceval, the mysterious Grail makes its first appearance in literature.

Reviews

[Leonard Gaya · Rating 4 out of 5]

L’origine des légendes autour du roi Arthur, de Merlin l’Enchanteur, de la Table Ronde et du Saint Graal se perdent dans les temps embrouillés du Haut Moyen-Âge, sous le nom générique de « matière de Bretagne ». C’est Chrétien de Troyes, un clerc champenois qui vécut au milieu du XIIe siècle et qui, mêlant les traditions classiques (L’Iliade, L’Enéide), celtiques et chrétiennes, a contribué à établir les figures principales du cycle arthurien. Erec et Enide, Cligès, Yvain, Lancelot et Perceval forment ainsi un cycle en cinq romans qui, à la fois, racontent les aventures courtoises et chevaleresques de ces cinq héros, et constituent un des premiers corpus romanesques en ancien français.

Le Chevalier de la charrette — dont on n’apprend qu’assez tard dans le roman qu’il s’agit de Lancelot — est à la confluence de deux traditions. C’est d’abord un roman de chevalerie, avec tournois et batailles en tous genres, qui culminent avec le duel entre Lancelot et Méléagant. En ce sens, Chrétien se situe dans la lignée de La Chanson de Roland, des Nibelungen et des sagas de Snorri Sturluson. Mais ce Lancelot est aussi, et peut-être surtout, un roman d’amour (la fin’amor) où se mêlent la dévotion de Lancelot pour la reine Guenièvre, le doute, l’honneur, la honte, l’humiliation et en somme tout ce qui nourrit les contes des Milles et Une Nuits, Tristan, les Lais de Marie de France, Roméo et Juliette, et inspirera, sept siècles plus tard, la littérature romantique.

Cette « matière de Bretagne » aura en effet une glorieuse descendance, d’abord dans le Parzival de Wolfram von Eschenbach (source du dernier opéra de Richard Wagner), puis, plus tard, dans la littérature anglaise, depuis Le Morte d'Arthur de Thomas Malory, jusqu’à The Once and Future King de T. H. White et au Seigneur des Anneaux de Tolkien, bref, à l’abondante littérature de « fantasy » qui, de nos jours, fait florès.

Le Lancelot de Chrétien de Troyes a donné lieu à une adaptation cinématographique facilement oubliable : First Knight (je préfère de loin Excalibur de John Boorman) et, avant cela, à quelques œuvres préraphaélites, comme cet Adoubement de Edmund Blair Leighton :

[Sarah Jen · Rating 3 out of 5]

thoughts that i can't put in my essay:
- lancelot is a dumb bitch
- i'm pretty sure Guinevere and him share one brain cell because she ain't much better
- in every adaption i read King Arthur always gives off big himbo energy
- i need a YA or New Adult book about Meleagant's sister ASAP why has no one done this. she's the real star of the story
-additionally, i thought it was really interesting how it was a lady saving a knight from being imprisoned in a tower, when modern pop fiction has it the other way around when it comes to stories based on these tales from the twelfth century

[M F]

lancelot is a damsel in distress

lancelot in the tower: oh woe, my life sucks, i'm stuck here forever
the maiden: yo, lancelot!
lancelot: i will never be free. nobody knows i'm here. alas.
the maiden: seriously dude i'm right here
lancelot: i wish i was dead
the maiden: LANCELOT
lancelot: i'm dreaming
the maiden: no you're not. i'm literally right here
lancelot: who are you?
the maiden: your knight in shining armour. now stop messing about and throw down that rope you've got, and i'll send up on it this pickaxe that i handily have with me because i am an excellent rescuer, and then i'll make it so you don't die on the journey even if i have to walk so that you can ride my mule, and basically i am a thousand times more competent than you
lancelot: wow
lancelot: this is definitely not a dream, right?
the maiden: definitely not.
lancelot: okay. but like. i love you a lot for rescuing me and i think you're awesome, but i'm still totally in love with guinevere. you know that don't you?
the maiden: *rolls eyes* just let me rescue you already

[Laurence R. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lecture intéressante d'un point de vue historique, mais pas des plus passionnantes. L'absence de chapitres rend la lecture difficile, selon moi.

