Yvain

"A masterpiece on the conflict between romantic love and knightly duty. . . . An excellent introduction to the poet and to his aesthetic and moral sensibilities."—Library Journal



"The translation reads with remarkable fluidity in English and succeeds better than any other I know in evoking the rapid rhythms, the changing moods, and lively colloquialness of the original. For all its poetic merits, R.'s translation remains remarkably faithful to Chrétien's text. . . . R.'s poetic rendition, reasonably priced, beautifully reproduced, and delightful to read, should awaken a great many modern readers to the marvels of Chrétien's world."—William W. Kibler, Romance Philology


"A delightful and charming line-by-line rendering of Chretien's sparkling gem of 12th-century Arthurian romance."—Book Review Digest



"A boon to nonstudents of Old French who seek access to Arthurian romance and to Chretien. . . . Lively and agreeable. . . . Accessible and graceful version."—Sarah White, Speculum—A Journal of Medieval Studies

"The mystery and excitement of early French romance are epitomized in Yvain. In this fine translation the rendering of the speech-like quality of Old French verse provides an accurate sense of the original, while the rhythmic variation continually pulls one's attention toward the narrative itself in all its enigmatic charm."—Stephen G. Nichols

"To enable us to share in the pleasure of Yvain, we now have the lively and colloquial rendering of Burton Raffel. It is an effective intermediary between Chre'tien and us, one that is faithful to the tenor of the romance but embodied in unaffected contemporary English, free of all traces of stiltedness and archaicism."—Joseph J. Duggan, from the Afterword