An innovative author of verse romance, Chretien de Troyes wrote in northern France between 1170 and 1190. Credited with the first Arthurian romance, he composed five works set in King Arthur's court, culminating with an unfinished masterpiece, the Conte del Graal (Story of the Grail). This text is the first to mention the banquet serving dish that became the Holy Grail in early efforts to rewrite or complete the text.
This book focuses on the Conte's narrative depiction of mirrors real and metaphorical: shining armor, a polished golden eagle, the Grail itself, St. Paul's enigmatic looking glass, the blood drops in snow in which Perceval sees the face of his beloved. The last chapter joins the controversy over Chretien's intended conclusion, and proposes a climactic ending in which Perceval, heir to the Grail kingdom, confronts his double, Gauvain, heir to Arthur's Logres.
- ISBN10 1322152756
- ISBN13 9781322152752
- Publish Date 1 January 2015 (first published 1 October 2014)
- Publish Status Active
- Out of Print 4 March 2015
- Publish Country US
- Imprint McFarland & Company
- Format eBook
- Pages 214
- Language English