[Mark Adderley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Chrétien de Troyes’ poem, Lancelot, or, The Knight of the Cart, tells the story of Queen Guinevere’s abduction by Meleagant, a prince of the kingdom of Gorre, and his liberation of all the prisoners Meleagant has held there. It is also the first extant poem to give an account of Lancelot’s adulterous love for Guinevere. In many ways, it’s an odd poem. The first half seems almost Messianic, with Lancelot (unnamed by Chrétien at the time) destined to rescue the prisoners in the land of Gorre from their tyrannical captor, Meleagant; then it transforms into a tale of adulterous love.

Lancelot’s mission starts to become messianic with his lifting of the tomb lid (1900-09; 230-31). His actions release prisoners, and he’s the only person who can do it. One of these prisoners later tells him, “when one person can escape this imprisonment without trickery, all the others, I assure you, will be able to leave unchallenged” (2110-15; 233). This comment sets the whole adventure in a Harrowing of Hell mode, where Lancelot stands in for Christ, redeeming those souls ensnared by Satan through no fault of their own. They simply had the misfortune to be born BC rather than AD. Later, the joy of the released prisoners, and their ability to slay their captors even though it was principally through the efforts of “un seul chevalier” (2431; 237) reflects the belief that many are redeemed through the sacrifice of a single individual, i.e., Christ.

In some ways, this is a very poor poem, especially when compared with Yvain, Or, the Knight With the Lion. Arthur is an object almost of derision, Lancelot’s passion makes him subject to silly trances and has almost unmanned him, and Guinevere is so fickle one wonders why on earth Lancelot is attracted to her. It is a poem Chrétien does not seem happy with. Erec and Enide was about a knight reconciling his marriage with his life of chivalry, Yvain about a knight reconciling his life of chivalry with his marriage. Lancelot is about illicit love, and possibly the disharmonious theme did not appeal to Chrétien, since it could not be expressive of perfect love. This perhaps (according to Gaston Paris and those who followed him) is why Chrétien left the poem to Godefroi de Leigny to complete. It has also been suggested that the poem is an allegory of Chrétien’s relationship with Marie de Champagne, fictionalizing the trials a great man suffers on account of a woman’s whim. Arthur is a typical cuckold, weak, ineffectual, and pathetic—perhaps even comic. Guinevere must become personally unpalatable, submitting her lover to any number of unreasonable trials, and he must put up not only with the trials, but with her whims as well. There is no hint of any idealistic conflict within Lancelot, as there is in later versions of the story. He feels no guilt at sleeping with his lord’s wife, simply pleasure at being able to do so, nor is there any investigation into what has initially attracted Lancelot and Guinevere to one another. Possibly it is this also which so disgusted Chrétien that he could not finish it. However, the poem was tremendously influential—prior to it, Lancelot had had a very meagre biography, but afterwards, he became the major knight of the Round Table. Chrétien’s poem gave the Arthurian legend form. But none of the story is specific to Lancelot. Prior to Chrétien’s romance, he had no biography of his own, and all his adventures here have also been credited to other Round Table knights.

Chrétien is one of the first writers to develop the idea of allegory; it’s to be seen in the passage in which Love debates with Reason as to whether Lancelot should mount the cart (360-77; 211-12), in the debate between Generosity and Compassion (2836-65) when Lancelot is trying to decide whether to kill the knight who is at his mercy, and when Joy and Reason struggle to decide how the queen will greet the recently-released Lancelot (6820-53; 290-91). Each of these debates sets up a particular duality. The first pits an emotion against an intellectual capacity; the debate is essentially one between sense and sensibility. Emotion wins here, but only after a struggle. The second pits a chivalric virtue, generosity or largesse (OFr. largece), against a religious virtue, compassion or pity. Lancelot’s solution is to fight again, a brilliant reconciliation between the two apparently incompatible virtues. This to some extent characterizes Chrétien’s work: it repeatedly submits its hero to a series of tests in which two incompatible virtues vie. Lancelot becomes, to a certain extent, a model for behaviour. Eventually, the queen allows herself to be ruled by Reason, not Joy, so she is capable of suppressing her own desires.

