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Literary Criticism Medieval

The Tale of the Alerion

by (author) Guillaume De Machaut

edited and translated by Minnette Gaudet & Constance B. Hieatt

Publisher
University of Toronto Press
Initial publish date
Sep 2013
Category
Medieval, French, Poetry
  • Hardback

    ISBN
    9780802005311
    Publish Date
    Oct 1994
    List Price
    $69.00
  • Paperback / softback

    ISBN
    9781442626065
    Publish Date
    Jul 2013
    List Price
    $43.95
  • eBook

    ISBN
    9781442616561
    Publish Date
    Sep 2013
    List Price
    $33.95

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Where to buy it

Description

Guillaume de Machaut, the most important poet and musician of fourteenth-century France, had considerable influence on subsequent generations of writers in both France and England. With this scholarly translation, Minnette Gaudet and Constance B. Hieatt made his long-neglected narrative poem, the Dit de l’alerion – a treatise on love and falconry – available to students of medieval literature.
In the poem, Machaut defines the problems and pleasures of courtly love by comparing them to those of falconry, a sport which modern readers know little about. The introduction and notes to this edition provide valuable information about the art of falconry, thus clarifying aspects of the poem which might be hard to understand today. The scholarly notes and introduction furnish explications and variant readings of obscure passages and comments on wordplay. A running summary of the contents of the poem is also provided in the margins.

About the authors

Guillaume De Machaut's profile page

Minnette Gaudet was an associate professor of French at the University of Western Ontario.

Minnette Gaudet's profile page

Constance B. Hieatt is professor emeritus of English, University of Western Ontario and has made medieval studies her profession for forty years. She initiated an annual medieval feast potluck among her colleagues from which this book developed.

Constance B. Hieatt's profile page

Editorial Reviews

‘This attractive volume is a welcome addition to the growing list of works making Guillaume de Machaut more accessible to English readers … It is to be hoped that the beauty of this English translation and the helpfulness of the introductory material will tempt readers to take up a closer study of Guillaume's original poem.’

University of Toronto Quarterly