Joseph Bédier fue una figura fundamental en el estudio de la literatura medieval francesa, desempeñándose como un distinguido profesor. Sus investigaciones académicas sentaron las bases para los enfoques críticos modernos de géneros como los fabliaux y las chansons de geste. Bédier desempeñó un papel crucial en la revitalización del interés por textos significativos del francés antiguo, haciéndolos accesibles a nuevas generaciones. También contribuyó a historias exhaustivas de la literatura francesa, consolidando su legado como un intérprete clave del panorama literario medieval.
The first English language translation of Bedier's classic work in nearly seventy years, this volume is the only edition that provides ancillary materials to help the reader understand the history of the legend and Bedier's method in creating his classic retelling.
A tale of chivalry and doomed, transcendent love, The Romance of Tristan and Iseult is one of the most resonant works of Western literature, as well as the basis for our enduring idea of romance. The story of the Cornish knight and the Irish princess who meet by deception, fall in love by magic, and pursue that love in defiance of heavenly and earthly law has inspired artists from Matthew Arnold to Richard Wagner. But nowhere has it been retold with greater eloquence and dignity than in Joseph Bédier’s edition, which weaves several medieval sources into a seamless whole, elegantly translated by Hilaire Belloc and Paul Rosenfeld.