Ruth Harwood Cline’s translation is masterful, taking Chrétien’s octosyllabic couplets in French and transforming them into octosyllabic couplets in English. And where I’ve checked it against the French, it’s remarkably accurate. Of all the translations of Chrétien, this is the most fun to read. And the poem itself is of tremendous importance to the history of Arthurian literature. It just doesn’t hang together very well (which is why I don’t give it a perfect rating)

[laura m · Rating 4 out of 5]

[#1 He leído este librito con Maialen, porque hemos hecho un club de lectura de nada más y nada menos que dos personas (que conviven juntas y toman el té en la terraza mientras hablan de cosas importantes como el ciclo artúrico).]

Obra caballeresca, claro. El rey Arturo es un poco pringado y no se entera de que su mujer lo engaña con el de la carreta, Lanzarote del Lago, mientras un senescal duerme en la cama contigua medio moribundo. Personajes secundarios icónicos, como el enano y la hermana de Meleagante: cuatro estrellas porque Chrétien y Godofredo perdieron la oportunidad de escribir sobre esta señora, nuestra heroína medieval favorita del mes. Nunca vi tantos plot twists en una historia; pero, bueno, está muy bien si te gustan las justas, el adulterio y las aventuras disparatadas.

* * *

«Y Lanzarote la escoltó hasta la entrada con los ojos y con el corazón. Corto fue el viaje de los ojos, que demasiado cerca estaba la cámara; muy de su grado hubiesen entrado tras ella, si fuera posible. El corazón, que es amo y señor mucho más poderoso, pasó tras su señora al otro lado de la puerta. Los ojos se han quedado fuera, llenos de lágrimas, junto con el cuerpo».

[Tijana]

Lanselota sam čitala odavno u proznom prevodu* i mislila sam da će prevod u stihu, ako išta, biti tečniji, ali... nije. Žalim. A inače izrazito ne spada u Kretjenova bolja dela (za to slobodno uzmite "Ereka i Enid" koji je beskrajno zabavniji spev) i mada ima srednjovekovnog šarma... nema ga dovoljno.
U prevodu, po običaju, ima bar toliko Kolje Mićevića koliko Kretjena, i to sam unapred znala i nemam zamerke, ali prevodilačke beleške su, nažalost, malo... odviše... recimo samo da je četiri uzvičnika previše za dve fusnote.

* ovo moram da istaknem: prozni prevod skinut sa projekta Gutenberg, koji nas je sve beskrajno zadužio tamo početkom dvehiljaditih, jer - za samo nekoliko minuta dobiješ inače potpuno nedostupne knjige o kojima si devedesetih mogao samo da sanjaš i to sasvim besplatno u totalno čitljivom .txt fajlu. Fala Majklu Hartu na svemu.

[Meghan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Chrétien would be so chagrinned. Himself profoundly antipathetic towards adulterous love, he introduced the world to the most popular adulterous couple of all time, surpassing even his unfavorite, the Tristan/Iseut juggernaut, which he alternately bashed and deconstructed in Cligés.

To be fair, I wouldn't say his handling of the Lancelot/Guinevere romance was exactly wholly responsible for the subsequent popularity of the pairing. Although he includes a perfunctory love scene where a bloody-fingered Lancelot bends metal bars to hook up with an imprisoned Guinevere while Kay, gravely wounded by his usual combination of bravado and poor planning, sleeps unwittingly in the same room, there isn't much of a payoff to their relationship. They don't get a happy or a tragic ending together—in fact, in the final penned by Godefroy de Leigny after Chrétien, having stranded Lancelot in a tower, pawned the thing off on him with some kind of outline to work from, at least one scholar apparently thinks Lancelot is more into the evil Meleagant's little sister, who rescues him from said tower, although I think he's reading way too much into a little hugging and kissing, which is pretty vanilla for Lancelot, whose relationship with Guinevere has strong D/s overtones.

