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Prose, Verse, And Truth-Telling In The Thirteenth Century: An Essay On Form And Function In Selected Texts, Accompanied By An Edition Of The Prose Thèbes As Found In The Histoire Ancienne Jusqu'À César, Molly Lynde-Recchia

Molly Lynde-Recchia

The beginning of the thirteenth century can be viewed as the threshold which ushered in a new type of literature: the French prose narrative intended to entertain, instruct, and record. The arrival of the vernacular prose form on center stage is associated with a concern on the part of medieval writers that their compositions be accepted as truthful, and it is generally understood that it was in pursuit of that goal that translators and authors began to prefer prose to verse.

The gravitational pull of the thirteenth century's great prose cycles--the prose Tristan and the Lancelot-Grail--is intense, and they rightfully …