When the two of them see each other again at Arthur's court, Guinevere "came somewhat to her senses / and put the matter to one side, / until the time she'd seen and spied / a good and private place at court, / where they would have a safer port / than at the moment was their lot." (No word on Lancelot's feelings about the matter, however.) Lancelot finally kills Meleagent, and that's the end. All the interesting stuff happens in later versions.

[Softymel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ah l'amour courtois... comme c'est bizarre... Ainsi donc, le brave Lancelot, meilleur chevalier d'entre tous les chevaliers, se ridiculise au nom de son amour pour la reine. Reine qui, soit dit en passant, trompe allègrement le roi Arthur sans l'ombre d'un remord...

Le personnage de Lancelot dans cette version de l'histoire est particulièrement fade. Il ne vit que pour la reine, pour faire ce qu'elle lui demande, peu importe si cela le ridiculise auprès de tous. Peu importe même qu'il risque sa vie pour un caprice puérile. Pas beaucoup de caractère donc... Et puis surtout, il est quand même particulièrement stupide (cf le traquenard du nain...)
Du coup, l'histoire est plutôt fade. Les personnages ne sont pas très construits, le récit reste très superficiel du début à la fin.

Après bien sûr, il faut remettre le livre dans son contexte, soit le moyen-âge, et son "amour courtois". Je ne regrette donc pas d'avoir lu ce livre, pour son intérêt historique :-) Mais au final, je pense que ce roman a assez mal vieilli..

[M F]

Oh, woe is me that none of these editions are properly set up on Goodreads but I don't have the authority to edit them... Not that it HAS a cover per se. (I should know, I just went hunting around Google to try and find one, but it seems its plain green binding is original and not an idiosyncrasy of the library.)

Definitely know this text well enough, though this is a new edition and translation to me -- the one I read before rhymed, and it was quite nice to read one that didn't because it felt more natural / realistic. Plus now I'm not thinking in rhyme the way I was last time. Lancelot is still endlessly pathetic and everybody needs to get a grip and learn to fact-check instead of believing every rumour they hear to the point of wanting to die because of bad news. Also, how do rumours spread so fast? Why does EVERYONE know about the cart incident? Clearly medieval Twitter was hard at work or something.

(Honestly, given some of the French lit I've read I wouldn't be surprised if there was genuinely a medieval Twitter formed of talking birds and/or birds that turn into people.)

Lancelot is my child, but also I want to smack him because DUDE. CHILL, AND THINK ABOUT THIS FOR A SECOND.

[Doris · Rating 4 out of 5]

HAPPY Saint Valentine's Day on the joy and victory of love
It is highly interesting for me to write about this first writer of the French language of whom we know practically nothing but the fact that he called himself Chretien, christian, that he is from Troyes, that he composed two of his works Lancelot and Perceval or the story of Grail on order of his two succeeding benefactors. For Lancelot he was given an order by Marie de Champagne, daughter of Aleonor d'Aquitaine et wife of Henri ll Planagenet, also benefactress of art and courtly poems. He was a clerc, Chretien, that was what specialists of the literature gathered from his other books, namely by prologues to them i.e. Cliges or the Fake Dead woman, Yvain or the Knight with the lion, Erec and Enide . He wrote presumably his romances, for such they were from roman written in the vernacular language not Latin, in c.a. 1170 and the second which was supposedly his last in 1181, maybe he met his death while writing it. The first two Erec and Enide written about 1170 and Cliges in about 1176 and Yvain in about 117-9. His date of birth is equally uncertain. He lived in the middle of Xll th century , century of many changes and new things, century of conquest and strengthening of power by the kings and rendering due homage of theit vassals, century of wars and gaining power of authority, century of new values, beginning of commerce and rising of a new class that of merchants, a rising of town with a special multivarious class of townfolk. All this is felt in the works of Chretien de Troyes who let feel the ambiance of a bourgh with his the castle, the master and the vassals, the first vassal in particular who is the guardian of values. Interesting, the master and the dame , from Latin Dominus and different personalities of the court.
Lancelot expresses poetics of the court but not so overtly by Chretien, he did not finish it, another finished it, Godefroi de Lagny at the acceptance of Chretien de Troyes and evidently he was successful for there was no need of finishing it It was considered a finished tale. Not so with Perceval that had many subsequent reprisals without any of them as being felt as finished.

Lancelot or knight of the cart is a romance about the favourite knight Lancelot , the one in love with his dame the queen of Guenievre , wife of King Arthur For Chretien's romances were transposed in King Arthur's time but following the vogue of 12 th century, the one courtoisie or fin' amor and paying homage to the dame of one's Lord and this dame was a lady of the knight who is in her absolute power. Now obviously Chretien had to obey the rules of his Marie de Champagne to follow this absolute vogue tranasposed by troubadours from the South and Queen Aleonor's court. This is a romance about affiliation of the new and the old , about new things, new habits, coming from new travels, returning knights and Lords from the Crusades bringing with them new customs in vestimentary and culinary habits and also from their returning clercs who made poems of love and luxury for their ladies.
Lancelot or the Knight of the cart is a romance about absolute love, or fin ' aor where love is taken so seriously by the knight that nothing can be shaken in its values, not even bravery , social values or defences of them. For Lancelot trangressed just that for love's sake. He defiantly after only moment's notice leapt into the anathemised cart(put anathema on them) , defended to knights because at the time carts are considered as scaffolds for killers or thiefs In doing so Lancelot hesitated for a second but that second only would give him a great deal of reproach from her queen.
Lancelot or the Knight of the Cart happily and with zest and pleasure , joins the marvellous with usual life, fairies and dwarfs with the ladies ftom the court, travels with distant travels to Otherworld but also to very distant lands made to initiate and confirm and reconfirm knight's glory and reconfirm his love and being dignified of its return. For courtly love in the North contrary so the South is not unrequited but is very much real. For thankful to his love for Guenievre, knight who has only thoughts for her person, she gave him her love, they were made lovers and his blood from opening of old wounds, became visible on her bed.
Now this story or tale or romance is about first telling of sentiments, feelings and the consquence of its impact around We have a knight , a favourite one and his Lady. Are they to blame or are they right? What should be rules to this? Are they adulteress and her thief or something else? Chretien is not the only one who posed this problem. Already it had been posed by the author of Tristan and Iseut, Chretien de Troyes boasts of having also composed this one Tristan and Iseut in one of his prologues that we know nothing about. He also boasted about translating Metamorphoses by Ovid. Yes it was the century of love, and love of opposites and supremacy. Chretien, maybe, just as maybe was for another kind of love, love of equals and respect to each other.

Of this romance one can spill a lot of lnk. Because this love has become a central point of interest for individual scriptors, composers and eventually writers and authors. For authorship is individulaity and also has new hidden meanings not always accepted by Tradition and the Church.

Read this It is love that is fresh and if sincere becomes a joy to the parties, It can win by vanquishing everything all traps and obstacles. Happy Valentine's Day. Wasn't it his intention in this dawn of Europe and its civilisation to make love serious and meaningful for the state
For the romantics in Sturm and Drang delved into this perod for inspiration and found it into the trepidation of the soul searching for its fulfilment

Listen to The Beatles- son She loves you ye ye ye Love all aroundand Francoise Hardy's songs Toutes les garcons et toutes les filles and enjoy

[isabell ☮︎︎ · Rating 3 out of 5]

ok humiliation kink!!! i ❤️ submissive men

[Rebecka · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is not as boring a read as one may think (compared to other medieval texts). This book is, more or less, where Lancelot enters literary history and becomes an important part of the Arthurian legend. The focus in this story is all on Lancelot, Gauvain and Guinevere. Arthur is just a king in the background. Lancelot and Guinevere are both presented as honorable characters, even if they are, after all, adulterers. If I understand things correctly, Guinevere is often portrayed less favorably elsewhere, but this roman was commanded by Marie of Champagne, who perhaps wanted their story represented this way.

There's really a lot of action in this story, some fair retribution (featuring the cutting off of arms, crushing of teeth and an ultimate decapitation, to everyone's great delight, because these were the Middle Ages), some sex, attempts at seduction and general fighting. What may also surprise the modern reader is the amount of female characters, who actually aren't merely decorative, and how unsqueamish they all are. They do things, take risks and obviously think for themselves.

This edition is pretty great; it's a modern translation of a stage of French that non-trained modern readers wouldn't understand, and since it's a high school edition, it also comes with notes and explanatory texts at the end.

3,5 stars!

[fran · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ha sido muy, muy emocionante leer esta historia de caballeros, y más siendo del ciclo artúrico, que me gusta desde pequeña. Qué buen ritmo, cuántas cosas pasan, qué buena intercalación de eventos favorables y perjudiciales para los personajes. Leerlo mientras escuchaba el soundtrack de El señor de los Anillos también ha sido buena idea, lo recomiendo.
Lo he leído muy rápido y en PDF (horror) para aprobar el examen de literatura medieval pero la verdad que lo he disfrutado mucho.

[Jill · Rating 3 out of 5]

I mean...what can one possibly rate this? It's iconic beyond iconic. The style/translation is too simplistic to appeal to me; the symbolism is heavy-handed; it's a medieval text, though, like what do you expect? So it's not four stars but I devoured it gleefully (p.s. guinevere is a little bit of a brat, love her, and she deserves the Madeline Miller treatment)

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5/5

5/5 for the story, but 2/5 for the translation. Absolutely loved the story, but trying to keep it so rigidly in the poetic form made for incredibly awkward couplets. Definitely want to reread this in the prose version.

[Selena · Rating 5 out of 5]

Story of a knight stuck in between the chivalric codes he has to obey and his love which he has to ‘obey’ as well. If you think you’re ruled by ‘Love’ like Lancelot, your dramatic asses will enjoy this just like I did.

[Esther · Rating 3 out of 5]

De er sgu lidt dumme alle sammen, men det er vel det forbudt kærlighed gør ved et menneske <3 <3 <3 Er vild med at det ikke er prinsessen der er fanget i et tårn og ridderen der redder hende - ved ikke lige hvorfor populærkulturen har twistet middelalderromancen den vej rundt, kan bedre lide det her take. Lancelot er jo ægte en damsel in distress, og jeg er her for det.

[Asha Zapf · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read for class. Very jumpy but the romance is kinda funny and sets the stage for a lot of what we read now.

[Nawel · Rating 5 out of 5]

TROP BIEN !!! Lancelot ce grand fou !!!

[Alexis · Rating 4 out of 5]

was not expecting that level of simpery

[Nora Røssland · Rating 5 out of 5]

Chretien is the OG fanfic writer, and I love him for that. His OC Lancelot have become a PHENOMENON within Arthurian lore, and I love the impact medieval fanfic have had on literature and society.
Beautiful story

[Carole Samson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Je vais exiger les règles de l’amour courtois pour le dating à partir de maintenant, adaptées à l’époque contemporaine. Sortir une puff multicolore sera désormais aussi rédhibitoire que d’avoir voyagé en charette. I said what I said.

[Emanuele Baseggio · Rating 3 out of 5]

“Ragione gli dice di non saltare, di non far nulla da cui possa derivare onta e vergogna: ma essa ha dimora lontano dal cuore. Amore, che dimora nel cuore, gli dice di saltare: e lui salta.”

[Peter Hyllested · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Cheese Touch from Wimpy Kid finds its earliest manifestation in the Cart from this silly little medieval romance

[Eric Slon · Rating 3 out of 5]

cómo varios dicen, bastante flojito para ser historia epica, pero excelente para arrancar, pude comprender todo y en cierto punto hasta comprender a Lanzelote, me gustó, pero me cayó mal la reina Ginebra, la hizo media forrita mepa

[Illiterate · Rating 4 out of 5]

Are chivalry and honor compatible with sin or is Lancelot’s love excessive and damaging to self? A bit of both, maybe.

[Rhonda Wise · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is not my first time reading this. The first time was thirty years ago while in college. This time was a lot better, at least in my opinion. I was reading because I enjoy the tale, with all its flaws. I was not reading for construction, deconstruction, or other comparative educational rationales. I read it to my daughter when she was a baby because the words flowed and she would fall asleep. I read it in between then and now because I wanted to do so. So this is probably my fourth read of this - twice in prose form, twice in poetic form.

Yes, this is one of the first stories about Lancelot. Yes, it sets him as one of, if not the primary, knights of Arthur. It also sets him up as one of the primary motives of the Fall of Camelot. It is a pretty romance of the time period. It is full of the flaws and beauties of the other romans of the time.

Courtly love was a brand new concept. A woman would fall in love with a knight at first sight. A knight would fall for a lady at first sight. They would sigh and promise to be true to their love. And if you read the majority of the genre of the time, courtly love was a platonic type of romance - physical love was for married couples and to procreate - true love was of the soul and the eye and the heart. Venal love was obsessive and destructive and cruel. (Yes, I remember my classes!)

Queen Guinevere who has been kidnapped. She is being held by King Meleagaunt and his son for love (venal) of her. King Arthur cannot go rescue her because he is her husband, so he sends Lancelot and other knights to her rescue. There is a year of trials, tribulations, and treachery before everything is said and done.

Lancelot and Guinevere get way too close for a proper courtly love (they do more than kiss folks) which is a betrayal on both of their parts. Guinevere betrays her wedding vows to the king, which is also a betrayal of her duty to the kingdom and crown. Lancelot betrays his vows as a knight to God, as a lord to the king, as member of the court to the kingdom. And they both betray the ideal of courtly love by becoming intimate without marriage.

They both lie and give oaths on their honor in regards to their behavior. They imply things they know are untrue. They treat each other poorly because of this love and their attempts to hide their own behavior.

So why do I like it? Because it flows (I read the poetic version this time). It shows the way things can go wrong even when a person is trying to do good. It is a sad reminder that no one, not even the most heroic ideal, is perfect. It shows that beauty is not always good. That high station is not perfection. That people are just that... people, human beings, prone to err.

[Joseph F. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I first read this story years ago in a prose translation and I found it a little forgettable. I thought I would give it another chance with Cline's verse translation. I had read two of her other Arthurian Romances before, Yvain and Perceval, and loved them. Although I still don't think Lancelot is as good, I'm glad I gave it a second chance. Cline's poetry reads well and the story truly comes alive in verse. (Or it could just be I liked it better after reading it a second time).
This is the oldest tale we have of the love affair of Lancelot and Queen Guinevere. It dates to the 12th century and was written in old French.
Lancelot is a knight who allows himself to be humiliated by allowing himself to ride in a cart in order to catch up to the evil Meleagant, an evil prince who has just abducted the queen. Although he does not catch them, the cart ride allowed him to remain hot on the trail. It turns out he must make his way to the mysterious land of Gorre to save her. The trip is not only perilous, but poor Lancelot is dogged every step of the way by others who mock him since he rode in a cart; something only reserved for criminals and not a noble knight. Our hero must prove himself often as not only a competent warrior, but the greatest of knights.
However, it is only when he reaches his destination that the fun really begins: our hero's courage and mettle will be tested to its limits.
If you love Arthurian romance, be sure to check this book out. While you are at it, it is worth while to read all of Chretien's romances.

[Luis Del · Rating 5 out of 5]

Uno se sitúa entre la ferocidad de los hombres de armas de la edad del hierro, sumidos en sus tradiciones paganas, que se batían con la civilización romana en los márgenes del imperio, y esos mismos hombres recientemente cristianizados y transformando su admiración por Roma por los modales caballerescos que apenas pueden ocultar una violencia ancestral. San Pablo apóstol ha sustituido a cualquier divinidad céltica a la hora de encomendarse a un guía sobrenatural a la hora de decapitar de un tajo a su adversario. Y los amores adúlteros, que tanto horrorizaban a Chrétien de Troyes, son inevitables donde todavía en algunas casas se conservaban pequeñas figuras de madera o barro de los antiguos dioses nacidos de la naturaleza. En las calles y en los bosques, los monjes trataban de poner orden con un éxito relativo.